Royal British Legion Gold Badge Birmingham Hallmark Date Letters 1972 to
2002
For
the benefit of members and potential members we have made available the
following Birmingham assay office hallmark date letter lists starting from
1972 the year of the first Royal British Legion Gold Badge up until 2002.
The Standard Mark
This
confirms that the article is in fact of the correct quality. For gold, various
symbols have been used over the years, but that most commonly seen is a Crown
gold together with a figure
such
as 22 or 9 defining the carat value of the gold. More recently, a figure such as
.375 has been used to define the actual proportion of gold.
Assay Office Mark
This
denotes the office which carried out the Assay. The most commonly seen marks on
the Gold Badge are a Anchor (Birmingham) Birmingham.
Date Letter
The date letter (example below) is the mark which is most useful to our members.
Each of the Assay Offices uses a different letter each year. The yearly letter
until recently varied from one office to another, so it is necessary to consult
the lists for each particular office when dating an item. The typeface (font),
the case of the letter (upper or lower) and the style of the surrounding shield
are all relevant, and should be compared carefully with the published lists.
Date Letter Lists
Date Letters 1972-1987
This Royal British Legion Badge in Gold bears the hallmark letter 'X' for
1972 which means it was manufactured in the first year of Queen's crown above
The Royal British Legion badge.
9ct Hallmarked Gold
The Gold Badge is made in 9ct hallmarked gold and each badge is engraved with a
unique identification number that identifies the person who the badge has been
awarded to.
Date Letters1988-2007
New Badge Provider
In 1987, J R Gaunt & Sons went out of business, and the gold badge design
moulds where destroyed. Premier Badges took over the contract and the new and
perhaps more familiar corporate lion head replaced the old round lion head came
into being.
