Roman Capital Letters are used at this period. The lion and leopard’s head are in a stamp following the outline, a practice which continued till 1678. From 1716 to 1735, in the reign of George I, a similar alphabet was used with shields of the same shape; but the first four years have the figure of Britannia and lion’s head erased, the Higher Standard Mark. In 1720 the lion and leopard’s head with a new shape of shield clearly indicate the difference.
1598 to 1617
Lombardic Capitals are used in this alphabet. The peculiarities in this series are the letter A with its crossbar (1598), the letter C (1600), which is a D reversed, and the letter G (1604).
1618 to 1637
The letters used are Small Italic. The shields are slightly longer and pointed at bottom. The noticeable letters puzzling to beginners are b (1619), similar to h (1625), l (1628), and s (1635). The l (1628) is similar to the s (1753).
LONDON MARKS
