We have been buying gold from the public for about a month, haven't sent it in yet but it appears to be profitable. What is astounding is the number of chains we are seeing that have "14kt Italy" stamps in one or more places, but when acid tested are not gold at all. Makes me wonder how much of this brass is out there. Word to the wise; keep your file and acids handy.
_________________ It's worth a cup of water in the desert...if you're lucky.
Joined: Fri May 12, 2006 11:24 am Posts: 7523 Location: Rome, Italy
Well folks,
my little contribution to whoever wants to deal with precious metal pieces handcrafted in Italy.
EVERY piece manufactured here must have at least 2 hallmarks, this is regulated by a special Italian law: the metal title and the manufacturer one.
Let’s go with the metal title
The example above are valid and obligatory starting from 30th of january 1968, (law n. 46), of course you can find them even in pieces manufactured before but at that time some hallmarks title like “18 KT” or “14 KT” were present aswell. Our factories produced a lot for export, especially for the USA market so you can even find today “14 KT” .
Now the manufacturer hallmark
Every piece must be connected with the manufacturer here for checking the title congruity. The law is very severe, a tolerance of only 1/000 is allowed (this is actually the reason why many manufacturer made their 750/000 pieces with a title of 752 or more.. ) , if you’re below the license will be retired, and you’ve to pay an HIGH ticket. Plus there will be some penal troubles….
Here an example of the manufacturer hallmark
The star is the Italian republic symbol, then you’ve a progressive number and the province name where the factory is located so, as an example mine hallmark is just like that:
This means I’m the manufacturer N°991 of the Rome province
Only the name of ROME is full displayed in Italian hallmarks, other provinces will have 2 letters only. So Milan will be MI, Naples NA, Florence FI.
About fake pieces: it's very difficult to find a fake with the manufacturer hallmark clearly readable...
IMPORTANT: All above said is true for Italy and EU only. If the finished product is manufactured in Italy expressely to be exported in a non EU country, the identification hallmark is not obligatory art. 25, decree of the president of the italian republic n 150 of the 30th of may 2002. Feel free to ask for more questions.
Ciao
alberto
Joined: Fri May 12, 2006 11:24 am Posts: 7523 Location: Rome, Italy
Tim wrote:
those images copyrighted?
well they belongs to an italian decree, i don't think so (and i've edited'm in english so i guess....no problem.. . if you want i can edit'm in a better way, let me know)
Quote:
I see an AJU article emerge here...
i was pretty sure of that .....
Quote:
Any info on how it was done in Italy prior to the sixties?
the first italian law about a sort of regulation is the n°806 of 2nd of may 1872.
then another and more stringent was released by the king of Italy on 5th of february 1934 (N°305). Till 1945 (the fall of Mussolini) a little "fascio" was interposed betwwen the number and the province. This is important for jewelery collectibles, a "fascio" hallmark definitely identify the datation and it's a "plus" cos, due to the war, not so many pieces marked in that way were produced.
With this law the identification hallmark became obligatory but the title hallmark remains facultative. Of course the star symbol wasn't present, Italy wasn't a republic yet....
only with the law of the 1968 both hallmarks became obligatory...
Just for clarity's sake; I wasn't implying that these imitation gold items were actually coming from Italy. If they can fake a gold stamp they can fake other stamps also. Thanks for the info Alberto. Richard
_________________ It's worth a cup of water in the desert...if you're lucky.
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:22 pm Posts: 21602 Location: San Francisco
I remember, in the 80s, when people were buying huge gold chains as the fashion du jour, everyone was expected to sell by weight.
One store would try to undercut the other with price per gram.
It soon became apparent that some dealers were offering prices that didn't make sense....18k chains retailing at $8.00/ gram. $7.50/ gram.....$6.00/ gram.
The Feds stepped in, confiscated inventories, made arrests, etc, BUT many of these items were sold to an unknowing bargain hungry public before the stings. All these chains appeared to be properly quality stamped and marked BUT those markings had no connection with what the actual gold content (or lack thereof) of the chains.
Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2006 1:20 am Posts: 2756 Location: Southern California, U.S.A.
I've bought a lot of scrap gold and other precious metals over the years. There are many pitfalls for newbie buyers. One thing you learn very quickly is that crooks can -- and do -- buy karat and other metal quality stamps!
I'm always a little wary of chains with karat gold stampings on the clasp assembly. The clasp findings are sold separately from the chain and are usually soldered on. The findings may be karat gold but there's no guarantee the chain is.
I agree that the "acid test" is a requirement for gold buyers. I have no experience with electronic gold quality testers so can't comment on them.
alot of times i dont comment about how much i appreciate others for their contributions , but im very appreciative for everyone and everything they do here
Joined: Sun Jan 28, 2007 1:29 pm Posts: 578 Location: Dallas, Texas
I'm finding a lot of junk metal stamped 14K Italy as well. In fact there is a bag on my bench right now that I'll test when I have some time, but I can tell by the color it's going to be fake.
Rick the electronic testers are nice in some instances, but I will tell you this. Gold buyer beware! If you don't understand how acids work, you'd better not go the electronic route and put your faith in them blindly. The same pitfalls to testing white metals with acid apply to the electronic testers as well. I've known of more than one instance where a buyer purchased stainless as platinum or white gold.
_________________ -Trace
I'm only here because my flux capacitor is broken.
Joined: Fri May 14, 2010 2:57 pm Posts: 92 Location: wallasey, United Kingdom
Hi everyone,
As all others stated before me industrial purity stamps are widely available! Many of these fakes are coming from Turkey where a whole industry built on making fakes so the 9, 14 and 18 k Italy stamps no surprise for me! acid testers in my opinion are fairly reliable and with some experience one can easily distinguish between base metal or brass and gold alloys! White precious metal alloys are always more dense than stainless steel, especially Pt and 18k white, apart from Palladium! Acid testers will help you differentiate between Pd and stainless steel. As far as I know companies dealing with large volumes of scrap use laser testers which gives the exact amount of gold in the given alloy!
Joined: Fri May 14, 2010 2:57 pm Posts: 92 Location: wallasey, United Kingdom
Do American and Canadian jewellers and manufacturers have to hallmark their products? I`m asking this because we see many goods coming from the states without any markings at all! Though they usually prove to be decent gold alloys!
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:22 pm Posts: 21602 Location: San Francisco
The United States has no hallmarks. The law states only that if one uses a quality stamp (14k, 18k, PLAT) it must be accompanied by a maker's mark (Larter, Stuller, etc.). This law is not enforced.
Joined: Fri May 14, 2010 2:57 pm Posts: 92 Location: wallasey, United Kingdom
So the only guarantee for the customer is the jeweller`s word? Here the state guarantees the purity and apart from few little loopholes all items have to be submitted to assay!
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 4 guests
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot post attachments in this forum