Hall marks on gold & silver plate

lliE STANDARD MARK. 171
Cycles 14 and 16 being both in small Roman letters, and in similar
shields, it is at first sight difficult to distinguish the dates of
1776-95 from those of 1816-35. The following re<strong>marks</strong> will assist
us in doing so. The former alphabet up to i of 1784-5 is not accom-
panied by the duty mark of the King's head, there being only four
<strong>marks</strong>. After that date down to the g of 1822-3 there will be no
difficulty, as there is an additional mark; but from 1824 down to 1835
there would be nothing but the King's head (the portrait of Geo. Ill
being changed for Geo. IV) to depend upon, except that in that very
year, 1823, the crown was taken from the leopard's head, and it remains
uncovered to the present day.
It will be noticed that in the various alphabets the sovereign's
name appears at different times the ; explanation being that the date
of the commencement of the reign may be before or after the date
of the change of the annual assay letter.
IV. THE STANDARD MARK.
The standard mark of the lion passant has been used on all
standard gold and sterling silver, from 1545 until the present time,
except from 1696 to 1720. The first mention of the lion passant is
in the records of the Goldsmiths' Company in May, 1597, where it
is called " Her Majesty's Lion." It is not referred to in any statute
until 1675. The earliest piece we have met with bearing the mark
of the lion passant is the silver gilt rose water dish and ewer, bearing
the London <strong>Hall</strong>-<strong>marks</strong> for 1545-6, now at Corpus Christi College,
Cambridge. The lion passant may, however, have been used
in one of the intervening years between 1540 and 1545, but no pieces
have come under our immediate notice.
The following representations of the lion passant are of those
used by the Goldsmiths' Company, the provincial <strong>marks</strong> vary
slightly from those employed in London.
The lion was always represented as passant guardant, and
during the first few years was life-like, crowned, and enclosed in a
shaped outline. The lion used at the present time is not guardant.
The form of the crowned lion from 1545 until 1548 was :
In 1548 the lion appears uncrowned in a rectangle, and so con-
tinued for ten years :