Hall marks on gold & silver plate

STANDARDS : LEOPARD'S
HEAD. 69
forth make, or cau/e to be made, any Manner of Ve//el, Jewel, or
any other Thing of Gold or Silver, except it be of good and true
Allay, that is to say, Gold of a certain Touch, and Silver of the
Sterling Allay, or of better, at the Plea/ure of him to whom the
Work belongeth [argent del alay de e/terling ou de meilur], and
that none work wor/e Silver than Money, (2) And that no Manner of
Ve//el of Silver depart out of the Hands of the Workers, until it be
e//ayed by the Wardens of the Craft; and further, that it he marked
with the Leopard's head [e qe ele /oit signee de une te/te de leopart];
(3) and that they work no wor/e Gold than of the Touch of
Paris [tuche de Parys]. (4) And that the Wardens of the Craft shall
go from Shop to Shop among the Gold/miths, to e//ay, if their Gold
be of the /ame Touch that is /poken of before; (5) and if they find
any other than of the Touch afore/aid, the Gold /hall be forfeit to
the King*: (And that none shall make Rings, Cro//es, nor Locks);
(6) and that none /hall /et any Stone in Gold except it be natural.
(7) And that Gravers or Cutters of Stones, and of Seals, /hall give to
each their Weight of Silver and Gold (as near as they can) upon
their Fidelity, (8) and the Jewels of ba/e Gold which they have in
their Hands, they /hall utter as fa/t as they can, (9)
and from
thenceforth, if they buy any of the /ame Work, they /hall buy it
to work upon, and not to /ell again, (10) and that all the good Towns
of England where any Gold/mith be dwelling, /hall be ordered
according to this E/tatute as they of London be, (11) and that one
/hall come from every good Town for all the Re/idue that be dwelling
in the /ame, unto London for to be a/certained of their Touch.
(12) And if any Gold/mith be attainted hereafter, becau/e that he
has done otherwi/e than before is ordained, he /hall be puni/hed by
Impri/onment, and by Ran/om at the King's Plea/ure, (13) And
notwith/tanding all the/e Things before-mentioned, or any Point of
them, both the King and his Council, and all they that were pre/ent
at the making of this Ordinance, will and intend that the Right and
Prerogative of his Crown /hall be /aved to him in all Things."t
Repealed.
The toitch of Paris was referred to in this statute, because there
were no English gold coins which could be made a standard for the
goldsmiths' work. The French coins of that time were of fine gold.
The touch of Paris therefore was as celebrated over Europe as the
sterling of England.
to the Gold-
This statute is prior to the first charter granted
smiths' Company, and shows that the company was then a corporation,
and that all plate then made in the Knig's dominions was
assayed by them.
*
The portion between brackets repealed 21 Jac. c. 28.
t "The Statutes at Large," by Owen Ruffhead, 1763, Vol. I, page 146.