The A of Argenterie d’Antan acquires all its meaning when you plunge back into the Paris of the 18th century when the fermiers généraux, tax collectors, stamped the crowned A, the poinçon de charge(tax collector’s hallmark) at Paris, on the still to be completed goldsmith’s pieces.

The goldsmith would undertake to bring back the object once it was finished to pay the state tax due on precious metals.