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35-647: The Birmingham Assay Office , one of the four assay offices in the United Kingdom , is located in the Jewellery Quarter , Birmingham . 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 . Matthew Boulton and Birmingham's other great industrialists joined forces with silversmiths of Sheffield to petition Parliament for

70-542: 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,

105-656: A date letter code. After the French defeat at Leipzig 1813 the Kingdom 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

140-498: A dozen which feature the sponsors' marks of some of its most significant customers. In recognition of the honour, these customers contributed £12,000 to charity. The full list of companies featured is: Thomas Fattorini , R. Platnauer, Toye, Kenning & Spencer , Cooksongold , Deakin & Francis, BJA (British Jewellers' Association, now National Association of Jewellers), F. Hinds , Charles Green, Hockley Mint, Weston Beamor, Jewellery Brokers and Martyn Pugh. The building includes

175-638: A private museum, known as the Silver Collection. The former building on Newhall Street was converted into the "Assay Studios" a creative office space and innovation hub in November 2016. Assay office Title 15, Chapter 8, Section 291 of the United States Code makes it unlawful to stamp goods in the United States with "United States assay " or any similar stamp which gives the impression that

210-503: A prominent manufacturer of regalia for use in the different Orders of Freemasonry . Their factories and retail outlets in Yorkshire and Birmingham provided a regional competitor to the well-known London based regalia manufacturing companies. Many items of masonic regalia manufactured by Fattorini and Sons remain in current use, and bear the company's "signature-style" label. The North Wales Society of Architects ' Presidential Chain of Office

245-554: 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 article is made of silver. The manufacturer's mark must be struck on the articles by the manufacturer before it is submitted to the Assay Office for hallmarking. The manufacturer may make arrangements for

280-473: Is accredited by SWEDAC . The Directorate of Precious Metals & Gemstone Testing is one of fourteen directorates forming the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism. The directorate itself is composed of two sections that deal with assaying and gemmology and the three main functions of the directorate as a whole are: 1. Serving the trade and public with their gemmological and assaying needs. 2. Overseeing

315-640: Is an independent, international qualification requirements fulfilling inspection, testing, measurement and certification services provider. There is one assay office at Budapest. There is one assay office at Riga. There is one assay office at Druskininkai. Norwegian Assay Office is part of Justervesenet, located at Kjeller, just outside Oslo There are ten assay offices at: 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

350-588: Is not hallmarked 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

385-607: Is optional. In addition to the Swiss hallmark, all precious metal goods may be stamped with the Common Control Mark of the Vienna Convention. Switzerland recognizes platinum, gold, silver and palladium as precious metals which may be hallmarked and thus are subject to assay. There is one assay office at Vienna. There is one assay office at Aradippou. The Law governing the marking of precious metal articles has been ratified by

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420-695: Is permitted on the above standards of fineness. There is one assay office in 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

455-837: Is today owned and run by descendants of the founders. In the 1850s, he opened a shop in Bradford with two of his sons. In 1883, the firm made the first ever chess clock comprising two linked pendulum clocks. By the 1920s, the company was making sports trophies and medals for the local and then national markets. They made such famous trophies as the FA Cup and the Rugby League Challenge Cup - both in use to this day. Fattorini and Sons also marketed sewing machines manufactured by Varley. Thomas Fattorini Ltd , emblematic jewellers, still manufacture specialist bespoke sports trophies, awards and medals today. For many years Fattorini and Sons were

490-721: The Rugby league . Manningham were the new game's first champions in 1896. After a period of decline Manningham changed games and became the football club Bradford City in 1903. Once again the Fattorinis were at the forefront of the switch to football, they also designed and made the FA cup which Bradford City won in 1911. Fattorini & Sons was sold to Thomas Fattorini Ltd in 1984. Thomas Fattorini Ltd and Fattorini & Sons were friendly rivals for many years, both businesses being owned and managed by descendants of Antonio Fattorini. Thomas Fattorini Ltd

525-670: The Sheffield Assay Office was the Crown . A story about the origins of this hallmark goes that meetings prior to the inauguration of both Birmingham and Sheffield Assay Offices in 1773 were held at a public house called the Crown and Anchor Tavern on the Strand, London . It is said that the choice of symbol was made on the toss of a coin which resulted in Birmingham adopting the Anchor and Sheffield

560-682: The Central Office of Measures. There are two assay offices at There is one Assay Office with four Branches at: The Swedish assay office, the SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden , is in Borås. The assay office is privatized and the concession, given to the Inspecta Corporation, is an independent, international qualification requirements fulfilling inspection, testing, measurement and certification services provider. Inspecta

595-862: The Crown (which was changed in 1977 to the White Rose of York ). Services provided by the office include Hallmarking, Nickel Testing, Metal Analysis, Plating Thickness determination, Bullion Certification, consultancy and Gem Certification. A full list of products and services can be found here, on their website. The Assay Office started in 1773 at leased rooms in the Kings Head Inn on New Street . It moved to Bull Lane in 1782, to Little Colmore Street in 1799 and then to Little Cannon Street in 1815 until its purpose-built site on Newhall Street ( 52°29′02″N 1°54′22″W  /  52.4839°N 1.9062°W  / 52.4839; -1.9062  ( Old Assay Office ) )

630-583: 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

665-620: The King's Head Inn on New Street employing only four staff and was only operating on a Tuesday. The first customer on that day was Matthew Boulton. The Birmingham Assay Office is managed by a board of 36 "Guardians of the Standard of Wrought Plate in Birmingham", between six and nine of whom must be connected with the trade. The hallmark of the Birmingham Assay Office is the Anchor , and that of

700-564: 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. There is one assay office at Brondby. There is one assay office at Espoo. The assay office is privatized and the concession was awarded to Inspecta Corporation

735-738: The UK. There are four remaining assay offices in the UK: There is one assay office, the Dublin Assay Office . The Dutch (the Netherlands), who are members of the International Hallmarking Convention, have been striking hallmarks since at least 1814, and 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

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770-698: 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. 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. Only precious metal watch cases must be hallmarked in Switzerland. Swiss hallmarking for other articles such as jewelry and cutlery

805-448: The establishment of Assay Offices in their respective cities. In spite of determined opposition by London silversmiths, an Act of Parliament was passed in March 1773, just one month after the original petition was presented to Parliament, to allow Birmingham and Sheffield the right to assay silver. The Birmingham Assay Office opened on 31 August 1773 and initially operated from three rooms in

840-681: The first to be established in the Middle East and since their establishment they have developed a positive reputation within the Middle East and beyond. Japan has one assay office, situated at the Saitama branch of Japan Mint in Saitama Prefecture . Japan Mint has assayed and hallmarked from 1929, and the Saitama branch moved from Tokyo in 2016. Japanese hallmarking is optional. Gold, silver and platinum are subject to assay. The articles combined with

875-632: The golden parts and the platinum parts are hallmarked with special marks. Fattorini and Sons Fattorini & Sons Ltd was a jewellery business established by a family of Italian immigrants who arrived in the British city of Leeds , in Yorkshire , England in the early 19th century. Antonio Fattorini opened a shop in Harrogate to take advantage of seasonal trade in Harrogate in 1831, this business

910-486: The item has been officially assayed by the United States government . Assay offices did and 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. They are not involved in hallmarking , as there has never been a hallmarking scheme in the U.S. In the 1800s, the functions of assay offices in the U.S. included receiving bullion deposits from

945-600: The local jewellery sector to ensure that traders adhere to national and international laws and nomenclature. 3. Protecting consumers and the trade from fraud within the market place. The two sections of the Directorate deal with all aspects of gemmology and precious metal assaying and have existed for over a decade. The Assay Office was established in 1979 via Amiri Decree No.19 and the Gem & Pearl Testing Laboratory followed in 1990 via Amiri Decree No. 10. Both sections were amongst

980-555: 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

1015-419: The new building on 27 July 2015. The design of the new building incorporates special "feature bricks" which bear the key hallmarking symbols used during the Assay Office's 240-year history. These include the traditional hallmarking symbols; a lion for Sterling Silver, crown for Gold, orb for Platinum and Pallas Athene for Palladium. The Birmingham town mark, the anchor, also features prominently. There are also

1050-459: 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

1085-469: The public and from mining prospectors in the various American territories. The assay offices that still operate today function solely within national coining system (including bullion coinage for sales to investors). Current U.S. assay offices include the following: In the United Kingdom , the Hallmarking Act 1973 (c. 43) makes it an offence to describe as platinum , gold or silver an item which

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1120-801: The western edge of the Jewellery Quarter was chosen and planning permission was secured in December 2012 and construction started in May 2014 for a scheduled completion in 2015. The construction was project managed by Trebor Developments with Galliford Try as principal contractor, O'Brien as sub-contractors and Glazzard Architects as architects. The new building cost £10 million to construct. This 5,000 sq ft two-storey blue brick building on Moreton Street ( 52°29′11″N 1°55′03″W  /  52.4864°N 1.9176°W  / 52.4864; -1.9176  ( New Assay Office ) ) provides modern offices, laboratories and conference facilities. The Assay Office moved into

1155-537: Was built in 1877, where it became the largest Assay Office in Europe , hallmarking 13 million articles in 2003 and claiming to be the largest in the world. The Newhall Street building is listed as Grade II. In 2016, the Assay Office Relocated to its new premises at 1 Moreton Street, Birmingham. Due to lack of capacity in its Newhall Street building it was decided that a new Assay Office would be needed. A site on

1190-401: Was designed in 1954 by Fattorini and Sons of hallmarked sterling silver finished in polished hard gold plate and vitreous enamelled in three colours. The family became heavily involved with Manningham Rugby Club in Bradford . Indeed, Tony Fattorini represented Manningham when the club became part of the breakaway from Rugby Union in 1895 which resulted in the birth of what we know today as

1225-688: 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 Convention on the Control of the Fineness and the Hallmarking of Precious Metal Objects. Dutch hallmarks are recognized in Austria, France, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and

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