Selling silver

turnedlight · May 14, 2008, 05:32:37 PM

I was hoping there might be someone to enlighten me.. I know that I can't sell silver items over 7.5g (is that the correct figure?) unless I hallmark, up 'til now I have assumed that on my completely handmade pieces, but does it still apply when you buy some chain and solder on bought ends etc?

sparrow · May 14, 2008, 05:37:48 PM

As far as I know, it still applies........................

Shirley · May 14, 2008, 06:09:08 PM

It's the total silver weight in a finished item, and I think it's a bit more than 7.5g, perhaps 7.8?

turnedlight · May 14, 2008, 06:17:00 PM

And anyone been down the hallmarking route? Do you have to send every item off?

Shirley · May 14, 2008, 06:23:50 PM

I think you have to pay to register your own hallmark with the Assay office, and then send each item to have to applied. I believe there is a one-off payment to set up and then a charge each time it is put on an item. I might be wrong about this. I deliberately don't sell heavier silver items for this very reason!

turnedlight · May 14, 2008, 06:34:57 PM

I thought as much.. I will have to find out some more.. $:-\$

TheJanie · May 14, 2008, 06:45:07 PM

Yep, been there, done that and been utterly confused by it!

IIRC, it's 7.8g for silver. When you sign up, it's quite an outlay... I should have my original invoice around here somewhere... <rummage-rummage>... here we go... ah... a bit confusing even now! You have to choose your maker's mark and then pay to register it which I think was £50. Then you have to pay for the punch to be made, which was another £50.

You send your pieces to them along with a completed "hallnote". You pay per item you want with your maker's mark on it and there's a minimum charge of £10.50. You'll need to do a lot of reading to get yourself completely straight with it all! I registered in December 2005, so allow for some things having changed and my memory not being great!

I'm registered with the Assay Office in Scotland - http://www.assay-office.co.uk/ - because having looked at the prices of the various Offices, theirs seemed the cheapest at the time. They also had the best website - easiest to navigate and most informative and they've implemented online tracking since I first registered.

Hope this helps and I've not confused the issue any

ejralph · May 14, 2008, 07:17:43 PM

Some of the assay offices do good rates for students. So if you are in a silversmithing class or anything similar it might be worth asking your tutor to look into it.

There is also lazer hallmarking now I think, which probably works out cheaper since no need for a maker's mark.

Most of the assay offices I talked to when researching this stuff for an article on my site were really helpful and friendly and answered all the questions I had. Most of the sites had quite good FAQs too.

Emma

TheJanie · May 14, 2008, 07:22:49 PM

Quote from: ejralph on May 14, 2008, 07:17:43 PM
There is also lazer hallmarking now I think, which probably works out cheaper since no need for a maker's mark.

I enquired after this when I applied because I thought I'd save a bit of money but was informed (by more than one Assay Office employee because I didn't believe it at first!

) that you still have to have your mark registered and a stamp made... but as I said, it's been over two years so things might have changed....

turnedlight · May 14, 2008, 07:26:02 PM

Ok thanks for that - I never thought of registering with a non - local office! And no, I'm not a student now, when I did a silversmithing class there was mention of group hallmarking, but I never heard any more..
I had read all this up a while ago, but got thoroughly confused and put off - I only ever have a couple of pieces so it would be prohibitively expensive with the minimum charges etc. Hey ho, I'll just have to do them for myself

mizgeorge · May 14, 2008, 07:27:12 PM

Janie's just saved me from typing out exactly the same information!

However if you just need the occasional piece hallmarked, you can use a hallmarking service from one of the bullion dealers (I've used Cooksons in the past).

The weight limit applies to the total silver content of a finished piece, so maille, even though not soldered, does count.

It's a total pita, but I guess is to protect people from unscrupulous sellers offering fake sterling items.

Amber · May 15, 2008, 11:34:29 AM

Is it just that you can't sell it as Sterling/Fine silver, or that you can't sell it full stop?

TheJanie · May 15, 2008, 12:07:56 PM

Quote from: Spookyjewel on May 15, 2008, 11:34:29 AM
Is it just that you can't sell it as Sterling/Fine silver, or that you can't sell it full stop?

That's a good question - the way I read it, you can't sell it and claim that it's Sterling or Fine Silver. Which implies that as long as you don't actually claim it to be a precious metal you can still sell it...? If you did that, though, it'd be difficult to get the prices you need to cover the cost of materials...

turnedlight · May 15, 2008, 02:48:49 PM

I won't do that, as the heavier items in question cost a fair bit to make and I would want to really sell the fact that it's all sterling..

Shirley · May 15, 2008, 05:04:57 PM

If they cost a fair bit to make then presumably the cost of hallmarking would be worth it, then?