Registered Designs

(c) Antique Metalware Society

Small extracts can be used with acknowledgements to 'Oldcopper.org' website.

Helpful comments are very welcome.

lozenge

Table of Contents

Diamond Registration Marks (Lozenge Marks)
Key to Diamond Registration Marks
Design Registration Numbers
Country of Origin
Purchase Tax.
Islamic Calendar
References
Dating of American Patent Numbers

Diamond Registration Marks (Lozenge Marks)

The Copyright of Design Act 1842 initiated the use of the diamond registration mark used to confirm that a design has been registered in Britain .  This confirmed that a design had been registered and gave three year’s copyright protection.  The diamond contained enough information to allow identification from the official records held by the Patent Office.  There was a letter to represent the year so the first series ran from 1842 to 1867.  Other letters identified the day and month of registration, the material and bundle number.  By shifting the positions of the identifiers, a second series was started and lasted until 1883.  The Patents, Designs and Trade Marks Act of 1883 rationalised the system and thereafter only a number series was used.

lozenge marks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Key to Diamond Registration Marks

 Letter

First Series

Second Series

Months for both Series

A

1845

1871

December

B

1858

 

October

C

1844

1870

January

D

1852

1878

September

E

1855

1881

May

F

1847

1873

 

G

1863

 

February

H

1843

1869

April

I

1846

1872

July

J

1854

1880

 

K

1857

1883

November

L

1856

1882

 

M

1859

 

June

N

1864

 

 

O

1862

 

January

P

1851

1877

 

Q

1866

 

 

R

1861

 

August

S

1849

1875

 

T

1867

 

 

U

1848

1874

 

V

1850

1876

 

W

1865

 

March

X

1842

1868

 

Y

1853

1879

 

Z

1860

 

 

Design Registration Numbers

The system of registering designs with a specific number was introduced at the end of 1883.  It superseded the previous 'Diamond' registrations.  Where used, such Registered numbers  (Rd No.........) give an accurate date for when a design was first produced.  Such designs could then be produced in quantity for as long as needed or fashionable and numbers therefore only give the earliest date in which an object could have been produced.  Since improvements in design have always been a driving force in the industrial societies, many of the numbers would only have been used for a few years and therefore do give a helpful guide.   
The numbers can be used to assess the first year of manufacture from these approximate figures showing the first numbers issued each year :-


Year

From

 

Year

From

 

Year

From

 

Year

From

 

 

 

1901

367,628

 

1921

676,491

 

1941

837,000

 

 

 

1902

380,979

 

1922

685,412

 

1942

838,000

 

 

 

1903

401,944

 

1923

691,571

 

1943

839,000

1884

1

 

1904

422,489

 

1924

695,944

 

1944

841,000

1885

18,993

 

1905

422,489

 

1925

705,943

 

1945

843,000

1886

39,547

 

1906

428,004

 

1926

716,386

 

1946

846,000

1887

61,207

 

1907

469,160

 

1927

723,430

 

1947

848,000

1888

87,266

 

1908

486,464

 

1928

725,899

 

1948

853,000

1889

111,664

 

1909

516,375

 

1929

740,459

 

1949

857,000

1890

140,481

 

1910

533,561

 

1930

741,336

 

1950

860,000

1891

160,613

 

1911

546,084

 

1931

757,945

 

 

 

1892

183,259

 

1912

561,570

 

1932

767,110

 

 

 

1893

203,348

 

1913

585,707

 

1933

777,000

 

 

 

1894

223,861

 

1914

608,541

 

1934

788,000

 

 

 

1895

244,726

 

1915

627,887

 

1935

793,000

 

 

 

1896

266,237

 

1916

642,613

 

1936

808,000

 

 

 

1897

288,848

 

1917

651,079

 

1937

817,000

 

 

 

1898

309,956

 

1918

662,576

 

1938

825,000

 

 

 

1899

328,527

 

1919

665,728

 

1939

833,000

 

 

 

1900

349,120

 

1920

664,869

 

1940

836,000

 

 

 

(Dating of numbers derived from lists of files held by the British Library (http://www.bl.uk/collections/patents/designs.html#desnum) and The Public Record Office.  Numbers after 1933 are taken from the graph below, plotted from PRO files.  Other sources may vary.)

graph

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Country of Origin

From the passing of the 1891 McKinley Tariff Act, any products imported into the USA were required to show the country of origin.  The word ‘England’ was used from 1891 to c1909.  Thereafter ‘Made in England’ was used and this was gradually succeeded by ‘Made in Britain’.  Manufacturers frequently applied these marks to all products rather than just those destined for export.
The 1860 Companies Act established 'Limited' companies.  The use of 'Ltd' after a company name gained favour after 1880.  The use of 'Trade Mark' dates any time from the Trade Marks Act of 1862 until the present.

Purchase Tax. 

This was a sales tax levied first on the 19th October 1940 on all goods sold in Britain with a few exceptions such as food, 'Utility' CC41 furniture and trade tools. It followed from the budget of the 23rd July.  Price lists produced thereafter frequently mentioned that purchase tax was, or was not, included. The government's idea was to discourage luxury goods during wartime and later post-war shortages.  The tax rates were a fixed percentage of the wholesale price.  Catalogues that do not mention purchase tax may well be pre- 1939.

Islamic Calendar

Islamic metalwork may be dated and if so it is likely to use the Moslem calendar.  This starts in the year of Mohammed’s flight from Mecca to Medina in the Western year AD 622 and the years are based on the lunar calendar of 354 days.  To convert and adjust for the number of days in the year, the Islamic script can be read for the year using the following number conversions:

islamic


 

 

 

The conversion formula to use is:
YAD  =  622 +  YM - YM/33
where    YAD is the Western year
and        YM  is the Moslem year

References

The data used has been abstracted from:
 Jones, Ian, ‘Design Registration Marks’  Ironbridge Gorge Museum Information Sheet No 7, 1981.
 http://www.patent.gov.uk/design/index.htm (page not now available)
 The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 4DU, United Kingdom
tel: +44 (0)20 8876 3444; fax: +44 (0)20 8392 5286.

Dating of American Patent Numbers


1859          22,477
1860          26,642
1861          31,005
1862          34,045
1863          37,266
1864          41,047
1865          45,685
1866          51,764
1867          60,685
1868          72,958
1869          85,503
1870          98,460
1871        110,617
1872        122,304
1873        134,504
1874        146,120
1875        158,350
1876        171,541
1877        185,813
1878        198,733
1879        211,078
1880        223,210
1881        240,373
1882        254,836
1883        269,820
1884        291,016
1885        310,168
1886        353,494
1887        355,291
1888        375,720
1889        395,306
1890        418,665
1891        443,987
1892        466,315
1893        488,976
1894        511,744
1895        531,619
1896        552,502
1897        574,369
1898        596,467
1899        618,871
1900        640,187
1901        664,827
1902        690,385
1903        717,521
1904        748,567
1905        778,834
1906        808,618
1907        839,799
1908        875,679
1909        908,436
1910        945,010
1911        980,178
1912        1,013,095
1913        1,049,326
1914        1,083,287
1915        1,123,212
1916        1,166,419
1917        1,210,389
1918        1,251,458
1919        1,290,027
1920        1,329,352
1921        1,364,063
1922        1,401,948
1923        1440,362
1924        1,478,996
1925        1,521,590
1926        1,568,040
1927        1,612,790
1928        1,854,521
1929        1,696,897
1930        1,742,181
1931        1,787424
1932        1,839,190
1933        1,892,663
1934        1,941,449
1935        1,985,878
1936        2,026,516
1937        2,066,309
1938        2,104,004
1939        2,142,080
1940        2,185,170
1941        2,227,418
1942        2,268,540
1943        2,307,007
1944        2,338,081
1945        2,366,154
1946        2,391,856
1947        2,413,675
1948        2,433,824
1949        2,457,797
1950        2,492,944
1951        2,536,016
1952        2,580,379
1953        2,624,046
1954        2,654,562
1955        2,698,434
1956        2,728,913
1957        2,775,762
1958        2,818,567
1959        2,866,973
1960        2,919,443

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After