Hallmark

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Written on Aug 20, 2021
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A mark made on precious metals after an assay test. At present there are two qualities of silver and four of gold. The British hallmark is accepted internationally as a guarantee of standard. There are four marks: the maker’s mark, the hall or assayoffice mark, the quality mark and the date letter. The hall or assay-office mark may be made at London (leopard), Chester (the arms of the city), Birmingham (anchor). Sheffield (crown), Edinburgh (castle). Glasgow (fish, tree, bell and bird) and Dublin (Irish harp with crown).

The quality of gold is indicated by the carat mark. The four recognized U.K. carat marks are 22 carat (i.e. twenty-two parts gold and two parts alloy), 18 carat, 14 carat H and 9 carat. DubUn has an additional 12carat mark. The quality marks for silver are a lion passant for England and a thistle or a lion rampant for Scotland. The date is indicated by a letter, each year having a separate letter and the letters being changed at different times at different centres.

Every object made from gold or silver must bear a hallmark. There are some exceptions, which are briefly: (1) fine chains. e.g. dress chains, key chains, Alberts and other watch chains; the exemption does not necessarily apply to items suspended from the chains; (2) lockets; (3) the actual settings of precious stones; (4) imported items over 100 years old; (5) gold rings other than wedding rings, gold jointed sleeper earrings, gold thimbles, gold pencil cases, gold items richly engraved or set with stones that could be damaged by marking and gold items too small to be marked (weighing less than ten dwts); (6) silver stamped medals and silver items which are very small in size or of negligible weight. The penalties for selling gold or silver goods which are not hallmarked and are not exempt therefrom are severe.

Reference: The Penguin Business Dictionary, 3rd edt.


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James Knight

James Knight

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James is the Editor of Education for Invezz, where he covers topics from across the financial world, from the stock market, to cryptocurrency, to macroeconomic markets. His main focus is on improving financial literacy among casual investors. He has been with Invezz since the start of 2021 and has been...