Dealer's Notice
As a dealer in second-hand precious metals, we are required by the UK Hallmarking Act 1973 to display this notice. A hallmark is an official mark struck on items made of gold, silver, platinum or palladium to certify their precious-metal content. It is your guarantee that the metal has been independently tested by a UK Assay Office.
Statutory notice: information on hallmarking
It is a criminal offence for any person, in the course of a trade or business, to describe an unhallmarked article as being wholly or partly made of gold, silver, platinum or palladium, or to supply such an article, unless it bears an approved hallmark or is exempt.
An approved hallmark consists of the following compulsory marks:
- The sponsor's (or maker's) mark — identifying the company or individual who submitted the article for hallmarking.
- The fineness (purity) mark — a number showing the precious-metal content in parts per thousand, for example 375 for 9ct gold or 750 for 18ct gold.
- The assay office mark — identifying the UK office that tested and marked the article (London, Birmingham, Sheffield or Edinburgh).
Articles may also carry optional marks, such as a traditional fineness symbol, a date letter, or a commemorative mark.
Certain articles are exempt from hallmarking because they fall below the minimum weight at which a hallmark is legally required:
- Gold articles weighing less than 1 gram.
- Silver articles weighing less than 7.78 grams.
- Platinum articles weighing less than 0.5 grams.
- Palladium articles weighing less than 1 gram.
What we do with unhallmarked items
In plain English: not every item that comes to us carries a hallmark. Older pieces, items below the exempt weights above, and items made outside the UK may have no mark at all, or a mark that cannot be relied upon. Where an item is unhallmarked, we do not simply take its description at face value.
Instead, we professionally test every unhallmarked item to confirm its actual purity before we agree a price with you. Testing and weighing are always free, and any estimate we give beforehand is a guide price, not an offer — the figure is confirmed only after we have tested and weighed the item. If you decide not to go ahead, we return your item to you at no cost.
You can read more about how our prices are worked out or get a free guide-price estimate before sending anything to us.
Note: the exact statutory wording of this notice, and the current minimum exemption weights, should be confirmed against the latest British Hallmarking Council guidance before launch.