The Leopard's Head is the town mark of the London Assay Office and one of the oldest hallmarks in continuous use in any jurisdiction. It is struck on items of gold, silver, palladium and platinum that have been assayed in London under the Hallmarking Act 1973, and indicates the city of assay - distinct from the sponsor's mark (maker), the fineness mark (purity), and the date letter (year of assay).

History

The Leopard's Head was instituted as the King's Mark in 1300 under a statute of Edward I, which required that all silver and gold worked in London bear the King's stamp - a leopard's head - as a guarantee of fineness. Over the subsequent centuries the mark passed exclusively to the London Goldsmiths' Company (the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths), which assumed responsibility for assay and hallmarking under successive royal charters. Until 1822, the Leopard's Head was struck with a crown above; thereafter the crown was removed, and the modern mark is the uncrowned leopard's head profile.

Identification

The mark depicts a leopard's head in profile or facing forward, struck within a shaped cartouche; the cartouche shape - shield, oval or other - varies by metal, fineness and period and is used in conjunction with the date letter to identify the year of assay and the office. The mark is registered in the standard hallmark references, including those of Sir Charles Jackson and Ian Pickford, and the official current marks are published by the Assay Office London.

For a buyer or appraiser, the Leopard's Head together with the date letter and the fineness mark provides a complete English provenance record for a piece of British silver or gold; it certifies that the item was assayed in London at a known date and met a stated fineness standard. The mark continues to be applied to new work today: the Assay Office London is one of four U.K. assay offices (the others being Birmingham's Anchor, Sheffield's Rose since 1975 and the Crown Tudor before, and Edinburgh's Castle), and the Leopard's Head remains the most commonly seen assay mark on contemporary British silver and gold.