British duty marks on jewellery

[Doos]

Hi,

I found a phrase on google books where it says that the duty mark is not struck on jewellery, except on mourning rings. Am I reading that correct? And why would mourning rings not be exempt?

Thanks,

Alain
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[dognose]

Hi Alain,

It was a fairly common feature in the wills of the weathly in the nineteenth century to set aside a certain amount of money for the manufacture of mourning rings. These rings, usually with a black stone and suitably engraved, were to be given to certain members of the family and special friends as rememberance keepsakes.
As this custom was most often the practice of the very weathly, I guess the government thought that relief from the duty was unnecessary.

Regards Trev.
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[Doos]

Thanks Trev,

Makes sense.

Alain
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[Doos]

Hi,

It seems that UK jewellery in general was exempt from compulsory hallmarking with the exemption of wedding and mourning rings prior to 1973.
Any plain gold hoop was regarded as "wedding" ring at some point.

Someone - not on this list - tentatively suggested a correlation between gold coins and the fact that most wedding bands were made from these coins.

Interesting subject.

Alain
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[buckler]

dognose has a very interesting report of a case which relates to this at
viewtopic.php?t=14929&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=
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[admin]

Hi Doos,
You'll also find them here, item #2 on the second list (with wedding rings). viewtopic.php?t=8085

Regards, Tom
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