Assay - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition assay

Definition :

Assay, [fr. exigere, Lat., to test] of weights and measures, examining weights and measures by clerks of markets, etc., Blount. Also the testing and proving of coins, metals, etc. By the (English) Gold and Silver Wares Act, 1844 (7 & 8 Vict. c. 22), s. 2, partly repealed by the (English) Forgery Act, 1913 (3 & 4 Geo. 5, c. 27), it is felony to forge or counterfeit any assay mark. As to assay of foreign imported plate, see 46 & 47 Vict. c. 55, s. 10; 4 Edw. 7, c. 6; and 7 Edw. 7, c. 13, s. 5 see PLATE.

Means a proof or trial, by chemical experiments, of the parity of metal, esp., gold and silver. An examination of weights and measures, Black Law Dictionary 7th Edn., p. 111.