The use of the marking of silver in Naples dates back to the fourteenth century during the reign of Joanna I of Anjou. The first official documentation of this practise dates back only to 1437 and is the privilege issued to goldsmith Paolo di Roma by King Alfonso of Aragon. Over the following centuries the Goldsmiths' Corporation became very powerful, so that the Viceroy Count of Sant'Esteban, August 19, 1690, promulgated "The Pragmatic De Monetis LVII.". This Law imposed the concentration in Naples of all activities involving the processing of precious metals and the use of 833.33/1000 fineness.    (on the right) Portrait of Joanna of Anjou, the First Queen of Naples from 1343 to 1381

To ensure the quality of the metal the objects were punched with:
1) mark of silversmiths' guild
2) initials of the name and surname of the alderman with the addition of a "C"
3) initials of the master silversmith (or the full surname, especially in the 19th century).

THE GUILD OF SILVERSMITHS MARK

The Guild's mark consisted until to 1690 in the abbreviation "NAP" or "NAPL" or "NA" (the latter only from 1680) surmounted by a crown.
From 1690 to 1699 under the abbreviation of Naples have been added the last two digits of the year.
Since 1700, the date has been indicated by including the last three digits of the year. However, some exceptions are known, 1729 - 1732 - 1735, when the year was indicated in four digits.
These punches, as well as the date, differ also in the shape of the crown and remained in use until 1808.

c. 1437	c. 1465	16th century	1619 / 1680 c.	1680 / 1690	1694

1702	1710	1739	1745	1786	1808

THE ALDERMAN MARK

The alderman used a mark with the initials of his name followed by the letter "C" (meaning "Console").
This punch was of rectangular shape until the end of the 17th century (the last was that of Marcantonio Di Benedetto elected "console" in August 1700).
Later, the punch was of various forms: square, round, oval, roughly triangular, hexagonal. In almost all cases, however, the letter "C" was on a separate line (below the initials of the "console")

Domenico Mazzola c. 1588	Salvo Gambardella c. 1605	Melchiorre Maturano 1653-1683	Giuseppe Cangiani 1690	Aniello Simioli 1713	Nicola Della Noce 1700
G.Battista D'Aula 1702	Domenico Antonio Guariniello 1719	Gennaro De Blasio 1740	Nicola De Blasio 1750	Aniello Guariniello 1753	Giuseppe Guariniello 1757

THE SILVERSMITH'S MARK

The silversmith used a punch with the initials of his name and surname. The initials were on a single or on two lines inside a simple contour (often rectangular). In the 19th century, in some cases, the silversmith used a mark with his full name.
The use of marks with the illustrated symbol of the workshop, widespread in most other Italian regions, was not followed in Naples.

Andrea Blasio 18th century	Angelo De Luca 18th century	Giovanni Casolla 19th century	Gennaro Iaccarino 19th century

THE FRENCH DOMINATION

With the Napoleonic invasion of the Kingdom of Naples the new rulers (Joseph Bonaparte, 1805 - 1808, and Joachim Murat, 1808 - 1815) fully reformed the activities related to the gold and silver manufacture.
The Guilds were abolished, any activity was liberalized, the decimal system was adopted introducing the organizational model active in France since 1797 (Law 9 Brumaire, Year VI - November 9, 1797).

The Law n. 242 of December 17, 1808 established new purity degrees for gold and silver. Two levels of fineness were admitted for silver: 917/000 and 834/000. Each piece was punched with:

· warranty mark;
· assayer mark;
· maker's mark

The warranty mark depicts a female bust and represents the mythical siren Parthenope. Aside this mark was applied an Arabic numeral ranging from one to five. The numbers 1, 2 and 3 were used for gold, while 4 and 5 indicated respectively 917/000 and 834/000 silver fineness.

1st silver fineness mark 917/000	2nd silver fineness mark 834/000

This hallmarking system was maintained in use until 1823, well beyond the end of the French occupation (1815).

Other marks used during the "French" period were a "V" and an "S" (coupled with "4" or "5"). In the literature examined the use and nature of these punches is controversial.
Some authors (Ugo Donati and Donaver-Dabbene) report the "S" as the symbol used to mark the imported silver and the "V" that used for "old" silver. In contrast, Elio and Corrado Catello do not mention the hallmarking of foreign silver and attribute the mark "S" to "old" silver.


FROM THE "KINGDOM OF THE TWO SICILIES" TO THE "KINGDOM OF ITALY"

1824-1832
Following the presence of numerous false dies, King Ferdinand I, on December 15, 1823 (decree No 881), introduced new marks for precious metal and abolished those in use since the French domination.
The new mark depicted the head of Parthenope guardant towards right with aside the number indicating the fineness or the "E" (Estero) for imported silver. The silver fineness was represented by the Arabic numerals:

· 7 for 916/000 or 11 ounces
· 8 for 833/000 or 10 ounces

1st silver fineness mark 917/000	2nd silver fineness mark 834/000	mark for imported silver

1832-1872
With Decree No 723, January 26, 1832, to further differentiate the domestic from foreign production, the marks were modified adding to the profile of Parthenope the letter "N" for domestic ("Nostrale") or the letter "E" for foreign silver ("Estero").

Domestic silver 917/000	Domestic silver 834/000	Foreign silver 917/000	Foreign silver 834/000

1839-1872
With Decree No 5207 March 4, 1839 was introduced a special mark for worship objects dedicated to the religious service. This mark used the symbol of the "Cross" instead of the female profile.

Religious silver fineness 917/000	Religious silver fineness 834/000

Naples became part of the Kingdom of Italy in 1860, but maintained its previous hallmarking system until 1872.

The law May 2, 1872 issued by Vittorio Emanuele II King of Italy liberalized the production of precious metals. Only an optional and voluntary control was provided for the verification of silver fineness.

1st silver fineness 950/000	2nd silver fineness 900/000	3rd silver fineness 800/000

NAPLES: BRIEF HISTORICAL CRONOLOGY

The Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282.
Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of Naples to distinguish it from the island-based polity. During much of its existence, the realm was contested between French and Aragon's/Spanish dynasties.
In 1806, following decisive victories over the allied armies at Austerlitz and over the Neapolitans at Campo Tenese, Napoleon installed his brother, Joseph as King of Naples. When Joseph was sent off to Spain two years later, he was replaced by Napoleon's sister Caroline and his brother-in-law Marshal Joachim Murat, as King of the Two Sicilies.
In 1816, after the defeat of Napoleon, Ferdinand IV of Bourbon was restored to the throne of Naples merging with island-based Kingdom of Sicily to form the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
In 1860 Naples and the territories of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies became part of the Kingdom of Italy.
(based on information by Wikipedia.org)