EUROPEAN COUNTRIES SILVER AND GOLD HALLMARKS
ITALY
A silver or gold object that is to be sold commercially is, in most countries, stamped with one or more hallmarks indicating the purity of the metal and the mark of the manufacturer or silversmith
The word "HALLMARK" derives from the fact that, since the 16th century, precious metals were sent to the London Goldsmiths' Hall for testing to ensure that the correct standard of silver had been used. The Goldsmiths' Hall was the headquarters of the Goldsmiths' Company and the home of the Assay Office.
In some countries, the testing of precious metal objects and marking of purity is controlled by a national assay office.
Depending on the national legislation the use of hallmarks may be compulsory, voluntary or provided by a manufacturer's declaration.
The Italian hallmarking system is organized on a compulsory base.
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ITALIAN HALLMARKS
SILVERSMITH'S HALLMARK |
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The hallmark consists on a "star", a number (identifying the silversmith)
and a two letters alphabetic code (identifying the province) |
PROVINCE CODES
AG Agrigento AL Alessandria AN Ancona AO Aosta AQ L'Aquila AR Arezzo AP Ascoli-Piceno AT Asti AV Avellino BA Bari BT Barletta-Andria-Trani BL Belluno BN Benevento BG Bergamo BI Biella BO Bologna BZ Bolzano BS Brescia BR Brindisi CA Cagliari CL Caltanissetta CB Campobasso CI Carbonia Iglesias CE Caserta CT Catania CZ Catanzaro CH Chieti CO Como CS Cosenza CR Cremona KR Crotone CN Cuneo EN Enna FM Fermo FE Ferrara FI Firenze FG Foggia FC Forli-Cesena FR Frosinone GE Genova GO Gorizia GR Grosseto IM Imperia IS Isernia SP La-Spezia LT Latina LELecce LC Lecco LI Livorno LO Lodi LU Lucca MCMa cerata MN Mantova MS Massa-Carrara MT Matera VS Medio Campidano ME Messina MI Milano MO Modena MB Monza-Brianza NA Napoli NO Novara NU Nuoro OG Ogliastra OT Olbia Tempio OR Oristano PD Padova PA Palermo PR Parma PV Pavia PG Perugia PU Pesaro-Urbino PE Pescara PC Piacenza PI Pisa PT Pistoia PN Pordenone PZ Potenza PO Prato RG Ragusa RA Ravenna RC Reggio-Calabria RE Reggio-Emilia RI Rieti RN Rimini Roma Roma RO Rovigo SA Salerno SS Sassari SV Savona SI Siena SR Siracusa SO Sondrio TA Taranto TETeramo TR Terni TO Torino TP Trapani TN Trento TV Treviso TS Trieste UD Udine VA Varese VE Venezia VBVerbania VC Vercelli VR Verona VV Vibo-Valentia VI Vicenza VT Viterbo |
METAL FINENESS MARK |
SILVER |
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| silver fineness 800/1000 and 925/1000 |
GOLD |
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| gold fineness 750/1000 (left) and higher than 750/1000 (right) |
PLATINUM |
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| platinum fineness 850/1000, 900/1000 and 950/1000 |
PALLADIUM |
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| palladium fineness 500/1000 and 950/1000 |
HALLMARKING CONVENTION
Italy is country member from 2023 of the Convention on the Control and Marking of Articles of Precious Metals, an international treaty between States on the cross border trade in precious metal articles. It was signed in Vienna in November 1972 and entered into force in 1975.
The Convention's Common Control Mark (CCM) has the same legal status as a national Assay Office mark. The CCM is applied by national Assay Offices to articles of platinum, gold, palladium and silver after the fineness of the alloy has been checked in accordance with agreed testing methods.
Articles bearing the CCM - together with the national Assay Office Mark, the responsibility mark (manufacturer or sponsor) and the fineness mark indicating its purity - do not have to be re-controlled or re-marked in the states members of the Convention.
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