The British system of hallmarking is the world's oldest form of continuous consumer protection. Its prime object is to protect the public from fraud. It dates back some 700 years to the end of the 12th century. A hallmark is a stamp applied to an article of silver, gold or platinum after test by assay, by an official Assay Office, to denote the fineness or purity of the metal. The word 'assay' is derived from the Old French word 'essai' which means 'trial'.
A complete hallmark now consists of three compulsary punch marks: -
a) the sponsor's mark; usually a set of initials which represent the registered mark of the maker or sponsor of the piece
b) a three-digit figure indicating the precious metal content in parts per thousand which has replaced the old carat -
Gold
22 carat - 916 (91.6%)
18 carat - 750 (75%)
9 carat - 375 (37.5%)
Platinum
950 (95%)
Silver
925 (92.5%)
c) the mark or symbol of the Assay Office where the piece was tested. Nowadays there are only four - London, Birmingham, Sheffield and Edinburgh.
There may be additional voluntary marks such as a date letter, a commom control mark which is used by countries which are members of the International Convention on Hallmarking on items intended for international trade, or a traditional fineness symbol, which denotes on of the older standards
Unless specifically exempted, all gold, silver and platinum articles offered for sale and described as such must be hallmarked if they are over a certain weight -
platinum - 0.5 grams
gold - 1 gram
silver - 7.8 grams
For further detailed information on hallmarking please refer to
http://www.the goldsmiths.co.uk/assayoffice(London)
http://www.theassayoffice.com (Birmingham)
http://www.assayoffice.co.uk (Sheffield)
http://www.assayofficescotland.com (Edinburgh)
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