Identify Hallmark Stamps On Gold Silver & Platinum
Silver Hallmarks
Silver hallmarks are stamped marking impressed on Silvercrafts to indicate the fineness of various silver items. Hallmarking was basically instituted to protect the interest of the consumers who are attracted to the luster of silver and to prevent false claims of silversmiths regarding the metallurgical standards of their products. Basically, silver hallmarking is the standardization of the quality of silver crafts.
Hallmarking was legally established in England in 1300 under the reign of King Edward I. He ordered that all gold and silver items must undergo a test called an “assay” that would certify its fineness. His decree stated that all silver crafts must be made from .925 silver or “sterling silver” at least.
These tests were conducted by governing bodies of craftsmen and silversmiths called guilds. During the reign of King Edward III, he granted a charter to the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths (aka Goldsmith Company). This guild of goldsmiths had a guild hall in London called Goldsmith’s Hall where they engraved the markings on the assayed items. From this process, where the guilds stamped the mark of quality within their guild hall, the term hallmark was coined.
Other countries followed England’s practice in standardizing the fineness of their silver products. These other countries now have their own Assay Offices. This practice was good in terms of protecting the interests of the consumers, but on each Assay Office on different countries and sometimes on different cities of countries, they would have their own marks or styles of marking which sometimes cause confusion as to the interpretation of the hallmarks that state the purity of silver in a particular item.
To address this dilemma, an international convention, called the Hallmark Convention was held and through this convention, an international mark known as the Common Control Mark (CCM) was agreed to be the international mark used by Assay Offices to determine silver purity on silver crafts.
During the time of Edward the I, Silver items were hallmarked only to determine the fineness of the silver but today, more marks are stamped. Each symbol impressed on the items indicate important information like: The Assay Office where the item was hall marked, the Fineness of the metal, the Maker of the item, the CCM, and sometimes, depending on the maker’s prerogative, the date of the assaying as well. All these marks may be helpful for you in determining the true value of the silver craft you are eyeing.
To illustrate the hallmarks that are being used for silver crafts, look at the table below. Each symbol corresponds to a certain information that would be beneficial for you.
Gold Hallmarks
Gold hallmarks are stamps of approval indicating that your gold piece meets the international standards for gold fineness. It indicates the millesimal fineness of your golden item and it, in some way, is the manufacturer’s guarantee that his claims for the purity of gold used in that particular item is indeed true.
Pure gold, as a metal, is generally too soft to be used for anything, For this reason, other metals are mixed with gold to create gold alloys sturdy enough to be used as raw material for gold crafts. The problem with this is that if the metal added to gold is too much, the monetary value of gold goes down.
Not everyone has the ability to determine the purity of gold in a certain item. In fact, not even veteran goldsmiths would be able to tell you accurately the millesemal fineness gold alloys by simply looking at them. Therefore, without the gold hallmarks, individuals will not be able to determine if the gold item they are purchasing is worth the price they are paying for.
You might be asking, Who stamps these marks on the gold?
Originally, the marks were impressed by a guild of goldsmiths. These goldsmiths are the ones who assay or test for the purity of the gold product, and they are the ones that mark the gold item within their guild halls. Through this process, the term hallmark was coined. At present, these hallmarks are now impressed by assay offices.
In these assay offices, gold products are tested for purity through various means. You can basically categorize these means between destructive and non-destructive methods. For the non-destructive method, two popular methods are used:
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Touchstone, which entails a special kind of stone that is used by rubbing on the golden item. Then the stone will be treated with acids which will result in the stone producing a certain color. It will then be compared to references. This method has an accuracy of 10 to 20 parts per thousand.
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X-Ray Fluorescence, This method is the quickest way in determining the millesimal fineness of gold in the item. It is also more effective with and accuracy 2-5 parts per thousands. Not only does this method measure the purity of gold, it could also determine how much of the added metal is used.
For a more accurate measurement of the fineness of gold parts in an item, a destructive method is required. The most popular method used in measuring gold fineness is Fire assay or Cupellation. This method requires the melting of the golden item. After melting, the metals used in the gold alloy is separated and measured. This method is the most accurate in assaying gold because it has an accuracy of 1 part in 10,000.
Since Fire Assay is a destructive method and all items produced must be assayed, the usual practice involves all three or at least two of the assaying methods to be used. While picking a few items to undergo cupellation (assuming that the items are massed produced), the rest would undergo either the touchstone method, the x-ray fluorescence method or both.
With these methods used in determining the fineness or purity of gold in gold alloys, whenever you see a genuinely hallmarked item, then you can be assured that what you hold or own meets the claims of the makers or manufacturers of that item.
Platinum Hallmarks
Platinum is one of the most expensive metals in the market together with gold and silver. Aside from jewelry and accessories, platinum is utilized for industrial use as well. In fact, platinums are widely used in the automobile industry.
Because of its luster and qualities, platinum has become a sought after metal. Unfortunately, this precious metal is quite rare therefore there is only a small supply of it in relation to the demand. From this relation of supply and demand, the price of platinum is expected to be high. Since the value of platinum has been recognized, it is anticipated that manufacturers may deceive consumers regarding the purity of the metal once used to produce a platinum alloy. Just like gold and silver, Platinum is mixed with other base metals to improve platinum’s strength. Therefore, it was decided that platinums should undergo assaying as well to protect the consumers form purchasing platinum alloys with less purity.
Today, Platinums undergo ICP spectronomy in order to get an accurate reading or measurement of its fineness. This is a complicated process involving the reaction between radiation and matter. What is certain though is that through this process, the assaying officer could either certify or disprove the claims of the makers regarding the fineness of their products.
Because of the requirement of platinum products to undergo assaying, Platinum now has its own Common Control Mark (CCM), an internationally recognized hallmark assigned to identify the purity of platinum in platinum alloys. It series of marks contains the same information as the other two metals (silver and gold), which indicates the assay office, the manufacturer, the fineness mark and the CCM and the only distinction between the three are the shapes of the CCM that corresponds to each precious metal.
With platinum hallmarking, it is to be expected that platinum products will meet not only the standards by which they are required, but also be true to their claim in terms of the millesimal fineness of their platinum alloys.
Hallmarks Explained
In order to fully appreciate the purpose of hallmarks, this entry seeks to explain the meanings of the images engraved together with the hallmarks that you will find in gold, silver and platinum products. Hopefully, this would help you get a better understanding of the marks.
Hallmarks became a requirement for products made of silver and gold in 1300 in England. During that time, there was a required fineness for these items. For example, all silver products should be made of sterling silver. And those silver products that have passed the assay and have been found to be sterling will bear the mark of quality. Any product that has a lower purity cannot bear the mark and is considered substandard. But during recent years, this law has changed. Gold, silver and platinum with lower purity or fineness could be manufactured and traded as long as the millesemal fineness is indicated in the product to let the consumers know of its true value. In 1972, the Hallmarking Convention was held where certain guidelines regarding the trade of precious metals were discussed. In 1975, the use of the Common Control Mark took into effect by the contracting members of the convention.
For a uniform and standardized hallmarking system or schemes, a Hallmarking Convention was held. In this Hallmarking Convention, a system was developed which will contribute to the more efficient trade of precious metals between member countries. The convention developed a Common Control Mark (CCM), a mark which indicates the millisemal fineness of the goods tested by an Assay Office in a certain country. This mark is accepted by other member countries, which means that these metals containing the CCM do not have to test the imported metals any more. With this system, the importation and exportation of precious metals are easier for member countries.
Also, the CCM made the markings regarding the precious metal’s fineness easier to read and understand because of the uniformity. The samples of Common Control Marks are shown below. Each shape of the mark corresponds to a precious metal while the number within the shape defines its purity.
The CCM is not the only information stamped on the precious metal. Other information are stamped on the hallmarked metal sold by the members of the convention. The basic markings included are the symbol or logo of the Assay Office. This is important because each Assay Office has its own mark. By identifying the mark, you could determine whether the quality of the metal goods are assayed by member countries, which makes further testing unnecessary or non-members, which means that the item is either a fake or does not conform to the standards there fore require re-assaying.
It also includes a responsibility mark or the maker’s mark. This indicates who the maker or producer of the metal is. This serves more for the purpose of brand identity more than anything else. With the CCM, there is little need to know who produced the item other than the quality and craftsmanship of the products. But in terms of liability due to not being able to meet its claim for metallurgical purity, the maker’s mark should be preceded by the Common Control Mark.
The fourth mark to be included on the hallmark is the fineness mark. To be honest, I can’t understand why a fineness mark is included with the hallmarks when the CCM already indicates the fineness of the metal. But it is still included to determine the purity of the precious metal.
These four marks are the minimum requirements for hallmarking. The images below show samples of hallmarks used in items and products made of precious metals.
With these, it must be easier for you to identify the hallmarks engraved in your metal products. Just remember that not all manufacturers have their products hallmarked. In the United States, for example, they don’t have a hallmarking scheme or hallmarking law. This means that their gold, silver and platinum products are not required to be assayed or hallmarked. But in the event that a manufacturer claims fineness for his or her products, that’s the only time that her goods should undergo assaying and be hallmarked.
