Editing Hallmark (section)

==History==

===Ancient Byzantine hallmarks===
The control or inspection of precious metals was an ancient concept of examination and marking, by means of inspection stamps (punch marks). The use of hallmarks, at first on silver, has a long history dating back to the 4th century AD—there is evidence of silver bars marked under authority of the [[Flavius Julius Constans]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dcdd.uk/2023/04/20/constan-silver-coin/ |title=Constan Silver Coin |website=DCDD |date=20 April 2023 |access-date=3 January 2025}}</ref> around AD 350—and represents the oldest known form of consumer protection. A series or system of five marks has been found on [[Byzantine]] silver dating from this period, though their interpretation is still not completely resolved.<ref>{{cite report |last1=Benson |first1=Paul L. |last2=Gilmore |first2=Robert S. |url=https://www.ncptt.nps.gov/blog/non-destructive-imaging-of-worn-off-hallmarks-and-engravings-from-metal-objects-of-art-using-acoustic-microscopy-2004-06/ |title=Non-Destructive Imaging of Worn-off Hallmarks and Engravings from Metal Objects of Art Using Scanning Acoustic Microscopy |date=15 November 2004 |others=[[Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art]] |publisher=[[National Center for Preservation Technology and Training]] |publication-place=Natchitoches, LA |access-date=16 January 2019 |archive-date=13 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161213231030/https://www.ncptt.nps.gov/blog/non-destructive-imaging-of-worn-off-hallmarks-and-engravings-from-metal-objects-of-art-using-acoustic-microscopy-2004-06/ |url-status=dead }}<br>Cites: {{cite book |last=Dodd |first=Erica Cruikshank |title=Byzantine Silver Stamps |series=Dumbarton Oaks Studies |volume=7 |publisher=Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection |location=Washington |date=1961 |pages=23–35 |others=J.P.C. Kent (excursus on the comes sacrarum largitionum) |oclc=1705103 }}<br>''Compare'': {{cite web |last=Dubler |first=Anne-Marie |date=27 November 2008 |title=Edelmetalle |url=http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/d/D14050.php |website=Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz |language=de |access-date=16 January 2019 |archive-date=17 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190117070104/http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/d/D14050.php |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Late Middle Ages===
From the Late [[Middle Ages]], hallmarking was administered by local governments through authorized assayers. These assayers examined precious metal objects, under the auspices of the state, before the object could be offered for public sale. By the age of the craft guilds, the authorized examiner's mark was the "master's mark", which consisted frequently of his initials and/or the coat of arms of the goldsmith or silversmith. At one time, there was no distinction between silversmiths and goldsmiths, who were all referred to as ''orfèvres'', the French word for goldsmith. The master craftsman was responsible for the quality of the work that left his [[Studio|''atelier'']] or workshop, regardless of who made the item. Hence the responsibility mark is still known today in French as ''le poinçon de maître'' literally "the maker's punch". In this period, fineness was more or less standardized in the major European nations (writ:{{clarify|date=July 2016}} France and England) at 20 [[Carat (purity)|karat]]s for gold and 12 to 13 lots{{clarify|date=July 2016}} (75% to 81%) for silver, but the standards could only be partly enforced, owing to the lack of precise analytical tools and techniques.

[[File:Jewelry hallmark .png|thumb|left|upright|Jewelry hallmark: [[Dirce Repossi]]]]

====France====
Hallmarking is Europe's earliest form of [[consumer protection]]. Modern hallmarking in Europe appears  first in France, with the Goldsmiths Statute of 1260<ref>{{cite web|url=http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/Visualiseur?Destination=Gallica&O=NUMM-110190|title=Gallica -|website=visualiseur.bnf.fr|access-date=2008-06-10|archive-date=2018-05-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180522052522/http://visualiseur.bnf.fr/Visualiseur?Destination=Gallica&O=NUMM-110190|url-status=live}}</ref> promulgated under [[Étienne Boileau]], [[Provost of Paris]], for [[Louis IX of France|King Louis IX]]. A standard for silver was thus established. In 1275, King [[Philip III of France|Philip III]] prescribed, by royal decree, the mark for use on silver works, along with specific punches for each community's smiths. In 1313, his successor, [[Philippe IV]] "the Fair" expanded the use of hallmarks to gold works.

====England====

In 1300 [[Edward I of England|King Edward I of England]] enacted a statute requiring that all silver articles must meet the [[sterling silver]] standard (92.5% pure silver) and must be assayed in this regard by 'guardians of the craft' who would then mark the item with a leopard's head.  In 1327 [[Edward III of England|King Edward III of England]] granted a charter to the [[Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths]] (more commonly known as the Goldsmiths' Company), marking the beginning of the company's formal existence. This entity was headquartered in London at [[Goldsmiths' Hall]], from whence the English term "hallmark" is derived.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hallmark|url=http://www.dictionary.com/browse/hallmark|website=Dictionary.com|access-date=2 October 2017|archive-date=24 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924130529/http://www.dictionary.com/browse/hallmark|url-status=live}}</ref> (In the UK the use of the term "hallmark" was first recorded in this sense in 1721 and in the more general sense as a "mark of quality" in 1864.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=hallmark |title=Online Etymology Dictionary |publisher=Etymonline.com |access-date=2011-12-11 |archive-date=2012-10-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013033809/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=hallmark |url-status=live }}</ref>)

====Switzerland====
In 1424, the French cardinal [[Jean de Brogny]], after consulting a council of eight Master Goldsmiths from [[Geneva]], enacted a regulation on the purity and hallmarking of silver objects (following the French standards) for application in Geneva.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|title=Historical Review of the Swiss Precious Metals Control Act Focused on Platinoids|journal = Johnson Matthey Technology Review|volume = 62|issue = 3|pages = 263–270|last=Zaffalon|first=Pierre-Léonard|date=2018-04-01|language=en|doi=10.1595/205651318x696701|doi-access=free}}</ref> Although gold was used for articles, the regulation was silent on standards and hallmarking for gold.<ref>{{cite book |last=Babel |first=Antony |title=Histoire corporative de l'horlogerie, de l'orfèvrerie et des industries annexes |date=1916 |page=4 |language=fr |location=Geneva |publisher=A. Jullien, George & Co. |series=Mémoires et Documents publiés par la Société d’Histoire et d’Archéologie de Genève |volume=33 |oclc=2235476 }}<br>{{cite journal |last=Kunz |first= George F. |date=April 1917 |title=Reviewed Work: ''Histoire Corporative de l'Horlogerie, de l'Orfèvrerie et des Industries Annexes'' by Antony Babel |journal=The American Historical Review |volume=22 |issue=3 |pages=631–633 |doi=10.2307/1842663 |doi-access=free |jstor=1842663 |jstor-access=free |hdl=2027/njp.32101043186319 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
In Switzerland today,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Flocco |first=Luis S. |title=An Explanation of Swiss Hallmarks on Gold Watchcases |journal=NAWCC Bulletin |issn=1527-1609 |date=December 2005 |volume=47 |issue=359 |pages=686–699 |publisher=[[National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors|National Association of Watch & Clock Collectors, Inc.]] |url=http://www.nawcc.org/images/stories/2000/articles/2005/359/359_686.pdf |access-date=2019-01-16 |archive-date=2017-01-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101002628/http://www.nawcc.org/images/stories/2000/articles/2005/359/359_686.pdf |url-status=live }}<br>See also: {{cite journal |last1=Flocco |last2=Strasser |title=Schweizer Punzen auf Uhrgehäusen in Gold |journal=Chronométrophilia Bulletin |date=Summer 2007 |issue=61 |pages=61–90 |language=de |publisher=[[Chronometrophilia|Chronométrophilia (The Swiss Association for the History of Timekeeping)]] |location=La Chaux-de-Fonds }}</ref> only precious metal watch cases must be hallmarked.<ref>[http://www.ezv.admin.ch/ezv/00433/index.html?lang=fr Swiss Customs] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070409074854/http://www.ezv.admin.ch/ezv/00433/index.html?lang=fr |date=2007-04-09 }}</ref> The hallmarking of other items including silverware and jewelry is optional.

===Augmentations in France and England===
[[File:Silver Spoon, Birmingham (edit, maker's marks).jpg|thumb|right|A set of hallmarks on an English silver spoon. From left to right, the maker's mark of [[George Unite]], the date letter (1889), the [[Birmingham Assay Office]] mark, the lion passant and the monarch's head tax-mark]]
*In 1355, individual maker marks were introduced in France. This concept was later mirrored in England in 1363, adding accountability to the two systems.
*In 1427, the date letter system was established in France, allowing the accurate dating of any hallmarked piece.
*In 1478, the [[Assay Office]] was established in [[Goldsmiths' Hall]]. At this time, the date letter system was introduced in England. This was originally intended to be the mark of an official known as the Assay Master, who was sworn in every May. After being sworn in, the letter would advance to the next in the alphabet, regardless of whether the same individual continued to hold the post, so it came to be regarded simply as a date letter.<ref name="Pickford2015-12">{{cite book|last=Pickford|first=Ian|title=Jackson's Hallmarks|year=1991|publisher=Antique Collectors' Club|isbn=1-85149-128-7|page=12}}</ref>
*In 1544 a [[Lion (heraldry)|lion passant]] was added to English marks, to bring the number up to four.
*In 1697, a higher standard of silver, known as the [[Britannia silver|Britannia standard]] (95.83%, i.e. 23/24ths silver) was made compulsory in Great Britain to protect the new coinage which was being melted down by silversmiths for the silver. The Sterling standard (92.5%) was restored in 1720.
*In 1784, the United Kingdom began charging a tax on silverware, and a further mark was added to indicate this had been paid. The mark was the monarch's head and continued to be used until 1890, when the tax was abolished.<ref name="Pickford2015-15">{{cite book|last=Pickford|first=Ian|title=Jackson's Hallmarks|year=1991|publisher=Antique Collectors' Club|isbn=1-85149-128-7|page=14}}</ref>