Hallmarking does it really matter?

[BackyardBullion]

Here is another one with a bit of editing and better light!

[jonrms]

I know what you mean. 

 

[firestacker]

I have a question, why don't the likes of Baird & co mint have hallmarks on their bars? Isn't it a legal requirement? What makes them exempt? Perhaps the bars are poured made outside of the UK?

[sixgun]

35 minutes ago, firestacker said:

I have a question, why don't the likes of Baird & co mint have hallmarks on their bars? Isn't it a legal requirement? What makes them exempt? Perhaps the bars are poured made outside of the UK?

Silver bullion does not have to be hallmarked - so silver bars as sold by Baird do not need to be hallmarked. They are a lump of investment silver. i took a look at the 100g Scottish Silver bar - it does not need to be hallmarked.

There are items on that website which would need to be hallmarked.

Here is an example - this is clearly not just a lump of silver - i see hallmarking is not optional.

Personally i think the hallmark adds more than the £3 payable for the piece. i have been looking at gold on auction sites. There are 375 gold pieces - they are obviously not UK pieces and just have 375 on them. Would i prefer and pay more for a UK 9ct hallmark? You bet i would. It is third party assurance you have the real thing, 999 on a bar of silver doesn't really cut the mustard.

[StackemHigh]

I've got some hallmarked silver but on a couple of occasions when looking into them couldn't findout any info about the marking at all. I know very little about hallmarks. 

 

Is there more than 1 system for hallmarks ie. UK or By a country to country basis?

[jonrms]

1 hour ago, StackemHigh said:

I've got some hallmarked silver but on a couple of occasions when looking into them couldn't findout any info about the marking at all. I know very little about hallmarks. 

 

Is there more than 1 system for hallmarks ie. UK or By a country to country basis?

Yes and no, there are data bases which you can actually find me on. 

If you have the item, and can take a clear photo. I will go out if my way to help, as will almost everyone on here. 

Its fairly simple to trace  

Take my image above, 

♤♤♤ ( with ACE ) inside the spades is my own, makers mark that 5he Edinburgh assay office puts on. 

Then comes the purity, ○ 999 Proves my silver is pure.

Then there is a castle, this is Edinburgh assay office.  It shows who stamped the item

And finally a Letter in this case the letter 《 u 》 for 2019

 

I hope this helps

 

[BackyardBullion]

2 hours ago, StackemHigh said:

I've got some hallmarked silver but on a couple of occasions when looking into them couldn't findout any info about the marking at all. I know very little about hallmarks. 

 

Is there more than 1 system for hallmarks ie. UK or By a country to country basis?

Here is a very handy cheat sheet to explain the constituent parts.

As to searchable databases, they are only as good as the data that goes into it.

 

[Murph]

On 03/08/2019 at 17:30, HighlandTiger said:

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

Even 2000 and later stuff with the usual hallmarks as well or earlier imported silver? 

[tallyhojim]

On 20/08/2019 at 13:20, sixgun said:

Silver bullion does not have to be hallmarked - so silver bars as sold by Baird do not need to be hallmarked. They are a lump of investment silver. i took a look at the 100g Scottish Silver bar - it does not need to be hallmarked.

There are items on that website which would need to be hallmarked.

Here is an example - this is clearly not just a lump of silver - i see hallmarking is not optional.

Personally i think the hallmark adds more than the £3 payable for the piece. i have been looking at gold on auction sites. There are 375 gold pieces - they are obviously not UK pieces and just have 375 on them. Would i prefer and pay more for a UK 9ct hallmark? You bet i would. It is third party assurance you have the real thing, 999 on a bar of silver doesn't really cut the mustard.

Same with Royal Mint and Royal Mint Refinery. They sell cast bars and precision bars alike, yet no hallmarks on those jobbies either. All they have is a logo and a serial number.

Best rule of thumb is to look at what the big boys do.