Good early pewter often bears elaborate ownership marks in a raised form, rather like a wax seal. Triads (a triangular formation) of letters stamped on the rim of a pewter plate are generally held to give the initials of the couple who owned it.

Small marks are also found on pewter in imitation of silver hallmarks, and usually consist of four shields (1). The symbols in the shields generally imitate genuine silver marks quite closely-for instance, the figure of Britannia, the lion passant and the leopard's head - presumably with the purpose of persuading the buyer that the item concerned contained real silver.

After 1826, tankards and measures used in taverns had to carry capacity marks.These were of local design until 1877, after which they were validated by an excise mark consisting of a crown over the monarch's initials and a code number, denoting the area in which inspection of capacity had been carried out (2).