Look for the Hallmark: It's Your Guarantee

Look for the Hallmark: It's Your Guarantee

In the UK it is illegal to supply or offer to supply any item described as gold, silver, platinum or palladium unless it is hallmarked, subject to the exemption weights below. A hallmark is the independent guarantee, applied by one of the four UK Assay Offices, that a precious metal is of the purity claimed.

Exemption weights apply: silver 7.78g, gold 1g, palladium 1g, platinum 0.5g. Certain antique items may also be exempt.

What a hallmark looks like

A full UK hallmark is made up of these parts:

  • Who: the sponsor's mark, the registered mark of the company or individual who placed the item on the market.
  • What: the fineness mark, the precious metal content in parts per thousand, shown inside a shape specific to each metal (an oval for silver, a rounded rectangle for gold, a house shape for platinum, and so on).
  • Where: the assay office mark. Each of the four UK Assay Offices has its own: a leopard's head for London, an anchor for Birmingham, a rose for Sheffield, and a castle for Edinburgh.
  • International: an internationally recognised hallmark must contain the scales of the Common Control Mark.

For the full explanation, see our guide to the UK hallmarking system and our gold hallmark reference tables.

This notice is displayed in accordance with the Hallmarking Act 1973. The official Dealer's Notice is produced by the British Hallmarking Council and may be viewed at the UK Assay Offices, including the Goldsmiths' Company Assay Office and the Birmingham Assay Office. © British Hallmarking Council.