By Rocco Clayfield, trading as GoldPaid; the business incorporated as GOLDPAID LTD (company 17382540) on 5 August 2026 · 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.
The British hallmarking rule, in plain terms
Under the Hallmarking Act 1973, in force since 1 January 1975, items above a small weight (currently 1g for gold) sold as gold in the course of a trade or business must carry an assay-office hallmark. The rule covers what can be sold as gold in a UK shop. It does not affect whether the item is actually gold. Plenty of real, solid gold jewellery in the UK is unhallmarked because it was made abroad, made before the rule, made under the weight threshold, or made by a jeweller who omitted the mark. If your mind is made up and you simply want the process, the service page to sell unwanted jewellery covers the label, the timings and the paperwork.
- Gold: hallmarking is not required under 1 gram.
- Silver: not required under 7.78 grams.
- Platinum: not required under 0.5 gram.
- Palladium: not required under 1 gram.
XRF reads the metal itself, so the absence of a hallmark is not an obstacle to selling. A parcel with no marks at all is priced by exactly the same method as a fully hallmarked one.
Common sources of unhallmarked gold
Gold reaches British households unmarked for several ordinary reasons: Indian, Pakistani and Bengali jewellery (often 22ct, sometimes with BIS marks rather than British hallmarks); Saudi, Bahraini and Dubai jewellery (often 21ct or 22ct, sometimes marked 875 or 916); foreign-holiday purchases from Greece, Turkey, Cyprus and Italy (often 14ct or 18ct with local marks); pre-1973 British pieces (older marking conventions, sometimes worn smooth); small pieces under the 1g threshold (single small charms, fine ear-studs); workshop pieces and one-off goldsmith commissions where the mark was never applied.
Foreign marks: what they usually mean
On Indian pieces, BIS hallmarks (BIS triangle plus 916 or similar) indicate certified 22ct. On Saudi pieces, "750" or "916" stamps with Arabic letters indicate 18ct or 22ct. On Italian pieces, "750" alongside a maker number in a diamond-shaped punch with a province code (VI, AR, MI) indicates 18ct. On Turkish pieces, "14K" or "18K" alongside the maker stamp is common. On Cypriot pieces, small worn marks of variable reliability.
None of these are British assay-office hallmarks. None of them prevent the piece from being real gold. XRF confirms the actual purity in every case.
When XRF is your friend
The single most useful tool for unhallmarked gold is XRF. It reads the metal composition through dirt and tarnish and gives a verified purity number. Plating is the limit: XRF reads only the top few microns, so we test more than one point and check the wear points and weight before calling a piece solid. We test the piece itself, not its hallmark or its origin story. If a Greek holiday chain that "looks like 9ct" tests at 14ct, we pay 14ct. If an Indian wedding bangle that "looks like 24ct" tests at 22ct, we pay 22ct.
You are paid what the metal is, not what someone in a souk or a hotel jewellery shop told you it was. If you only want the answer, XRF testing on its own, without a sale, is available by post too.
How to post an unmarked parcel safely
- Photograph each piece in daylight, front and back.
- WhatsApp 07944 014111 with the photos and a note on origin if known.
- We email a prepaid Royal Mail Special Delivery label.
- Place each piece in its own zip-bag and pad the box.
- Drop at the Post Office counter and keep the receipt.
- On arrival we XRF-test each piece and email a written per-piece offer.
There is no extra fee for unhallmarked pieces and no penalty in the offer. The postal-gold service handles marked and unmarked parcels the same way.
When unmarked turns out not to be gold
A portion of unmarked "gold" jewellery turns out to be gold-plated, gold-filled or pinchbeck (a copper-zinc alloy that looks gold). Testing at more than one point, with the wear points and the weight, shows the plating for what it is. We tell you on the written offer and return the pieces at our cost if you would prefer to keep them.
There is no charge for testing a piece that turns out not to be gold, and we would rather tell you plainly than let you assume otherwise.