Foreign gold hallmarks: a UK buyer’s reference guide

Why foreign gold looks unfamiliar to UK sellers

Gold sold as gold by a UK trader must carry a UK hallmark, or a recognised Convention mark, once it passes the exemption weight (1g for gold). That is a domestic rule. Gold made and sold abroad follows the assay system of the country it was made in. When it arrives in the UK second-hand, inherited, brought back from a trip, bought at a bazaar, the original marks travel with it. They look different because the systems are different, not because the gold is fake.

We test every piece by in-house XRF regardless of what is stamped. The stamp is a starting point; the XRF reading is the fact. That means a piece with no legible mark is still tested and still paid on its measured purity. See our gold hallmark guide for UK marks.

Turkey: 585, 750, 916 and the Darphane assay

Turkish gold is common in UK parcels because of family gift traditions, wedding sets, bilezik bracelets, coins mounted as pendants. Turkish gold is routinely stamped with 585 (14ct), 750 (18ct) and 916 (22ct) fineness marks; state oversight of precious metals runs through the Darphane (the Turkish State Mint) and the Borsa Istanbul precious metals market. In UK-received parcels the fineness stamp is typically accompanied by a small maker or assay symbol.

• 916 (22ct): the classic Turkish wedding-gold standard, deep yellow, soft, high resale.
• 750 (18ct): more common in modern jewellery and gem-set pieces.
• 585 (14ct): lighter yellow, harder wearing, often chain and clasp work.

Older Ottoman-era pieces may carry a tugra (sultan’s cypher) rather than a numeric fineness. Those are collectable in their own right and an auction house may be the better route, so send us a photo before you post them.

UAE and Dubai: 750, 875 and 916

Dubai gold sold at DGJG member shops usually carries a Dubai Central Laboratory (DCL) mark, plus a fineness. You will see 750 (18ct), 875 (21ct) and 916 (22ct). 21ct is the regional favourite, a nice compromise between colour and hardness that is uncommon in UK-made jewellery.

Italy: 750/585/375 with a province code

Italian jewellery uses fineness numbers plus a maker’s mark in a diamond-shaped punch containing a number and a two-letter province code. For example, "750 12 AL" would indicate 18ct gold, maker number 12, registered in Alessandria. The province codes cover the whole peninsula, MI Milan, VI Vicenza, AR Arezzo, VE Venice and so on.

Italian chain is often thin, hollow and beautifully made. Weigh it dry, trapped water skews scales, and expect the scrap number to be based purely on gold content, not on the workmanship.

India: BIS 916 triangle since 2021

Since June 2021 the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) hallmark on gold has been compulsory for retail sale in the notified districts. A current BIS hallmark has three parts: the BIS triangle logo, the purity (for example 22K916, 18K750 or 14K585) and a six-character alphanumeric HUID (Hallmark Unique ID). Older BIS-marked pieces also carry an assay centre mark, a jeweller’s mark and a year letter. Older Indian gold, or gold from smaller towns, may carry only a maker’s stamp or nothing at all.

22ct Indian gold is the workhorse of family collections. If the piece is unmarked but feels like 22ct, XRF will confirm it in under a minute.

Saudi Arabia: 875, 916, 999

Saudi gold typically stamps fineness directly: 875, 916 or 999. 999 is bullion-grade and appears in bar and coin form. Jewellery is usually 21ct (875) or 22ct (916). Marks are commonly Arabic-numeral punches on the clasp or bar-end.

Germany: 333, 585, 750

German jewellery uses 333 (8ct), 585 (14ct) and 750 (18ct). 333 is legal to sell as gold in Germany but pays poorly per gram, because only a third of it is gold, so a 333 chain is worth noticeably less per gram than 9ct. It is genuine gold, but it is thin gold.

USA: 10K, 14K, 18K karat stamps

American gold uses karat stamps rather than fineness: 10K (417), 14K (585), 18K (750). "GF" means gold-filled (a mechanical bond of gold sheet to base metal, not solid gold) and "GP" means gold-plated (a thin electroplated layer). GF and GP are not accepted as solid gold. If in doubt, XRF sorts it in seconds.

Soviet-era Russia: 583 predates 1994

The famous rose-gold Soviet ring is usually stamped 583 alongside a five-pointed star containing a hammer and sickle, the Soviet state assay mark. The woman’s-head "kokoshnik" mark belongs to Imperial Russia before 1917 and to the Russian Federation today; pre-1917 gold is marked in zolotniks, where 56 equals 583. 583 is 14ct-adjacent (58.3% pure). Russia moved to the international 585 standard in the mid-1990s, commonly given as 1994 though we have not found a primary source for the date, so 583 marks generally indicate Soviet or immediate post-Soviet manufacture.

Summary table

What if there is no legible mark?

Then the stamp cannot help you, and XRF has to. Unmarked pieces are tested the same way as marked ones, and a suspicious mark is cross-checked: some fakes carry a plausible "750" stamp on brass. XRF sees through the stamp to the metal beneath and reports the true composition, gold, silver, copper, zinc, nickel, in one shot.

How to read a mark quickly at home

For the fast method see how to read a gold hallmark in 60 seconds. For the meaning of specific numbers, 417, 333, 583, 585, 875, see what do those numbers mean on gold.

Selling foreign-hallmarked gold in the UK

The dedicated selling page for foreign-hallmarked pieces is sell foreign gold. It walks through the ID, payment (Faster Payments to a UK account in the seller’s name) and postal cover specifics that come up on Turkish, Dubai, Italian, Indian and Saudi parcels. Every piece is XRF-tested on arrival and priced on the assayed content rather than the stamp. If you only want a foreign stamp checked, XRF metal testing by post gives a written reading with no obligation to sell.