We receive several enquiries each month, generally from existing customers, asking about the origins of the word 'sterling'. To discover the origins of the word we must go back hundreds of year in time to medieval England and the modern-day United Kingdom territories.
We receive several enquiries each month, generally from existing customers, asking about the origins of the word 'sterling'.
I suppose most of these people have had a quick look over our small library of interesting silver jewellery facts but missed our brief article on the topic.
To discover the origins of the word we must go back hundreds of year in time to medieval England and the modern-day United Kingdom territories.
A form of currency was necessary for the ever-increasing levels of trade. Easterlings were one of these currencies, and were quite simply silver coins smelted and marked with their value based purely on their silver weight.
Sterling or sterlings was the abbreviation for this commonly used tender - and to this day the word remains in use all over the world.
As a brief side note of some interest easterlings were valued purely by their weight but over time monarchs debased this silver currency by adding additional alloys and removing a small amount of silver. This resulted in devalued coins as although their weight remained unchanged, the total level of silver in the coins was reduced.
Many historians suspect this was one of the key reasons for rapid inflation rates under the rule of kings Henry VII and Henry VIII.
Why is 925 silver jewellery hallmarked?
We are often asked why silver jewellery has hallmarks on it. In the UK the most common hallmark is a 925 stamp. In other countries you may see hallmarks with the words 'silver' or 'quality silver' in capital letters. Although the types of hallmarking used internationally vary, the principle behind the hallmarking system for silver jewellery remains the same.
What exactly is 925 sterling silver?
A great deal of silver jewellery available today is called 925 silver. Have you ever wandered why we in the jewellery trade add the number 925 in front of sterling silver?
What is ‘Y Ddraig Goch’ - the Welsh red dragon?
The red dragon was introduced to Britain during Roman times. It is possible that the Romans learned of the dragon from the Persians. Initially the ‘draco’ was used as a standard by the Roman army but over time it was adopted by the Welsh people as their national flag. It is possibly the oldest national flag in use today.
