Hallmark Punch Manufacture

[dognose]

Can anyone explain to me how hallmark punches are made, I can never understand how so much detail can be applied to such a small item, even punches from centuries ago, though somewhat crude in comprasion required no small amount of skill, regards Trev.

[Scotprov]

I'm not sure how they were done in the main, possibly by impressing the mark onto a red hot piece of metal (steel) to create the cameo (standing above the surrounding level) punch we normally see. It was easier to carve round whatever punch mark you were creating than to dig it out accurately, so, to get the mark required, you would carve the mark (master), impress into another piece of metal, to get the reverse of the final mark, in a square or circle(punch), then use that to impress again for the final mark on the gold or silver item.
Some of the old Scottish Provincial punches were actually created by using a nail to scratch out the mark, which is why some are so crude. These punches were in copper or brass, only a little harder than silver, which is why you can see some of the marks appearing 'rubbed' when the rest of the piece is in excellent condition, it was the punch that had worn from usage.
In 1786 assay offices used a machine press (see Jackson p42) containing duty mark, date letter, town mark, metal mark, for London, in that order plus the maker's mark, either struck before, after, or both in the case of selling on. Now the maker's mark is held by the assay office and inserted into the block, usually, to attain the regularity. the punches these days are created with lasers.
I hadn't really thought about this until now, but knew about the Scottish ones, the first paragraph is more conjecture than certainty.

[dognose]

Hi Richard, Many thanks for your reply, the skills required, let alone the eyesight to do this job contine to amaze me. I wonder how many people were employed in this industry and what was the life of the average punch. It was very interesting what you said regarding the Scottish ones, even this method must have taken several hours of very patient work, thanks again, regards Trev.

[admin]

Hi,
I don't know with any surety how they were made in the past, but I think Richard's post makes sense. I made this mark a few years ago with a similar technique. The rod is steel found in the trash and fairly soft. The letters were stamped in cold with commercial incuse letter stamps, then embellished with a center punch and a sharpened chasing tool. After this, the outside edge was ground and filed to form the cartouche shape. The texture was applied by striking it against a file. After these steps it was hardened by heat treatment.

I don't think many silversmiths made their own marks. To me, it makes more sense that it was a specialty trade and probably carried on by steel engravers in the armament, printing and minting trades. Anyone engaged in it on a regular basis would have to have made a set of reversed alphabet stamps in order to have made this type of cameo punch or have had the skill to engrave reversed letters or designs directly into the end of a punch blank. Minute, tedious, eyestraining work, but none of it would have been a stretch for a steel engraver in the above mentioned trades.
Anyone have a reprint of Diderot's Encyclopedia, or a similar period text? Must be something on this written somewhere.

Regards, Tom