The Dublin Assay Office was established in 1637 to supervise the
assaying of all gold and silver throughout the whole kingdom of
Ireland. Originally, hallmarks consisted of the goldsmiths'
proper mark which was the maker\'s mark originally used to
identify the silversmith or goldsmith responsible for making the
article. The fineness mark, the harp crown was applied to 22
carat gold and sterling silver, which was silver of a standard
of 925 parts of fine silver in each 1000. In 1638 a date letter
system was introduced and used in conjunction with the above
marks. This date letter denotes the year in which the piece was
made or hallmarked and is changed on January 1st each year. A
new mark in the form of Hibernia was introduced on March 25th
1730 to indicate that a duty had been paid on all articles
manufactured on or after that date. The Hibernia mark is used on
all articles of Irish manufacture hallmarked at the Dublin Assay
Office. Through three and a half centuries the Goldsmiths
Company has afforded a high