Hall marks on gold & silver plate

TRIAL OF THE PYX. 139
rolled under enormous pressure into two distinct ingots; a piece is
then cut off the end of each, and rolled into a long and narrow plate,
about the thickness of a shilling; a number of small pieces are then
cut off each plate, and after being weighed with the strictest accuracy,
are assayed in the usual manner, and the results compared with
the standard trial pieces brought from the Exchequer, where they
are always preserved.
In the Annual Report of the Deputy Master of the Mint (C. W.
"
Fremantle, Esq.), he observes : The Annual Trial of the Pyx was
held at Goldsmiths' <strong>Hall</strong> on the 17th July, 1873, when the gold and
silver coins struck at the Mint during the preceding twelve months
were subjected to the rigid examination rendered necessary by the
passing of the Coinage Act of 1870, which, by prescribing the standard
weight and fineness of each coin, makes it necessary for the
jury of the Goldsmiths' Company to pronounce their verdict, not
only upon the correctness of the coins as weighed and assayed in
bulk, but also upon the w^eight and fineness of any individual coin
which they may select for trial. The amount of coinage under examination
was ;"i 1,235,000 of gold coin, and ;"i, 597,000 of silver
coin; and of the six sovereigns and three half-sovereigns examined,
five coins were found to be of the exact standard of fineness, 916.6,
etc., the greatest variation from standard being only Tonocrth part.
The result of the examination as regarded the weight of the gold
coins and the weight and fineness of the silver coins was equally
satisfactory." He continues :
"
There are few points connected with the operations of coinage
of greater importance than the maintenance of accurate standards,
by reference to which the fineness of coin may be determined and
the integrity of a metallic currency guaranteed. From the first introduction
of a gold coinage into this country in the reign of Henry
III, whose coins were 24 karats fine, or pure gold, there have always
been '
fiducial '
pieces with which the coin could be compared ;
and
the changes which have been from time to time made in the fineness
of the coinage have always been accompanied by the establishment
of standards intended to contain the exact proportion of
precious metal prescribed by law. Fragments of ancient trial plates
representing the various changes made, are still preserved in the
Mint, and have been examined under my directions.
"
Having pointed out in my First Annual Report that the gold
standard trial plate prepared in 1829, and then in use, was below
the exact standard of fineness, and further, that it might be well to
supplement it with a plate of fine gold, the Board of Trade took
the necessary steps for the preparation of new standard plates both
of fine gold and silver, and for supplementing them with plates of
fine metal, and the preparation of them was undertaken at the Mint,
and verified by the Goldsmiths' Company. The bar of standard
gold was rolled into a plate and assayed carefully at different parts.
It weighed 72 ounces. The silver trial plate weighed 104 ounces.
It should be borne in mind that, as portions of the plate are distributed
to the provincial Assay Offices in the country, and to the