By Rocco Clayfield, founder of GoldPaid (GOLDPAID LTD) · Published · updated
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.
What 15ct and 12ct actually mean
Gold carat (or karat) is a fraction of 24. 24ct is pure gold. 18ct is 18/24, or 750 parts per 1000. 15ct is 15/24, 625 parts per 1000. 12ct is 12/24, 500 parts per 1000, so half gold and half alloy metals like copper and silver.
Both standards were introduced in the UK in 1854 alongside 9ct, when the Gold and Silver Wares Act 1854 legalised the lower jewellery standards (the Hallmarking Act is a much later statute, of 1973). Before that, 22ct and 18ct had been the only permitted British standards. The change let jewellers make more durable, more affordable pieces, and 15ct in particular became the workhorse carat of Victorian and Edwardian jewellery.
The 15ct and 12ct standards were withdrawn in 1932 and replaced by a single new intermediate standard: 14ct (585 parts per 1000), which is still current today alongside 9ct, 18ct and 22ct. After the changeover, no new British pieces were legally hallmarked as 15 or 12, so any mark you see is pre-1932, roughly 94 years old at the youngest.
How to spot the marks
The number is the giveaway. Look for a small punch with either the carat figure, the fineness figure, or both:
- 15ct: punched as 15, .625, or 15.625 in a shaped shield.
- 12ct: punched as 12, .5, or 12.5.
- Alongside the fineness, expect an assay office town mark (leopard’s head for London, anchor for Birmingham, a rose for Sheffield gold from 1904, the crown was the Sheffield silver mark until 31 December 1974, the rose replacing it for all metals from 1 January 1975, harp crowned for Dublin, castle for Edinburgh), a date letter, and a small sponsor’s mark showing the maker or retailer.
If the mark is worn, a loupe (10x) and daylight help. Do not scrub the piece: silver polish and cloth wear the punches away fastest.
What 15ct and 12ct pay at scrap
Scrap value is a direct function of gold content: the more pure gold a piece holds, the more metal there is to pay for. The share of pure gold in each carat:
| Carat | Fineness | Gold content (share of pure gold) |
|---|---|---|
| 22ct | 916 | ~91.7% |
| 18ct | 750 | ~75% |
| 15ct | 625 | ~62.5% |
| 14ct | 585 | ~58.5% |
| 12ct | 500 | ~50% |
| 9ct | 375 | ~37.5% |
Because 15ct holds 62.5% pure gold and 12ct holds 50%, a gram of 15ct carries more metal value than a gram of 12ct of the same weight, and both sit below higher carats such as 18ct and 22ct. What a buyer offers sits a little below the raw metal content to cover refining, assay and processing. The written offer after XRF testing is what settles the figure for a given piece; for background on how the market moves, see the gold price and selling by post.
A typical Victorian 15ct locket weighs 8–10 grams and a heavy 15ct Albert chain 30–40 grams, so the heavier chain holds several times the gold of the locket and its metal value is proportionally greater. The gold market moves every trading day, so any offer follows the tested weight and purity against the market on the day your parcel is valued.
When the antique beats the scrap
Auction premium tends to appear when you have one or more of these:
- A clear maker’s mark (sponsor’s initials) alongside the assay marks.
- Period design with intact detail, Etruscan-revival granulation, seed pearls, guilloché enamel, mine-cut diamonds still in their original settings.
- Original fitted case with retailer’s name (Asprey, Mappin & Webb, Garrard, a good regional jeweller).
- Named provenance, a documented family history or engraving that ties it to a person or event.
If any of these apply, a specialist jewellery auctioneer (Woolley & Wallis, Fellows, Bonhams, Tennants, a good regional saleroom) will value it free. Sending photos by email is enough for a first steer. Only send to scrap once you know what you have.
The pieces where scrap wins
Scrap is usually the answer when:
- The piece is broken, snapped or has lost its clasp and you would not wear it repaired.
- It is a plain 15ct or 12ct chain link, band or bar with no maker mark and no distinctive design.
- The stones are missing, damaged or clearly of low value.
- It is one of a dozen similar items from a house clearance and the metal value materially outweighs the auction hassle.
A snapped 12ct Albert chain at 20 g holds half its weight in pure gold, so there is real metal value in it even broken. The figure depends on inspection, tested purity, solder and any non-gold parts, and on the market on the day. An auction house would usually estimate a plain broken chain near its metal value, then deduct seller’s commission plus VAT and lot fees, and the sale takes weeks. The metal route wins on plain broken jewellery almost every time.
How our process handles antique carats
When a pre-1932 marked piece arrives with us, we do three things before quoting:
- Read the hallmark under magnification and record the assay office, date letter and sponsor’s mark.
- Test the metal in-house with XRF (X-ray fluorescence). This confirms the actual fineness, a piece marked 15ct should return around 62.5% gold; if XRF disagrees with the punch, we flag it and explain.
- Flag anything with obvious collector interest before we quote scrap. If your grandmother’s 15ct pendant looks like it belongs in a saleroom rather than a crucible, we will say so and return it free of charge for you to pursue an auction valuation.
A quick note on other unusual marks
While you are looking, you may also see:
- 22ct wedding bands, common in Victorian and early 20th-century marriage rings, still the traditional Indian standard.
- Foreign fineness marks: 750 (18ct), 585 (14ct), 375 (9ct) without a UK assay office punch. Legal to sell, tested by us on arrival.
- Pinchbeck and rolled gold, brass alloys and gold-plated base metals that resemble gold but are not. Often marked rolled gold, RG, GF (gold-filled) or unmarked. These have almost no scrap value.
- 9ct on later pieces, the lowest British gold standard, introduced in 1854 alongside 15 and 12, and still current.
Our full hallmark guide walks through the assay office punches, date letters and standard marks in order. Before you choose between auction and scrap, an XRF test of the actual alloy confirms whether a worn 15 or 12 mark is right.
If you want to sell
For plain 15ct or 12ct scrap, our antique gold and postal selling pages walk through the process. Royal Mail cover may be available up to £2,500 depending on the Royal Mail postal method and cover level used, Special Delivery is the usual choice. Once your parcel arrives, we weigh, XRF-test and offer within the working day, and we aim to pay by Faster Payments within one working hour of acceptance. If you decline the offer, return is free and tracked.
If the piece looks interesting, we say so before quoting. If it does not, we pay honestly on metal. Call or WhatsApp Rocco on 07944 014111 (8am–9pm, seven days) with a photo of the mark if you want a steer before posting.