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.
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