Hall marks on gold & silver plate

286 HALL MARKS ON PLATE.
Chester was reappointed by the Act 12th William III (1700),
and is regulated by that Act and the Act of 12th George II.
The variable letter was changed annually on July 5, from 1701
until 1839; it was then changed on August 5 until 1890; since which
time the change has been made annually on i. July
Chester has, since 1889, voluntarily submitted its diet for assay
at the Mint, at the same time as the Birmingham and Sheffield diets
are verified.
The following is the present form of the Chester mark :
The Chester assay <strong>marks</strong> under the Orders in Council of 1904
and 1906 for foreign plate is for gold :
and for silver
(Acorn and two leaves.)
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We must here express our thanks to the late Assay Master, Mr.
Jas. Foulkes Lowe, B.A., for his persevering kindness, not only in
searching the records and furnishing extracts, but in obtaining impressions
of ancient plate and affording much valuable information
on the subject, which has enabled us to give a Table of the Assay
Letters used at Chester from 1701 to the present time. In this task
he was ably assisted by Mr. Thos. Hughes, F.S.A., the indefatigable
Secretary of the Chester Archaeological Society.
Mr. W. F. Lowe, the present Assay Master, has been good
enough to enable us to complete the notes relating to Chester.