E Crowned with a Laurel wreath; Import & Duty mark of the Southern Netherlands 1814-1842. This mark has been used in the present Belgium until March 1st 1832, in the assay offices Maastricht and Luxemburg until March 1st 1842, in the Roermond office until March 1st 1832 and afterwards again from 1839 until 1842.
Back to our E with Laurel wreath; E =étranger=foreign. This mark does not give any guarantee of a precious metal standard of fineness. This mark has been used on metal with a 250 minimum gold or silver content as a duty mark. The mark was destined for all imported, unmarked and invalid marked objects of foreign, national and unknown origin. During the 1814 and 1815 transition period, Napoleon’s defeat at Leipzig preluding the end of the Kingdom of Holland, this E Crowned with Laurel was also struck on new objects which still have been made to the French 800 silver standard of fineness. Upon the invalidation of the hallmarks of the French Empire in 1815, the mark was also used as tax free census mark. Please note; the small mark of the Northern Netherlands, the flowered V= vreemd = foreign, was also used in the Southern Netherlands 1817-1832
In 1830 the Belgium Revolution and in July 1831 the forming of the Kingdom of Belgium with own hallmarks of the Kingdom 1st of March 1832, during this period of turmoil some confusion about correct marking of silver & gold may have occurred.
