From 1773 to 1823 the date letters were taken at random. From 1824 to the present day they run in regular order from A to Z.
On small pieces of silver the crown and date letter are on one punch.
The alphabets for Sheffield are:—
| Letters omitted— | ||||
| 1824 to 1843, | a | to | z. | i, j, n, o, w, y. |
| 1844 to 1867, | A | to | Z. | J and Q. |
| 1868 to 1892, | A | to | Z. | I. |
| 1893 to 1917, |  | to |  . | j. |
The Newcastle marks, 1737, are drawn from a coffee-pot (illustrated [page 243]). The Date Letter is
in old English capital type.
The Birmingham marks (reproduced [opposite]) are in date 1804 and 1889. It will be seen that the Duty Mark of Sovereign’s Head is in a broken oval shield.
The Sheffield marks are from candlesticks, that of 1773 being made by Samuel Roberts & Co.