Information to amaze and inform
THE HISTORY OF SILVER
Historically, silver is first mentioned in the
Bible in the time of Abram, were in the book of Genesis, Chapter XIII,
2, "Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver and gold."
Gold and silver originally being in lumps, nuggets
and bars, were in this manner weighed out in the making of payments
for commercial transactions, but there being no certainty of the purity
of the metal, no convenience in size, the lumps being too large, necessity
arose for smaller amounts and divisions, which were gradually made,
vouched for, and a die stamp invented which was punched by hand on
one side of the smaller lumps of gold and silver, thereby attesting
to its purity and value, and so originated the first acts of coinage.
Silver was first coined in these crude lumps on the island of Aegina,
where the ancient Greeks stamped a turtle on their first silver coins
over 700 years before the Christian era.
The actual coinage of money now being an accomplished
and accepted fact, it was furthered along by the Greek nations, who,
after stamping thereon turtles, owls, images and other objects of
their divinity, finally with Alexander the Great, began to impress
upon their coins crude portraits or heads of living persons and
rulers, leaving to us thereby no uncertain means of tracing their
lineage from time to time, indestructible evidence to posterity of
their existence, their appearance, and their advancement. This method
was kept up and improved upon by the Romans, who became proficient
in the art, in consequence of which we have
today an immense number of Roman coins and silver "Denarii,"
preserved for centuries, serving as a complete record of the ruling
families of the Caesars, established by a close study of the features
and inscriptions impressed upon their coinage.
After the decline and fall of the Roman empire,
the coinage of money from an artistic standpoint began to deteriorate,
and from the Byzantine period, beginning with Anastasius in the fourth
century, until almost a thousand years later, money became crude in
form and expression, unequal in shape or value, lacking design and
execution, both Christian and Barbarian coins being in use, and there
are but few well struck specimens left to us, which few are mostly
gold. The early English Kings coined pennies, and there are some existing
of possibly the first attempts under Egbert and Cuthred, Kings of
Kent, A.D. 765 to 805, but they are crude and uncertain. William the
Conqueror, in 1066, issued fair specimens of pennies, and Edward I,
in 1280, issued a new coinage of pennies, half pence and farthings,
but it remained for Queen Elizabeth of England to set a step forward
when she introduced the first experiment of milling money, instead
of hammering, and also the establishment in 1600 of a Colonial silver
currency for use of the East Indian Company. After this period coins
began to get more of an even roundness and shape, and all the large
pieces, such as silver dollars or crowns, that we have of England,
Germany or Saxony from the 16th century on, show again the gradual
improvement and symmetry in the artistic work of coinage.
Since that time silver has to greater and lesser
degree been used as money. However, in modern times, silver as a measure
of a coin's value has declined to the extent that today it primarily
used to make jewellery, cutlery and other ornamental household items.
SILVER HALLMARKING
In its pure form silver is too soft for normal or "domestic"
use. For this reason it is necessary to mix the pure silver with a
hardening agent, usually copper. Once alloyed (mixed), the silver
metal is beaten out using a hammer - a process called annealing. It
is important for the silversmith to avoid hitting the same spot twice
before the piece has been heated to realign the structure of the atoms,
which are then able to withstand further beating.
Copper is an ideal hardening agent because it does not discolour the
silver - a caveat of this is that it is impossible to assess the purity
of silver using the naked eye and thus an unscrupulous silversmith
could increase the percentage of copper in silver wares without much
fear of being detected.
As a guarantee of the purity and "fitness", silver had to
be tested or assayed. To perform the test, a scraping of silver was
taken, weighed, then heated in bone ash - any copper component would
be absorbed into the ash leaving just the pure silver. This was weighed
and the difference between the two weights gave the percentage of
copper.
To indicate that the silver had been tested and "passed at assay"
(met with the standard for purity), items were marked. From 1300 only
silver containing at least 925 parts of silver per thousand (that
is 92.5%) to 75 of copper (7.5%) could be considered and termed "sterling"
and marked with the official stamp.
On March the 30th, 1327, Edward III introduced a charter giving the
Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths the right to conduct and enforce
the assay laws. Assaying (testing) was carried out at Goldsmiths Hall,
which was the headquarters of the guild, leading to the mark of guarantee
being referred to as a "hallmark".
All silver had to be taken to Goldsmiths Hall, London, to be tested
and given the Kings mark. However, silversmiths were reluctant to
bring their wares over long distances - transport was slow, dangerous
and uncomfortable - deciding instead to sell wares unmarked and ignore
the law. In 1363, to combat this, powers of touch were granted to
mayors of all cities and boroughs, and representatives were elected
annually to carry out the work of the London office.
Before 1544, in England, the Sterling silver standard, of 92.5%, was
indicated by the presents of Leopard's Head mark of the London Assay
Office.
The "Britannia" mark for silver of the new higher standard
of 95.8% - the highest possible purity before the silver became too
soft to be workable - which was introduced to discourage clipping,
a practice which involved scraping off minute pieces of silver from
the edge of coinage. This could then be used to produce home-made
coins or sold to a silversmith. The government also introduced coins
with a milled edge.
In Scotland the Lion Rampant was used in place of a Lion Passant -
at the Glasgow office between 1819 and 1964 (which was when the office
closed) and the Edinburgh office has used the mark from 1975.
Gemstone & Jewellery Glossary
Disclaimer
Opinions and interpretation of law expressed here are my own. If you
stand to lose as a result of any decision based on information here
you should seek appropriate legal advice. I give this information
freely, and cannot accept any responsibilities for losses you may
incur. Nor can I accept responsibility in the unlikely event of inaccurate
or misleading information. You alone are responsible for your actions.
Also while much of the information is relevant throughout the EU,
I have written with particular regard for accepted practices in the
UK.
