In the UK, the rule that makes hallmarking matter is a rule about words. The Hallmarking Act 1973 does not make it an offence to own, make or wear unhallmarked silver. It makes it an offence, in the course of trade or business, to describe an unhallmarked article as wholly or partly made of platinum, gold, palladium or silver, or to supply or offer to supply one so described. So the question “can you call it silver without a hallmark?” has a precise answer, and it lives in Schedule 1 of the Act. This page sets that answer out from the Schedule itself and from the UK assay offices’ guidance. It is not legal advice, and it puts no value on any piece.
Who the rule applies to
The offence is for someone acting in the course of trade or business. The UK Assay Offices’ Hallmarking Guidance Notes (November 2022) say the requirement applies to anyone trading with UK consumers, and equally to e-commerce, distance selling, gallery shops, market stalls and physical retail premises. They add that a description can be verbal, written, or in the form of a maker’s fineness mark on a piece of jewellery, and that the rule applies to pre-owned articles as well as new ones. So a “925” stamped by a maker is itself a description, and an online listing is held to the same rule as a shop counter.
The permissible descriptions: Schedule 1, Part I
Part I lists the descriptions that may be used of an unhallmarked article. Paragraph 1 allows:
- “gold” if qualified by the word “plated” or “rolled”;
- “silver” if qualified by the word “plated”;
- “platinum” if qualified by the word “plated”;
- “palladium” if qualified by the word “plated”, a line added in July 2009.
Two conditions come with it. If the description is in writing, the lettering of “plated” or “rolled” must be at least as large as any other lettering in the description, so a large “SILVER” with a small “plated” does not qualify. And the paragraph does not apply if the description is false, or is applied to an article for which it is inappropriate: calling something “silver plated” is permissible only if it is silver plated.
Note what the list leaves out. “Rolled” is allowed only with gold. There is no “rolled silver” in the Schedule. The silver plated vs sterling and silver gilt guides cover how plated articles are described in more detail.
Colour words
Paragraph 2 of Part I allows a second kind of description: one that is, implicitly or in express terms, confined to the colour of the article. The guidance notes explain how that works in practice. If an article contains no precious metal, or is below the minimum fineness, and a word such as “gold” is used to describe its colour, the description must make that clear. Their example is a base-metal watch containing no gold: described as a “gold watch” to describe its colour, that would be an offence. “Yellow metal watch”, “gold tone watch” and “gold coloured watch” are given as descriptions that are not misleading, and the notes say these are examples only, not a complete list.
Articles that need no hallmark: Schedule 1, Part II
Part II lists articles that are exempt, so that describing them as precious metal is not an offence even without a hallmark. They fall into a few groups.
- Where the article is. Articles intended for despatch outside the UK; articles outside the UK or being sent from abroad to a UK assay office; and articles of minimum fineness imported temporarily, such as trade samples, while still under customs control.
- What the article is. Any coin that is or was current coin of the UK or any other territory; articles used or intended for medical, dental, veterinary, scientific or industrial purposes; battered articles fit only to be remanufactured; gold, silver or palladium thread; raw material such as bar, sheet, wire or tube, and bullion; and manufactured articles not substantially complete and intended for further manufacture. Musical instruments are exempt where the description applies to a mouthpiece of minimum fineness.
- Weight. Paragraphs 12A to 12D exempt articles under set weights: silver under 7.78 g, gold under 1 g, platinum under 0.5 g and palladium under 1 g, each with conditions about other metals and materials. The exemption weights tool applies them, and the mixed-metal hallmark finder covers pieces of more than one metal.
- Size. Articles, other than chainwork, wholly of precious metal of minimum fineness and so small or thin that they cannot be hallmarked.
- Age. Articles wholly or mainly of platinum made before 1 January 1975; articles of palladium made before 1 January 2010; and gold and silver articles of minimum fineness made before 1950 and not improperly altered since. Older exemptions for certain gold and silver articles made before 1 January 1975 also survive in paragraphs 15 to 17.
One rule sits under all the date-based exemptions. Paragraph 18 says that where an exemption depends on the date of manufacture or alteration, the manufacture or alteration is presumed to be after that date until the contrary is proved. The guidance notes put the pre-1950 rule the same way: such an item may be described and sold as precious metal without a hallmark if the seller can prove that it is of minimum fineness and was made before 1950. The burden is on the person describing the piece.
What the rules do not say
- That an unhallmarked piece is not silver. The rules govern how it may be described in trade, not what it is made of. An exempt or unhallmarked article can be solid precious metal.
- That a private person commits an offence. The offence is framed around trade or business.
- Anything about value. A hallmark records fineness. What the metal is worth is a melt value question, which the silver value calculator answers; what a piece fetches is a different number.
The guide to UK hallmarking explains what a hallmark contains, and the assay offices are the place to ask how a particular piece is treated.
Sources
- Hallmarking Act 1973, Schedule 1, Parts I and II (legislation.gov.uk), read 20 October 2026.
- UK Assay Offices, Hallmarking Guidance Notes (November 2022, GOV.UK), pp. 3–4, 16–18 and 22–23, read 20 October 2026.