Junk, 1001.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



135 



belongeth "" (argent del alloy ds le estcrling ou de 

 . meilleur). aud that none work worse silver than money.* 



From the table given last month it will be seen that 

 the standard for coinage was altered several times during 

 the int-erval from the 34th of Henry VIII. (a.d. 1512) 

 to the 6th of Edward VI. (.v.d. 1552), but the silver 

 used for plate made during this period appears to have 

 remained " as good as the old standard 925 ; and was 

 not debased like the coin of that period. "t 



In consequence, however, of the adoption by silver- 

 smiths of the practice of melting the coin of the realm 

 to convert it into plate, legislation for the protection 

 of the coin became nece^sarv in the reign of William 

 the Third. 



Tile extent to which tliu practice of inanufaclunng 

 plate from the coinage was carried was largely due to 

 the fact that in the reign of James the Second iinniensc 

 quantities of plate had been sacrificed for the use of the 

 King and of Parliament by converting it into money, 

 and that now the opulent gentry were desirous of re- 

 plenishing their side-boards and tables with plate. The 

 melting of the coin of the realm was, therefore, adopted 

 by the silversmiths as the most expeditious way of ob- 

 taining silver " as good as sterling." 



In order to prevent this wholesale conversion of coin 

 into plate an Act was passed which raised the legal 

 standard for silver plate above the standard of the 

 coinage, thus rendering the latter less available to the 

 silversmith. 



The Act of Parliament (a.d. 1697-8, William III., 

 c. 8, 5, 9) relating to the new standard states that " it 

 might reasonably be suspected that part of the silver 

 coins of the realm had been, by persons regarding their 

 own private gain more than public good, molten and 

 converted into vessels of silver or other manufactured 

 plat«, which crime had been the more easily perpe- 

 trated by them, in regai-d the goldsmiths or others, 

 workers of plate, by the former laws and statutes of the 

 realm were not obliged to make their plate of finer 

 silver than the sterling or standard ordained for the 

 monies of the realm. ' It was therefore enacted that, 

 from ^larch, 1697, no silver plate should bo made of 

 less fineness than that of 11 ozs. 10 dwts. of fine silver 

 in every pound troy (or 959 parts of silver per thousand), 

 and that no silver vessels, etc., made after that time, 

 should be put to sale until they had been Hall marked. 



In order to distinguish plate of this new standard it 

 was appointed that it should be marked with the " figure 

 of a woman commonly called Britannia. 



On account of the softer nature of the new standard, 

 due to the larger percentage of silver present in it, it 

 was found that articles made of this alloy were not so 

 serviceable nor so durable as those made of the old 

 standard. 



Copper being a harder metal than silver the relative 

 abrasion suffered by alloys of silver and copper is de- 

 pendent on the percentage of copper present. 



By an Act of Parliament, the 6th of George I., c. 2, 

 s.s. 1 and 41 (a.d. 1719). the old standard of 11 07s. 

 2 dwts. (925) was revived concurrently with that of 

 11 ozs. 10 dwts. (959). and these two standards still 

 exist for plate, though only the former is in general 

 use. 



The standard 925 is alway.i spoken cf as the " old 

 silver standard of England," while the standard 959, 



• Chaffers, " Hall Marks on Plate," 8th edit , 1 8P6, p r,, 

 f Idem, page 10. 



although seldom used, is referred to as the " new silver 

 standard," or sometimes as the "Britannia" standard, 

 owing to the fact that silver wai'es of this standard, 

 as stated above, arc marked with the figure of 

 " Britannia." when sent to the Assay Office to be Hall 

 marked. 



The silver standards used in other countries are also 

 fixed by law. and it is of interest to compare these with 

 the English silver standards. In the subjoined table 

 the staaidards of fineness of silver used for coin and for 

 plate in other countries are given. 



Table showing the Silver Staachirds for Coin and for Pliite of the 

 I'rineipiil Countries of the World.* 



• CompileJ from Parliamentary Return relating to Gold and Silver Marking 

 in Foreign Countries, February iith, 18'JO, and from other Sources. 



It will be evident from the above table that the standard 

 900 is now more widely used than any otli«r, England 

 alone employing 925, that is, 11 ozs. 2 dwts. per ounce 

 troy, thus maintaining the connection with Saxon coins. 

 As previously stated, the silver standard of tnis 

 country has from very early times been computed by 

 divisions of the troy pound. The adoption of the 

 metric system of weights and measures in most other 

 countries no doubt accounts for the use of alloys of 

 decimal proportions in these countries. Alloys of lower 



