The King's Head, also termed the sovereign's head duty mark, is a British hallmark struck on gold and silver wares between 1 December 1784 and 30 April 1890 to signify that the duty levied on precious-metal manufactures had been paid at the assay office. It was introduced under 24 Geo. III c. 53 to recover revenue from the rapidly expanding Birmingham and Sheffield trades and was abolished, after several adjustments of rate, by the Customs and Inland Revenue Act 1890.

Form of the punch

The mark depicts the reigning sovereign's head in profile, struck in incuse from 1784 until 1786 and thereafter in cameo within a shaped cartouche. Five sovereigns appear across its working life: George III, George IV, William IV, Victoria and, briefly, an unaltered George III punch carried over for a few months after his accession. The portrait conventions echo those of the contemporary coinage, which makes the duty mark a moderately reliable dating tool when the assay-office town mark and date letter are present. Goldsmiths' Hall in London, and the offices at Birmingham, Sheffield, Chester, Exeter, Newcastle, York and the Scottish and Irish offices, all struck distinct duty punches.

What it does and does not certify

The King's Head certifies only that the duty has been paid. It does not, in itself, certify standard of fineness, which is signalled by the lion passant or the Britannia mark on silver and the crown-and-numeral or carat figures on gold. Nor does it certify maker or origin, those being conveyed by the maker's mark and the town mark respectively. Where a duty mark appears without a corresponding date letter, as on certain provincial wares of the late eighteenth century, the duty mark is the principal evidence that the piece was lawfully struck rather than smuggled or duty-evaded.

Repeal and aftermath

Repeal in 1890 ended duty striking on plate, but unsold stock punched before the deadline continued to circulate without modification. From May 1890 the British hallmarking system reverted to the four marks that survive today: maker's mark, fineness mark, assay-office town mark and date letter. Pieces bearing the King's Head therefore have a clear terminal date, and the absence of the duty mark on an English-marked piece otherwise stylistically of late Georgian or early Victorian character is a reliable indication of either Continental origin, transposed marks, or a later struck-up reproduction.

Trade relevance

For estate work, the duty mark is one of the more useful sub-marks on Georgian and early Victorian English silver: a plain Britannia-standard tea caddy with a clear George III duty head and a London town mark places the piece within a reliable thirty-year window even before the date letter is read. Forgeries of the duty mark exist, particularly on items intended to pass as Paul Storr or Hester Bateman; the punches were, however, struck at the assay office onto already-assayed plate, so the depth and registration of the duty head relative to the surrounding marks is a routine authenticity check.