Gold Hallmarks

Gold Hallmarks identification

If your going to buy and sell gold then it is important that you should fully understand the hallmarks on your gold, it can have a significant impact on the resale value of your scrap gold. Check our examples of the different carat hallmarks then compare them to any gold you have before you calculate its resale value.

The Hallmarking Act 0f 1973

In 1973 a new act of parliament was passed to simplify and regulate hallmarks on gold in Britain, this act came into force 1 January 1975. The act governs hallmarks of the four remaining assay offices, London, Edinburgh, Birmingham and Sheffield. All gold items that weigh 1 gram or more must be hallmarked before they can be legally described as gold.

Fineness marks and Caratage ( Karatage )

Fineness is a common control mark used to determine the purity of a gold item, it consists of numerals, a mark of origin and a makers mark. Occasionally you will find some gold items that consist of only the purity mark and nothing else e.g. 375 or 9ct, this is common for gold items of foreign origin or items that might have been custom made for an individual and have not been properly assayed. Its important to recognize as many different hallmarks as possible including all the their alternatives, study the hallmarks below, we have included the most popular ones for your reference.

9 Carat Gold ( 375 )

9 carat gold usually consists of one of the following hallmarks, 375 would be the purity mark sometimes this can be stamped just 9ct or 9k depending on the country of origin.

10 carat Gold ( 417 )

10 carat gold usually consists of one of the following hallmarks, 417 would be the purity mark but can also be stamped just 10k.

14 carat Gold ( 585 )

14 carat gold usually consists of the following hallmark, 585 would be the purity mark but can also be stamped 14kt or just 14k depending on the country of origin.

15 carat Gold ( 625 )

15 carat gold is pretty rare and seldom seen much these days but if you should come across some it would usually be hallmarked, 625 for its purity or more common is to see just 15 or 15k stamped into pieces of jewellery.

18 carat Gold ( 750 )

18 carat gold consists of the following hallmark, 750 would be its purity mark but often can be stamped just 18k, 18 or 18kt depending on the country of origin.

22 carat Gold ( 916 )

22 carat gold is generally quite rare in the UK but very popular in far eastern countries, its quite common not to find hallmarks on some pieces of 22 carat jewellery but when you do it would usually be stamped just 916 (22) or 22ct.

24 carat Gold ( 999 ) ( 999.9 )

24 carat gold is seldom used for jewellery production here in the UK but occasionally does get used in far eastern countries, 24 carat gold is usually reserved for Bullion Bars and Gold coin production. The hallmark is 990, 999 or even 999.9 in very high purity.

What do all these numbers mean?

Simply put, they represent the amount of pure gold in any given item that bears a caratage (Karatage) mark. If we use a scale from 1 to 1000, 1000 being the purest gold, then 9ct gold (375) would contain 375 parts pure gold and 24ct (999.9) would be as close to 100% pure gold as you will find.