Plate Assay Act 1700
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1700 c. 4 |
(12 & 13 Will. 3) C A P. IV.
'W H E R E A S the Goldsmiths, Silversmiths, and Plateworkers of this Kingdom, remote from the City ofLondon , are under great Difficulties and Hardships in the Exercise of their Trade, for want of Assayersin convenient Places to assay and touch their Wrought Plate:' For Remedy whereof, and for preventing all Frauds and Corruptions therein, Be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliamentassembled, and by the Authority of the same, That the several Cities within this Kingdom, where the Mints were lately erected for recoining the Silver Money of this Kingdom, (viz.)York, Exeter, Bristol, Chester, and Norwich , shall be, and are hereby appointed for the assaying and marking of Wrought Plate, and for executing the Powers, Authorities, and Directions given by this Act.
II Goldsmiths, &c. in the said Cities incorporated a Company, and shall choose Wardens annually.
II. Be it enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That in every of the Cities aforesaid, the Goldsmiths, Silversmiths, and Plateworkers, who are or shall be Freemen of, or inhabiting within, any of the said Cities, and having served an Apprenticeship to the said Trade of a Goldsmith, Silversmith, or Plateworker, shall be, and are hereby respectively incorporated a Company of or belonging to such City, and shall be called and known by the Name ofThe Company of Goldsmiths of such City respectively: Which Company of such City shall be enabled, and are hereby authorized, annually to choose two Persons to be the Wardens of the said Company in each of the said Cities respectively: Which said Wardens shall continue for the Space of one Year, and no longer, unless re-elected by the said Company: And if any of the said Wardens so chosen as aforesaid, shall happen to die or remove out of such City, then the said Company shall, within one Month after such Death or Removal, choose another Person of their Company to be Warden in his Room, and such Person so chosen, shall, and is hereby authorized and required to act accordingly.
III No Goldsmith, &c. to make Plate less in Fineness than Standard, nor shall sell any until marked, &c. 12 Geo. 2. c. 26.
III. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That no Goldsmith, Silversmith, or Plateworker in any of the said Cities, shall work or make, or cause to be wrought or made, any Silver Vessel, Plate, or Manufacture of Silver, less in Fineness than according to the Standard of this Kingdom, which for the Time being is or shall be appointed by Law for Wrought Plate, nor shall put to sale, exchange, or sell any Plate or Manufacture of Silver made after the nine and twentieth Day ofSeptember one thousand seven hundred and one, until such Time as such Plate or manufactured Silver shall be marked as followeth, viz. with the Worker's Mark, to be expressed with the two first Letters of his Surname, to denote the Maker thereof, and also with the Lion's Head erased, and the Figure of a Woman commonly called Britannia , and with the Arms of such of the Cities aforesaid; wherein such Plate shall be assayed and marked, to denote the Goodness thereof, and the Place where the same was assayed and marked, and also with a distinct...
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