At a much later period the figure of Britannia was stamped upon silver plate, but the practice was not very extensive, and the Britannia stamp is used without the accompanying lion’s head erased. The date when this mark appears is at a period subsequent to 1784 and relates to the drawback or exemption from duty on silver plate exported. (See the “Duty Mark,” p. 61.)
In regard to duty on silver plate, it was first imposed in England and in Scotland in 1719, when the old silver standard was revived. The duty was fixed at 6d. per ounce. Later by 3 Geo. II, in 1730, the duty was imposed on silver plate assayed in Ireland, and at this date the figure of Hibernia was used to denote that duty had been paid to the king. In 1784, by 24 Geo. III, _cap._ 53, a duty of 6d. per ounce was levied. This applied to England and Scotland, and it was enacted that, in addition to the other marks formerly employed by the makers and assay offices, the new mark of the king’s head should be stamped on every piece of silver plate on which duty has been paid. By another section of this Act it was a felony punishable by death to use any counterfeit stamp contrary to law. By a later Act, 55 Geo. III, in 1815, the counterfeiting the king’s head duty mark was punishable by death; and this was only a hundred years ago. The duty on silver plate was now 1s. 6d. per ounce.
From 1784, therefore, on English and Scottish silver the duty mark of the head of the reigning sovereign appears on all silver plate, stamped in an oval escutcheon.
In regard to the duty mark on Irish plate, it was not until 1807 by 47 Geo. III that the stamp of the king’s head, or that of the reigning sovereign was added to the other marks to denote that duty had been paid to the king. The old mark of Hibernia was allowed to remain; originally it was a duty mark, but it may be now regarded as the hall-mark of Dublin.
The various sovereigns’ heads were used down to 1890, when the duty was discontinued and the mark abolished.
In connexion with these duty marks the Act of 1784 has a section which has an interesting provision, and those collectors who may happen to find a figure of Britannia on a piece of silver without its companion mark of the lion’s head erased may be puzzled as to the reason of the omission. First it does not denote that the silver plate was of the higher standard. It was a mark stamped on silver which was exported. By the above Act duty was not charged on silver exported, and in order to prevent any of this plate being taken abroad for a short time only, and then landed in this country to be sold here without the duty having been paid, it was stamped with the figure of Britannia.