13S OX THE ASSAY MARKS OX GOLD AXD SILVER PLATE. further reduced to 4 oz. fine, and 8 oz. alloy. In 1576, liOAvever, by the 18th Elizabeth, the standard for gold and silver wares, was restored to its original fineness, and the workers were forbidden to use solder or other stuffing beyond what was necessary for finishing the work ; the} were also forbidden to take more than 12c?, for the ounce of gold, or pound of silver '• beyond the fashion," above the intrinsic value of the metal. One of the frauds abundantly practised, was the filling up hollow places with solder, or rather "stuffing." Another mode of giving a fi-audulent appearance of fine silver to a base alloy, was by boihng the work in an acid, which, by dissolving the alloying metal on the surface, left a thin coating of fine silver on the base metal. The following entry is found among the records of the com- pany : '•'4th May, 1.397. — Edward Cole, Attorney-general, filed an information against John Moore and Robert Thomas,
- that whereas it had been heretofore of long time provided
by chvers laws and statutes for the avoiding deceipt and fraud in the making of plate, that every goldsmith should, before the sale of any plate by him made, bring the same first to the Goldsmiths' Hall, for trial by assay, to be touched or marked, and allowed by the wardens of the said company of Goldsmiths ; the which wardens did, by their indenture, in their search, find out the aforesaid deceitful workmanship and counterfeit also of plate and puncheons ; yet the said John Moore and R. Thomas, being lately made free of the Goldsmiths' Comp'y, did, about three months jDast, make chvers parcels of counterfeit plate debased, and worse than her Majesty's standard 12c?., and more in the oz. ; and to give appearance to the said counterfeit plate, being good and lawful, did thereto put and counterfeit the marks of her Majesty's Lion, the leopard's head, limited by statute, and the Alphabetical mark approved by ordinance amongst themselves, which are the private marks of the Goldsmiths' Hall, and be and remain in the custody of the said wardens, and puncheons to be worked and imj^rinted thereon ; and the said John Moore did afterwards sell the same for good and sufficient plate, to the dej&'auding of lier Majesty's subjects, &c.' " They were convicted and sentenced to stand in the pillory at Westminster, with their ears nailed thereto, and with papers above their heads, stating their oflfence to be " for making false plate and counterfeiting her Majesty's
