Assay office
Encyclopedia
Assay offices are institution
s set up to assay
(test the purity of) precious metals, in order to protect consumers
. Upon successful completion of an assay, (i.e. if the metallurgical content is found to be equal or better than that claimed by the maker and it otherwise conforms to the prevailing law) the assay offices typically stamp a hallmark
, punze, or poinçon on the item to certify its metallurgical content. Hallmarking first appeared in France, with the Goldsmiths' Statute of 1260 promulgated under Etienne Boileau
, Provost of Paris, for King Louis IX
.
makes it unlawful to stamp goods in the United States with "United States assay
" or any similar stamp which gives the impression that the item has been officially assayed by the United States government.
(UK), the Hallmarking Act of 1973 makes it an offence to describe as platinum
, gold
or silver
an item which is not hallmark
ed as appropriate or exempt from hallmarking. In July 2009, following a proposal by the British Hallmarking Council, an amendment to the Act also brought palladium
under the hallmarking regime.
The first UK Assay Office was Goldsmiths' Hall
, founded around 1300, and where the term "hallmarking" originates, meaning "marked in Goldsmiths' Hall". Since then, there have been ten Assay Offices in the UK.
There are four remaining Assay Offices in the UK:
After the French defeat at Leipzig
1813 the History of the Netherlands
was established. William VI, prince of Orange (known in Dutch as Willem Frederik), was proclaimed the sovereign. On March 15, 1815, with the support of the powers gathered at the Congress of Vienna, William proclaimed himself King William I of the Netherlands. He was also made grand duke of Luxembourg. The two countries remained separate despite sharing a common monarch. For our purposes, he retained much of the French legislation, including the precious metal guarantee law of November 9, 1787. On December 26, 1813 the precious metal laws were however, modified and the French hallmarks, the Gaul cockerels were replaced with Dutch lions. The existing guarantee offices were reopened after re-staffing and the production of the new hallmark dies. Willem abdicated in 1840. As of January 1, 1853 the out-of-date French guarantee law was replaced by a new Dutch law. This law of September 18, 1852, in a modified form (last modified in 1986 as the "Dutch Assay Law of 1986") is in still effective. As a result of the Benelux treaty the guarantee tax was abolished in 1953. At the same time gold and silver fineness standards were adapted to conform to international standards. Also the assaying of platinum was introduced in 1953.
In 1987, the assay system was privatized and since 1988 has been located in only an office at Gouda. The system is overseen by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs which appointed Edelmetaal Waarborg Nederland B.V. as of March 11, 2002. In 1999, the Netherlands ratified the Vienna Convnetion of International hallmarking.
Dutch hallmarks are recognized in Austria, France, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom without further testing and have also been recognized in Belgium, Denmark, Finland and Sweden, which have voluntary hallmarking systems. All jewelry produced in the Netherlands or imported for the Dutch market must carry hallmarks.
. Switzerland recognizes platinum, gold, silver and palladium
as precious metals which may be hallmarked and thus are subject to assay.
The Law governing the marking of precious metal articles has been ratified by the House of Representatives in 1991, creating a new semi-Governmental Organisation, the Cyprus Organisation for the Hallmarking of precious metals. The Cyprus Assay Office (CAO) is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism.
The Cyprus Hallmark consists of three compulsory symbols: 1. The manufacturer's mark - Consists of the initials of the manufacturer of the article surrounded by a small shield; 2. The fineness mark - The purity of the metal, in parts per thousand; 3. The official mark - the Head of Aphrodite until December 2001 and a ship as from January 2002 denotes that the article is made of Gold, and the fish that the articles is made of Silver. The manufacturer's mark must be struck on the articles by the manufacturer before its submitted to the Assay Office for Hallmarking. The manufacturer may make arrangements for the manufacture's mark to be struck by the Assay Office upon submission of the article to be struck with the approved hallmarks.
The manufacturer's mark which is registered under the relevant section of the Law shall include the initial letters of the name or names of the manufacturer and shall be of such design as may be approved by the Assay Office. The standards of fineness of Gold and Silver articles that are hallmarked are for gold : 375, 585, 750 and 916 parts per thousand; for silver: 800, 830 and 925 parts per thousand; no negative tolerance is permitted on the above standards of fineness.
Assay Office was established by the Czech National Council Law No. 19/1993 Coll., concerning
the Administration Authorities of the Czech Republic in the Field of Hallmarking and Precious Metal Testing, from which the Assay Office competences and duties are resulting. The provision of the financing is included in the Law about Hallmarking and Precious Metal Testing (Hallmarking Act), No. 539/1992 Coll., and in the procedural Decree of the Federal Ministry of Economy (FME), No. 540/1992 Coll., according to which the Hallmarking Act is implemented.
The assay office is privatized and the concession was awarded to Inspecta Corporation is an independent, international qualification requirements fulfilling inspection, testing, measurement and certification services provider.
Polish Assay Offices test and mark precious metal alloy articles (gold, silver and platinum group metals). They also supervise compliance with Hallmarking Law at processing plants and precious metal alloy sales points. All Assay Offices must report to the Central Office of Measures.
The assay office is privatized and the concession was awarded to Inspecta Corporation is an independent, international qualification requirements fulfilling inspection, testing, measurement and certification services provider.
Institution
An institution is any structure or mechanism of social order and cooperation governing the behavior of a set of individuals within a given human community...
s set up to assay
Assay
An assay is a procedure in molecular biology for testing or measuring the activity of a drug or biochemical in an organism or organic sample. A quantitative assay may also measure the amount of a substance in a sample. Bioassays and immunoassays are among the many varieties of specialized...
(test the purity of) precious metals, in order to protect consumers
Consumer
Consumer is a broad label for any individuals or households that use goods generated within the economy. The concept of a consumer occurs in different contexts, so that the usage and significance of the term may vary.-Economics and marketing:...
. Upon successful completion of an assay, (i.e. if the metallurgical content is found to be equal or better than that claimed by the maker and it otherwise conforms to the prevailing law) the assay offices typically stamp a hallmark
Hallmark
A hallmark is an official mark or series of marks struck on items made of precious metals — platinum, gold, silver and in some nations, palladium...
, punze, or poinçon on the item to certify its metallurgical content. Hallmarking first appeared in France, with the Goldsmiths' Statute of 1260 promulgated under Etienne Boileau
Étienne Boileau
Étienne Boileau was one of the first known provosts of Paris. In 1261, he was named provost , by King Louis IX. He authored the , a collection of the statutes of the Parisian trade guilds, including the standards for gold and silver alloys...
, Provost of Paris, for King Louis IX
Louis IX of France
Louis IX , commonly Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death. He was also styled Louis II, Count of Artois from 1226 to 1237. Born at Poissy, near Paris, he was an eighth-generation descendant of Hugh Capet, and thus a member of the House of Capet, and the son of Louis VIII and...
.
US assay offices
Title 15, Chapter 8, Section 291 of the United States CodeUnited States Code
The Code of Laws of the United States of America is a compilation and codification of the general and permanent federal laws of the United States...
makes it unlawful to stamp goods in the United States with "United States assay
Assay
An assay is a procedure in molecular biology for testing or measuring the activity of a drug or biochemical in an organism or organic sample. A quantitative assay may also measure the amount of a substance in a sample. Bioassays and immunoassays are among the many varieties of specialized...
" or any similar stamp which gives the impression that the item has been officially assayed by the United States government.
General overview and function of U.S. assay offices
There is no hallmarking scheme in the U.S. yet assay offices did/do exist in the U.S. but they are affiliated with the government's coinage mints and serve only the government's purposes in that field. Those purposes historically included receiving bullion deposits from the public or mining prospectors in the various American territories in the 1800s. Today, those assay offices that still operate function solely within national coining system (including bullion coinage for sales to investors) but are not involved in hallmarking, the end product of the assay which is the subject of this article. There is no hallmarking scheme in the U.S. However, the U.S. assay facilities include:US assay offices, current
- The Philadelphia Mint – 1792 to date
- The Denver Mint – 1862 to date. It served as an Assay Office until 1906, when coinage operations began.
- The San Francisco Mint –1852 to date. Coinage operations were suspended in March 1955, but the plant continued to operate as an Assay Office. In 1962, its official designation was changed from Mint to Assay Office. Coinage operations were again authorized in 1965.
- The West Point, New York Bullion Depository – 1938 to date It is operated as an adjunct of the New York Assay Office.
- The Assay Office in Ozark, Arkansas was established in 1835. It has operated as a private club and music venue since the mid 1960s. - http://www.myspace.com/the_assay_office
- Jacobs Assay Office in Tucson, Arizona was established in 1880. It has operated as a family business since its establishment in March 1880 in Tucson Arizona - Washington Michael JacobsWashington Michael JacobsWashington Michael Jacobs was born in Balford, South Carolina to Ann Baldwin Jacobs and Cornelius Jacobs in the United States of America. Both of his parents were natives of South Carolina and his mother was a native of Charleston.In 1849 he moved to San Francisco, California traveling aboard ship...
US assay offices, historical
- The Charlotte, North Carolina Mint –1835 to 1861. After the Civil War, the plant was reopened in 1868 as an Assay Office until 1913, when the plant was closed.
- The New Orleans, Louisiana Mint – 1835 to 1942. Coinage operations were conducted here from 1838, but were suspended from 1861 until 1879; assay functions were performed from 1876. Coinage resumed in 1879 and continued until 1909. The facility operated as an Assay Office from 1909 until 1942, when it was closed.
- The U.S. Assay Office, St. Louis, Missouri –1881 to 1911.
- The U.S. Assay Office, Helena, Montana –1874 to 1933.
- The U.S. Assay Office, Salt Lake City, Utah—1909 to 1933.
- The U.S. Assay Office, Deadwood, South Dakota –1898 to 1927.
- The U.S. Assay Office, Boise, IdahoAssay Office (Boise, Idaho)Assay Office is a historic building in Boise, Idaho. It is significant for its role in the history of mining in Idaho. During the first half of the 1860s, Idaho’s gold production was the third highest in the nation. Due to the difficulty of transporting bulky, heavy ores the long distance to the...
–1869 to 1933. - The U.S. Assay Office, New York, New York –1854 to 1982.
- The U.S. Assay Office, Seattle, Washington –1898 to 1955.
General overview and function of UK assay offices
In the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
(UK), the Hallmarking Act of 1973 makes it an offence to describe as platinum
Platinum
Platinum is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pt and an atomic number of 78. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River." It is a dense, malleable, ductile, precious, gray-white transition metal...
, gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
or silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
an item which is not hallmark
Hallmark
A hallmark is an official mark or series of marks struck on items made of precious metals — platinum, gold, silver and in some nations, palladium...
ed as appropriate or exempt from hallmarking. In July 2009, following a proposal by the British Hallmarking Council, an amendment to the Act also brought palladium
Palladium
Palladium is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pd and an atomic number of 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was itself named after the epithet of the Greek goddess Athena, acquired...
under the hallmarking regime.
The first UK Assay Office was Goldsmiths' Hall
Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths
The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. The Company, which has origins in the twelfth century, received a Royal Charter in 1327. It ranks fifth in the order of precedence of Livery Companies. Its motto is Justitia Virtutum Regina, Latin for Justice...
, founded around 1300, and where the term "hallmarking" originates, meaning "marked in Goldsmiths' Hall". Since then, there have been ten Assay Offices in the UK.
There are four remaining Assay Offices in the UK:
Current assay offices
- London Assay Office
- Sheffield Assay OfficeSheffield Assay OfficeThe Sheffield Assay Office is one of the four remaining Assay Offices in the UK.- Overview :In 1773, Sheffield's silversmiths joined with those of Birmingham to petition Parliament for the establishment of Assay Offices in their respective cities...
- Birmingham Assay OfficeBirmingham Assay OfficeThe Birmingham Assay Office is one of the four remaining assay offices in the United Kingdom.The development of a silver industry in 18th century Birmingham was hampered by the legal requirement that items of solid silver be assayed, and the nearest Assay Offices were in Chester and London...
- Edinburgh Assay Office
Historic assay offices
- Dublin (now in Ireland)
- Exeter (closed 1883)
- Chester (closed 1961)
- Glasgow (closed 1964)
- Newcastle (closed 1884)
- Norwich (closed 1702)
- York (closed 1857)
General overview and function of the Irish assay office
The Irish assay system is based on that of the UK.General overview and function of the Dutch assay office
The Dutch (the Netherlands), who are members of the International hallmarking Convention, have been striking hallmarks since at least 1814, but boast a 600 year history of hallmarking in Dutch territories. Like many other nations, the Dutch require the registration and use of Responsibility Marks since 1797. The Dutch also use a date letter code.After the French defeat at Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
1813 the History of the Netherlands
Kingdom of the Netherlands
The Kingdom of the Netherlands is a sovereign state and constitutional monarchy with territory in Western Europe and in the Caribbean. The four parts of the Kingdom—Aruba, Curaçao, the Netherlands, and Sint Maarten—are referred to as "countries", and participate on a basis of equality...
was established. William VI, prince of Orange (known in Dutch as Willem Frederik), was proclaimed the sovereign. On March 15, 1815, with the support of the powers gathered at the Congress of Vienna, William proclaimed himself King William I of the Netherlands. He was also made grand duke of Luxembourg. The two countries remained separate despite sharing a common monarch. For our purposes, he retained much of the French legislation, including the precious metal guarantee law of November 9, 1787. On December 26, 1813 the precious metal laws were however, modified and the French hallmarks, the Gaul cockerels were replaced with Dutch lions. The existing guarantee offices were reopened after re-staffing and the production of the new hallmark dies. Willem abdicated in 1840. As of January 1, 1853 the out-of-date French guarantee law was replaced by a new Dutch law. This law of September 18, 1852, in a modified form (last modified in 1986 as the "Dutch Assay Law of 1986") is in still effective. As a result of the Benelux treaty the guarantee tax was abolished in 1953. At the same time gold and silver fineness standards were adapted to conform to international standards. Also the assaying of platinum was introduced in 1953.
In 1987, the assay system was privatized and since 1988 has been located in only an office at Gouda. The system is overseen by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs which appointed Edelmetaal Waarborg Nederland B.V. as of March 11, 2002. In 1999, the Netherlands ratified the Vienna Convnetion of International hallmarking.
Dutch hallmarks are recognized in Austria, France, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom without further testing and have also been recognized in Belgium, Denmark, Finland and Sweden, which have voluntary hallmarking systems. All jewelry produced in the Netherlands or imported for the Dutch market must carry hallmarks.
Current assay office
There are two Dutch assay offices located in the city of Gouda and Joure. The Dutch recognize platinum, gold, silver and palladium as precious metals.Historic Netherlands assay offices (up to 1988)
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General overview and function of Swiss assay offices
Only precious metal watch cases must be hallmarked in Switzerland. Swiss hallmarking for other articles such as jewelry and cutlery is optional. In addition to the Swiss hallmark, all precious metal goods may be stamped with the Common Control Mark of the Vienna ConventionVienna Convention
Vienna Convention can mean any of a number of treaties signed in Vienna. Notable are:* several treaties and conventions resulted from the Congress of Vienna which redrew the map of Europe, only partially restoring the pre-Napoleonic situation, and drafted new rules for international relations*...
. Switzerland recognizes platinum, gold, silver and palladium
Palladium
Palladium is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pd and an atomic number of 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was itself named after the epithet of the Greek goddess Athena, acquired...
as precious metals which may be hallmarked and thus are subject to assay.
Current Swiss assay offices
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Historic Swiss assay offices
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Cyprian assay office
There is one assay office at Aradippou.The Law governing the marking of precious metal articles has been ratified by the House of Representatives in 1991, creating a new semi-Governmental Organisation, the Cyprus Organisation for the Hallmarking of precious metals. The Cyprus Assay Office (CAO) is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism.
The Cyprus Hallmark consists of three compulsory symbols: 1. The manufacturer's mark - Consists of the initials of the manufacturer of the article surrounded by a small shield; 2. The fineness mark - The purity of the metal, in parts per thousand; 3. The official mark - the Head of Aphrodite until December 2001 and a ship as from January 2002 denotes that the article is made of Gold, and the fish that the articles is made of Silver. The manufacturer's mark must be struck on the articles by the manufacturer before its submitted to the Assay Office for Hallmarking. The manufacturer may make arrangements for the manufacture's mark to be struck by the Assay Office upon submission of the article to be struck with the approved hallmarks.
The manufacturer's mark which is registered under the relevant section of the Law shall include the initial letters of the name or names of the manufacturer and shall be of such design as may be approved by the Assay Office. The standards of fineness of Gold and Silver articles that are hallmarked are for gold : 375, 585, 750 and 916 parts per thousand; for silver: 800, 830 and 925 parts per thousand; no negative tolerance is permitted on the above standards of fineness.
The assay office of the Czech Republic
There is one assay office at Praha.Assay Office was established by the Czech National Council Law No. 19/1993 Coll., concerning
the Administration Authorities of the Czech Republic in the Field of Hallmarking and Precious Metal Testing, from which the Assay Office competences and duties are resulting. The provision of the financing is included in the Law about Hallmarking and Precious Metal Testing (Hallmarking Act), No. 539/1992 Coll., and in the procedural Decree of the Federal Ministry of Economy (FME), No. 540/1992 Coll., according to which the Hallmarking Act is implemented.
Finnish assay office
There is one assay office at Espoo.The assay office is privatized and the concession was awarded to Inspecta Corporation is an independent, international qualification requirements fulfilling inspection, testing, measurement and certification services provider.
Polish assay offices
There are ten assay offices at:
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Polish Assay Offices test and mark precious metal alloy articles (gold, silver and platinum group metals). They also supervise compliance with Hallmarking Law at processing plants and precious metal alloy sales points. All Assay Offices must report to the Central Office of Measures.
Slovakian assay offices
There are five assay offices at:
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Swedish assay office
There is one assay office at Borås.The assay office is privatized and the concession was awarded to Inspecta Corporation is an independent, international qualification requirements fulfilling inspection, testing, measurement and certification services provider.