Have you been gifted a beautiful piece of jewellery or inherited a stunning heirloom piece, and noticed some numbers, letters, and symbols stamped or engraved somewhere inconspicuous? Perhaps a '375' between initials and a tiny leopard face on the inside of your gold engagement ring? These are called hallmarks, and are used primarily to guarantee the jewellery piece's authenticity and purity.
Spotting a 375 on jewellery pieces or any of the other symbols and letters can be a little confusing if you're not sure what you're looking for, so we're here to help. In this post, we're going to explain what each of those marks you're seeing on your jewellery means, from gold purity to hallmarking location. We'll include other precious metal hallmarks too, to help give you the bigger picture, ensuring you feel confident when it comes to hallmark identification.
First, if you'd like to learn more about hallmarking, why it's essential, how it's done, and its benefits, read our in-depth guide to hallmarking.
How do you read gold hallmarks?
Authentic gold pieces weighing more than 1g will come with hallmark stamps, typically very small and in a hidden spot, such as the inside of a wedding band or on the clasp or jump ring of a necklace. Once you know how to read the stamp's seemingly random numbers and symbols, you'll be able to easily identify your gold jewellery's material purity and its overall authenticity.
A standard gold hallmark consists of three parts:
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Maker's mark/sponsor's mark: The maker's initials, sometimes inside a shape. This mark represents the jeweller or supplier that sent the piece to be hallmarked. Wild Fawn jewellery that has been hallmarked is marked with 'WFJ'.
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Purity mark/fineness mark: Three digits, or one or two digits on older pieces. This mark indicates the gold's purity, which we'll explain in detail later in the post.
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Assay Office mark: A leopard head, anchor, castle, Tudor rose, or crown symbol. This mark represents the Assay Office that tested and hallmarked the piece. Leopard: London. Anchor: Birmingham. Castle: Edinburgh. Tudor rose: Sheffield (post-1975). For older pieces hallmarked by the Sheffield office, the symbol will be a crown.
Usually, the above is the order you'll find your stamps in. You'll therefore be able to read gold hallmarks like this: Who sent the piece to be hallmarked, the purity of the gold, and the Assay Office that checked the piece. All three of these together prove the piece's authenticity.
You may find some other stamps on your gold pieces, but they are no longer compulsory, so don't panic if you don't see the following:
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Traditional fineness mark: A crown symbol. This optional mark indicates the metal type, with a crown symbol meaning gold.
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Date letter mark: A letter. This optional mark represents the year the piece was assayed. There are many different fonts so that we can distinguish between years, such as which 'a' means the year 2000 and which 'a' means 1975. Only 25 letters are used, instead of the alphabet's 26. This is to prevent confusion between the letters 'i', 'j' and 'l', so every cycle, one of those is missed.
You can see the ring below has a crown symbol, as well as a letter 'A', as it was assayed in 2025.
What do the different numbered stamps mean on gold jewellery?
As we've mentioned, the numbered mark indicates the gold piece's purity. However, each number indicates a different level of purity. Let's take a look at the different numbers you might see on your gold jewellery and what they mean.
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375 stamp - A 375 stamp on gold jewellery indicates the piece is made of 9ct gold, which is 37.5% gold, hence the '375'.
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585 stamp - A 585 stamp on gold jewellery indicates the piece is made of 14ct gold, which is 58.5% gold, hence the '585'.
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750 stamp- A 750 stamp on gold jewellery indicates the piece is made of 18ct gold, which is 75.0% gold, hence the '750'.
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916 stamp - A 916 stamp on gold jewellery indicates the piece is made of 22ct gold, which is 91.6% gold, hence the '916'.
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999 stamp - A 999 stamp on gold jewellery indicates the piece is made of 24ct gold, which is 99.9% gold, hence the '999'.
What do the different numbered stamps mean on other precious metals?
Gold isn't the only precious metal that gets hallmarked. Silver, platinum, and palladium are also stamped to confirm their authenticity and purity.
You will see the same three stamps on these other metals, indicating the supplier/maker, the purity/fineness, and the Assay Office. The only difference between these stamps will be the numbers indicating fineness, which will vary from material to material.
Platinum hallmarks
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850 stamp - An 850 stamp on platinum jewellery indicates the piece is 85.0% platinum, hence the '850'.
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900 stamp - A 900 stamp on platinum jewellery indicates the piece is 90.0% platinum, hence the '900'.
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950 stamp- A 950 stamp on platinum jewellery indicates the piece is 95.0% platinum, hence the '950'.
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999 stamp - A 999 stamp on platinum jewellery indicates the piece is 99.9% platinum, hence the '999'.
Palladium hallmarks
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500 stamp - A 500 stamp on palladium jewellery indicates the piece is 50.0% palladium, hence the '500'.
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950 stamp - A 950 stamp on palladium jewellery indicates the piece is 95.0% palladium, hence the '950'.
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999 stamp - A 999 stamp on palladium jewellery indicates the piece is 99.9% palladium, hence the '999'.
Silver hallmarks
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800 stamp - An 800 stamp on silver jewellery indicates the piece is 80.0% silver, hence the '800'.
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925 stamp - A 925 stamp on silver jewellery indicates the piece is 92.5% silver, hence the '925'. This is sterling silver.
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958 stamp - A 958 stamp on silver jewellery indicates the piece is 95.8% silver, hence the '958'. This is Britannia silver.
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999 stamp - A 999 stamp on silver jewellery indicates the piece is 99.9% silver, hence the '999'.
You may also see the same date letter stamps on silver, platinum, and palladium as you do on gold, as well as the non-compulsory traditional fineness symbol to indicate the metal type: an orb (platinum), walking lion (sterling silver), standing lion (sterling silver Scotland), Britannia (Britannia silver), or Centurion head (palladium).
Gold and other precious metal hallmarks on Wild Fawn jewellery
Many of our handmade pieces, which we craft using solid recycled precious metals in our London studio, are hallmarked due to their weight. Your trust is incredibly important to us, and you can rest assured that every jewellery piece we make is sent to the London Assay Office for hallmarking if it hits the weight requirement. If you have any questions about hallmarking, please don't hesitate to reach out to our friendly team.
Browse our ethical 9ct and 18ct gold jewellery and sterling silver jewellery, and discover how truly authentic, handmade pieces can look and feel.
