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Gold, silver, platinum and
now palladium items sold in the UK have to be hallmarked by law, and it
is illegal to sell items without one. A hallmark is a guarantee of the
precious metal content of the item being bought. In the UK there are
four Assay Offices, each with their own hallmark - London, Birmingham,
Sheffield and Edinburgh. As well as the Assay Office hallmark, there is
the Sponsor's Mark (or the company where the item was made), and the
Finesse Mark, which tells you the precious metal content of the item.
The table below shows which hallmarks you can expect to find.
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