The four assay offices still open
| Assay office | Town mark | Founded |
|---|---|---|
| London | Leopard’s head | 1300 (Goldsmiths’ Company) |
| Edinburgh | Three-towered castle | 1457 (Scottish hallmarking Act; date letters from 1681) |
| Birmingham | Anchor | 1773 |
| Sheffield | Rose (formerly a crown for silver) | 1773 |
These four still strike physical and laser hallmarks today. Their town marks are the most reliable confirmation that an item went through a UK assay office.
Found a stamp on your piece? Send us a photo of it
Photograph the number stamped inside the ring or on the clasp, then the whole piece, and send both on WhatsApp. We will reply with what the mark means and a rough estimate of what we would pay. No obligation, and nothing needs posting.
No WhatsApp? Call 07944 014111, 8am to 9pm.
Not sure what the mark says? Use the hallmark lookup. Final offers depend on inspection, item weight, purity, hallmarks, stones, non-gold components, condition and the live precious-metal market.
Closed offices you may still see on older pieces
| Office | Town mark | Closed |
|---|---|---|
| Chester | Three wheatsheaves and a sword | 1962 |
| Glasgow | Tree, bird, bell and fish | 1964 |
| Newcastle | Three castles | 1884 |
| Exeter | Three towers | 1883 |
| York | Cross and lions | 1858 |
| Dublin (Ireland, separate jurisdiction) | Hibernia, with a crowned harp as the standard mark | still active |
A Chester wheatsheaves-and-sword mark with a date letter from before 1962, or a Glasgow tree-bird-bell-fish, are good clues to age and provenance. They do not on their own add value, but combined with a sponsor’s mark they can identify a maker worth more than scrap.
Why a town mark matters
The town mark confirms that an independent UK office tested the piece for purity at the time of manufacture. That is why UK silver and gold has an international reputation: the punch is not the maker’s claim, it is a third party’s test. The current system runs under the Hallmarking Act 1973, and it has teeth: it is an offence for a trader to describe an unhallmarked item as gold, silver, platinum or palladium when selling it in the UK above the exemption weights, 1 g for gold and palladium, 7.78 g for silver and 0.5 g for platinum. Below those weights an item can legally be sold unmarked, which is why many lightweight earrings and fine chains carry no hallmark at all yet are perfectly genuine. The town mark is also the first clue an auction specialist uses to date and authenticate a piece, alongside the date letter and sponsor’s mark.
What it does not change
For everyday scrap pricing, the town mark does not change the offer. Birmingham 9ct is the same metal as London 9ct. It starts to matter on older pieces, where the maker’s mark, town and date letter together pin down a particular silversmith. A piece identified that way can be worth well above its metal. For everyday pieces the order is simple: identify the marks, have the metal tested, and let the tested purity and weight set the value.
Common questions
How do I read a UK assay office mark?
Look for a small picture-punch alongside the other marks. Anchor = Birmingham, leopard = London, castle = Edinburgh, rose = Sheffield.
Are non-UK marks accepted as hallmarks?
An imported piece tested by a UK office carries that office’s marks like any other UK hallmark; before 1999 imports had their own versions of the office marks, with fineness figures such as .750 or .925. Convention hallmarks struck in other member countries of the International Convention on Hallmarks are also legally recognised in the UK. A piece with only a foreign maker’s stamp is not hallmarked.
Does a closed-office mark mean the piece is fake?
No. Pieces hallmarked at Chester, Glasgow, Newcastle, Exeter or York are genuine, those offices simply no longer operate.
Not the question you had? The full GoldPaid FAQ covers the rest, from postal cover and ID checks to what happens if you decline the offer.
Speak to us before you post
Please send us photos on WhatsApp, and we will help you. We give a rough estimate where possible and arrange postage with you after our conversation. Your final offer follows inspection.