If your piece of gold jewellery was made in a country that uses the Common Control Mark, you should see a set of hallmarks on the item. The symbols give this information:

• who made the article
• what is its guaranteed standard of fineness
• the Assay Office at which the article was tested and marked
• the year in which the article was tested and marked – date letter, which has become optional since 1988

We will be discussing hall marks further soon.