Notes and News Three Post-Medieval weights from Suffolk verified at the town of Colchester, bearing a previously unknown officiating stamp

The use of stamped verification marks on post-medieval weights is a well-known phenomenon, one discussed in some detail by various writers, most notably by Norman Biggs. Manufactured most frequently in the late medieval and early post-medieval periods (c. 15th to early 17th centuries), weights made in lead with stamped verification marks enjoyed a lengthy period of use until their decline in the 18th century, following the intensified production of copper-alloy pieces under the official auspices of the London-based Founders’ Company. In 1834, lead weights were banned completely in favour of the latter. While the majority of known lead weights consist of plain homemade examples, there is a proportion bearing official (or unofficial, as it may be) marks that variously allude to their origin, the cipher of the monarch under which they were issued, the measuring system to which they corresponded and their own weight. Of the ‘official’ lead weights, most are of London manufacture, bearing the arms of the City of London, the Plumbers’ Company (who maintained a monopoly on the checking of weights) and/or the sword of St Paul. They appear to have been manufactured mostly in the reigns of Charles I (1625–49) and Charles II (1660–85), though earlier examples from the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603) are known, as well as 17th-century pieces issued under James I (1603–25) or James II (1685–88). Weights bearing the conjoined arms of England and Ireland demonstrate that, despite regime change, issue continued under the Commonwealth (1649–60). Given that the City was both the home of centralized government and the Plumbers’ Company, it follows that the mainstay of surviving lead weights originated there — presumably making their way into the surrounding countryside before being lost in various circumstances. Though London was the main centre of production, provincial examples are also known — dominated, in at least the reigns of Charles I and II, by pieces produced and verified in Norwich. Other regional centres must also have undertaken similar duties, but it is far more difficult to attribute lead weights to them. A weight stamped with the mark of a crenellated tower found at Market-with-Rame, Cornwall (CORN-CD5EC3, Fig. 1), has been attributed to Exeter or Truro by the recorder. In Somerset, a sub-circular piece from Wedmore bearing the imprint of a Bristol Corporation trade token (SOMFEF663, Fig. 2) could be interpreted as an attempt to produce a semi-official weight for that town and the surrounding area. From Trudoxhill in the same county, a circular weight (SOM-C3ACB9, Fig. 3) stamped with the inscription ‘DANIEL . PLVMER . I .’ around a Tudor rose may possibly represent local manufacture by a provincial member of the Plumbers’ Company. In addition, there are a number of pieces that bear coats of arms and various other designs that may refer to both private individuals or to hitherto unidentified town corporations.