Gold Hallmarks Guide

Gold and silver hallmarking has a surprisingly long and complex history, with origins going back to the Byzantine Empire of the 4th century. Marked silver pieces of this era have been found by archaeologists, although the interpretation of these marks has not yet been identified. Hallmarking as we know it in modern times began to be fully developed during the Middle Ages, when regional governments created official assayers to examine and identify goods made of metal.

European goldsmiths and silversmiths first began hallmarking their pieces in France, where properly identifying gold and silver purity was considered a trade ethic. In order to ensure consumer protection in France, the Goldsmiths Statue of 1260 was established which set purity standards for artisans and craftsmen. This was followed in other countries throughout Europe, where countries established national markings and punches to be inscribed in each piece, signifying not only purity, but also country of origin.

One of the first major developments in British hallmarking occurred in 1300 when King Edward I created a statue requiring silver items to be 92.5 percent silver; this early sterling silver mark was comprised of a leopard’s head.  This idea was further developed in 1327 when King Edward III bestowed a royal charter to the Goldsmith’s Company, also known as the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths; this group was based at Goldsmith’s Hall in London, which led to the origination of the term “hallmark.”

Artists impression of Goldsmiths hall from the 19th century. The Hall still stands and offers tours, exhibitions and events.

This time period was when the era of the “maker’s mark” truly began, as goldsmiths and silversmiths   used special tools to carve either their initials or their coat of arms into their pieces. These hallmarks served not only to identify the master craftsman who made the piece, but also to identify the purity of the metal. Gold purity at the time was based on a 20 karat standard, with silver standards being set at 75 percent and above.  Because purity could not be scientifically analyzed, it was a question of taking the craftsman’s word that the metal was exactly as he stated it to be.

Up until 1998, British hallmarking consisted of four compulsory marks. The first of these compulsory marks identifies the maker of the item, and often consists of initials. The second is the standard of purity, which is indicated by three-digit numbers. According to present-day gold standards, 9 carat gold is marked “375,” 14 carat is marked “585,” 18 carat is marked “750” and 22 carat is marked “916.”

The assay office mark is another compulsory mark, and indicates the assay office where the piece was tested for purity. As of today, there are four British assay offices — Birmingham, London, Edinburgh and Sheffield. The mark for Birmingham is an anchor turned on its side, the mark for London is a leopard’s head, the mark for Edinburgh is a castle and the mark for Sheffield is the Yorkshire rose.

The date marking is actually a letter, not a date, and indicates when the piece was tested. Each assay office used a different code of letters for dates until 1975, when all of the assay offices in the UK began going by the same coding. The date letters are in a variety of different cases and fonts, and each letter correlates to a specific year.

In today’s hallmarking, there are only three compulsory marks — the maker’s mark, assay office mark and purity mark. While these marks are sufficient to identify any gold or silver item, goldsmiths and silversmiths are also allowed to add extra official voluntary marks. For example, the “lion passant” mark is often included for silver, while the British crown mark is often punched into gold articles. In addition, a special “millennium mark,” comprised of a cross shape with the numbers “2000,” was created for 1999 and 2000 and is often found in gold and silver articles made during that time.

While monetary standards may change through the centuries, the standard of hallmarking for gold has been a constant throughout Europe. In particular, the British hallmarking system for gold has long been recognized as of the most important — and time-honored — developments in the history of world commerce, and continues to be so to this day.