Hallmarking does it really matter?

[jonrms]

I will always Hallmark my silver to give confidence that your buying genuine 999 silver, this way and in my case, you can trust that the art and purity is exactly as described.  

 

[HighlandTiger]

It's been good enough for silver makers for hundreds of years, why stop now?

[sixgun]

By silver bullion i take it you mean silver bars and other silver 'lump' items. The majority don't have a silver hallmark - most of what i have in this category are US - Australian made. i will still buy them. Would i prefer there were hallmarks on everything - yes but this just isn't the reality by a long way so i have to accept it the way it is.

If i were in the business of making quality handmade silver in the UK, i think it is a bit of a no brainer to get it hallmarked. 

[jonrms]

It makes for a interesting read so far. 

Thank you who have contributed.  

[Oldun]

It is the law....end of.

[Fastnick]

Only yesterday I ordered a 100 gram silver cube from PURE Scottish Silver, and at the checkout stage I had the option to pay an extra £3 to have the item hallmarked.

I didn't bother as it would have increased the price (which was already a fair percentage over spot) by a further 5%; although I purchased the cube primarily as something nice to put on my desk/use as a paperweight, as opposed to buying it as an investment, I really didn't see the point in paying even more for it - plus, as it's coming from a very reputable source, I have no worries regarding its provenance.

[MancunianStacker]

31 minutes ago, Fastnick said:

Only yesterday I ordered a 100 gram silver cube from PURE Scottish Silver, and at the checkout stage I had the option to pay an extra £3 to have the item hallmarked.

I didn't bother as it would have increased the price (which was already a fair percentage over spot) by a further 5%; although I purchased the cube primarily as something nice to put on my desk/use as a paperweight, as opposed to buying it as an investment, I really didn't see the point in paying even more for it - plus, it is coming from a very reputable source, I have no worries regarding its provenance.

So are they breaking the law for making it an option? @Oldun

[Oldun]

It would appear so

https://internal.theassayoffice.com/legislation/current-legislation

@BackyardBullion can help you further but everything should be in the link I have provided.

[jonrms]

By law the easy to read black and white paper is this.

Bullion does not need to be hallmarked.  

Jewellery does, 

However then there are a TONNE of grey areas. 

I think BYB and I agree not to have issues or hassle. 

[BackyardBullion]

When does something stop becoming bullion?

This is the main question.

Personally I think that a Hallmark adds more value to the piece than it will cost to have done (in the long run of course).

Without Hallmarking I would not be doing this as a business, it's the USP and this is why I will always Hallmark 

[BackyardBullion]

10 hours ago, Oldun said:

It would appear so.

Regarding PURE Scottish silver advertising Hallmarking as an optional extra, I am nowhere near well versed enough to determine whether this is illegal to do.

If it is an item that could be classified as "bullion" or a bar/round/sheet etc then it is not a problem. 

The issue is that of interpretation - if a trading standards officer interprets differently to you then you could very easily have a visit from Plod and find yourself at very least fighting a legal battle over the definition of "bullion".

Charging for a Hallmark is fine - but it should not be an optional extra in my opinion. Either commit and do it or stay within the confines of the exemption list is my advice.

 

[jonrms]

2 hours ago, BackyardBullion said:

Regarding PURE Scottish silver advertising Hallmarking as an optional extra, I am nowhere near well versed enough to determine whether this is illegal to do.

If it is an item that could be classified as "bullion" or a bar/round/sheet etc then it is not a problem. 

The issue is that of interpretation - if a trading standards officer interprets differently to you then you could very easily have a visit from Plod and find yourself at very least fighting a legal battle over the definition of "bullion".

Charging for a Hallmark is fine - but it should not be an optional extra in my opinion. Either commit and do it or stay within the confines of the exemption list is my advice.

 

We are both on the same page, I started this topic and pole with a view to understanding what others think, and hopefully educating them too. 

It's not a cheap and a service you can cheat. And to be honest I prefer to Hallmark as you do MASTER 😎😎 because I know I am well within the law. 

There are soo many other factors that are never considered when selling your poured silver in the UK  I recently has to get the dreaded "business insurance " oooh that was fun. 

How are you on that @BackyardBullion ??? 

I have a £750,000 Machine and good policy,

And a £100,000 damage 

Plus more I won't get into. 😱😱😱😱

[RacerCool]

Hallmarking is very important for silver items, such as serving trays, jewelry, etc, etc. I won't buy anything that doesn't have one and/or "925" on it.

[TeaTime]

Yes, it matters to me on anything that's not a coin or certified silver bar. And i mean a proper hallmark not a '925' stamp that joe bloggs can buy off Ebay for £2.

I am suspicious of any silver sold without a hallmark. And when i say suspicious i mean i have lost money in the past due to fraud. As far as i am concerned no-one should be able to sell silver items without a hallmark. 'Bullion' home-made bars etc included.

[jonrms]

I would really like to get to a 100 botes on this to see more in depth of a overall view and percentage.  

[Xander]

I would only buy hallmarked silver as it has been authenticated. I don't have the means to test and don't think it's worth the bother, for me that is.

[ossie111]

I'm no expert in this subject, but I thought that anything marketed as silver had to have a hallmark on as a standard, but anything not hallmarked should be termed as "White Metal" which is normally for foreign silver.  Anything sold as "sterling" has to have the .925 full hallmark though, to be called English sterling.

 

[jonrms]

1 hour ago, ossie111 said:

I'm no expert in this subject, but I thought that anything marketed as silver had to have a hallmark on as a standard, but anything not hallmarked should be termed as "White Metal" which is normally for foreign silver.  Anything sold as "sterling" has to have the .925 full hallmark though, to be called English sterling.

 

There is a loophole,  

And I am not trying to say that I am or will ever use it, BYB and I ( from our chats) both agree that it's not worth having a issue or being raised by trading standards.  

 

[kimchi]

I would only buy premium poured silver hallmarked myself. I think back before I joined this forum for jewellery etc I wouldn't think too much of it really as long as I bought from a long-standing and reputable company.

(I suppose trinkets etc wouldn't really matter too much to me but aren't really the topic.)

If there's a loophole or grey area then I have no problem with folk using it, I just wouldn't buy from them. In the example of Pure Scottish Silver I would think it's a very good idea to offer an optional hallmark for a fee rather than including it automatically if they believe they are exempt, they'd lose a lot of savvy customers otherwise I reckon. I'd buy from them.

For a full-time business though there is always that extra reassurance that every single piece has been hallmarked, so they have the longest track record possible and perhaps have had a fail which they've learned from. Plus it's that extra insistence on quality and care that many of us find so important.

Again though, my stance now is all pretty much from being on the forum.

[HighlandTiger]

20 hours ago, RacerCool said:

Hallmarking is very important for silver items, such as serving trays, jewelry, etc, etc. I won't buy anything that doesn't have one and/or "925" on it.

I won't buy ANYTHING that has 925 on it. It means bugger all. 

[jonrms]

Anyone can buy a .925 or .999 stamp. 

 

I think I will only sell hallmarked items, this way it's assured, I never had plans to change.  

But I appreciate everyone's feedback on this, it shows me alot. 

[ossie111]

If your selling silver like this Hand-poured art pieces, by not having a hallmark it reflects on the seller and screams cheap to me,

finally, why wouldn't a manufacturer have their name on one of their own products as a hallmark would show - no brainer

[BackyardBullion]

Just now, ossie111 said:

finally, why wouldn't a manufacturer have their name on one of their own products as a hallmark would show - no brainer

It all comes down to costs and the amount of effort and energy it takes to embrace hallmarking. 

[jonrms]

On ‎04‎/‎08‎/‎2019 at 09:52, BackyardBullion said:

It all comes down to costs and the amount of effort and energy it takes to embrace hallmarking. 

Ok the start up costs are high, and until your established they test a lot more pieces than they would if you are submitting a lot of work.

Cost was a no brainer, pay up..... and get yourself established,. Keep having your work submitted. I only ever let 1 piece of silver go without hallmarking, and that was due to a charity raffle.

 

[BackyardBullion]

This is so beautiful the question is why would you not want to hallmark!