VOCABULARY TERM: BRITANNIA STANDARD

Britannia Standard. A fineness of silver, 958.4 parts per 1000. This standard was instituted in Great Britain beginning in 1697 – coins were actually struck in this fineness from 1697 to 1719 – but like pure silver it is too soft for coining, silverware or commercial use. A more popular fineness, of course, was STERLING: 925 parts silver per 1000. Silver was alloyed with copper, and the small increase of copper (from 41.6 for Britannia to 75 parts per 1000 for sterling) gave the alloy a satisfactory strength and wearing quality for most uses including coinage. Britannia Standard had its own HALLMARK and despite its somewhat softer composition it was used infrequently in Great Britain even to the 20th century for objects not subjected to heavy wear. Its nominal replacement, sterling silver, was, in fact, the silver coinage standard in Great Britain for 150 years (until 1920). See FINENESS.
CLASS 05.2

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