Got gold jewellery from another country and wondering what it’s worth? You’re not alone. Foreign gold can look completely different to British pieces — unfamiliar stamps, strange symbols, no hallmark at all. This guide helps you make sense of it so you know where you stand before selling.
Key Takeaways
- Foreign gold can be sold in the UK — the hallmark just needs to be recognised or independently verified
- Gold from 22 countries carries a Common Control Mark (CCM), which is legally recognised in the UK without any re-testing
- Gold with no hallmark, or from a country outside the Convention, may need professional testing before it can be valued accurately
- India now has mandatory hallmarking under the BIS system — so more Indian gold than ever carries verifiable marks
- Even unhallmarked gold has value — its purity just needs to be confirmed first.
Does Your Gold Have a Common Control Mark?
If your gold piece has a small stamp showing a set of scales (the Common Control Mark), you’re in a good position. It means the item was tested in one of the 22 countries signed up to the International Hallmarking Convention, a standard the UK has been part of since 1976.
Image source: Hallmarking Convention
Countries in the Convention include Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy (joined 2023), Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Serbia (joined 2020), Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK.
There are two types of CCM to look out for:
- Type 1 (traditional): a shield-shaped mark that includes the fineness and assay office details in one design. The shield shape varies depending on whether the metal is gold, silver, or platinum
- Type 2 (modern): a general mark that applies to all metals, with separate accompanying marks identifying the specific fineness and metal type
Gold carrying either type of CCM is fully accepted in the UK without any need for re-testing. If you’re looking to sell it, that’s a straightforward process.
Post-Brexit note: From 1 January 2021, the UK no longer automatically accepts gold from European countries not on this list. If your piece came into the UK after that date and doesn’t carry a CCM, it will need re-testing at a UK Assay Office.
Gold From Specific Countries: What to Look For
Swiss Gold
Image source Time Worn Watches
Switzerland has been hallmarking gold since 1880. Since 1995, the official Swiss hallmark for all precious metals is the head of a St. Bernard dog.
Image source: Silver Collection
Swiss pieces don’t always carry the CCM, but they’re accepted in the UK as long as they show:
- A millesimal fineness mark (e.g. 750 for 18ct)
- An Assay Office mark
- A Maker’s Mark
Swiss watches and jewellery are generally well-documented and straightforward to value.
Italian Gold
Image Source: Silver Collection
Image Source: The Jewelry Loupe
Italy joined the International Hallmarking Convention in December 2023 — which is great news if you have Italian gold. Pieces bearing a CCM are now fully recognised in the UK. Older Italian gold may only carry:
- A Maker’s Mark (applied by the goldsmith themselves)
- A fineness stamp with a shape that varies depending on whether the fineness is above or below 750
- A two-letter code indicating the Italian province of manufacture. When analysing Italian gold, look for this format to verify it:
★ [Number] [Province Letters] (e.g., ★ 1 AR for Arezzo).
If there’s no CCM on an older piece, it may need re-testing — but the gold itself is no less valuable.
Indian Gold Hallmarks
Image source Gold Traders
Until recently, hallmarking in India was voluntary. Since 2021, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has been rolling out mandatory hallmarking, with Phase 4 completed in November 2024.
A modern Indian hallmark now consists of exactly three marks: the BIS logo, the purity grade (e.g., 22K916 or 18K750), and the 6-digit alphanumeric HUID code.
Older pieces have five marks, while new pieces have three. If your Indian gold has a BIS hallmark, you should also look for any of the following:
- Assay/Hallmarking Centre Mark — the logo of the testing centre used
- Year of Marking — a letter code (e.g. A = 2000)
- Jeweller’s Identification Mark
Image Source: Indian Jeweller.
Older Indian pieces without these marks may just need a quick professional test to confirm purity before they can be valued.
Over 600 million Indian items hallmarked under the mandatory BIS system — reinforces that Indian gold is now far more traceable and verifiable than even a few years ago
Egyptian Gold Hallmarks
Image Source Antique Jewellery Investor
Egyptian gold has had compulsory hallmarking since 1916. Rather than numbers, the Egyptian system uses symbolic imagery to identify the metal type:
- Gold = an Ibis bird (a sacred symbol in ancient Egyptian culture)
- Silver = a Lotus Flower
- Platinum = King Mina’s Crown
In the Egyptian system, fineness is shown numerically, but it is stamped in Eastern Arabic numerals rather than Western ones. For example, 18-carat gold (750) looks like ٧٥٠, and 21-carat (875) looks like ٨٧٥.
Because of this, gold pieces typically need testing to confirm their exact carat weight before a precise value can be given. Look for Arabic numerals next to the Ibis bird.
Russian Gold
Image Source: Romanov Russia
Russian hallmark and maker’s mark
Image Source: The Jewelry Loupe
Russia has required hallmarking since 1700. A standard Russian hallmark includes:
- Maker’s Mark — the goldsmith’s initials or name, usually in Cyrillic
- Kokoshnik Mark — a profile of a woman wearing a traditional Russian headdress, used from 1899 onwards, with a standard number and letter indicating the town of origin
- Fineness Mark — shown in the zolotnik system (e.g. in the image above 56 zolotniks ≈ 14ct)
- Town Mark — a symbol identifying the city where the goldsmith was registered
Russian gold is highly distinctive once you know what to look for, and generally easy for professionals to identify and value.
What If There’s No Hallmark?
Gold without a hallmark is not necessarily worthless, it just needs to be tested first. This is standard practice for gold from countries with limited or unregulated hallmarking systems. A professional buyer with the right equipment can test purity quickly and give you an accurate valuation regardless.
The bottom line: the origin of the gold matters less than its purity. Once that’s confirmed, it’s just gold.
Ready to Find Out What Your Gold Is Worth?
Whether you’ve got a Swiss watch, an Indian bangle, a Russian antique, or a piece of jewellery with stamps you simply can’t decipher, we can help. A strange hallmark (or no hallmark at all) does not mean your items are worthless. It just means they need professional verification.
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- Request your free gold selling pack and we’ll send everything you need
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References
- Convention Marks | Sheffield Assay Office
- Hallmarking Convention
- Gold Hallmarks Explained: A comprehensive Guide to Identifying Gold
- fourth phase of Mandatory Hallmarking begins from November 5, 2024
- Hallmarking – London Borough of Bromley
- SC First Virtual Meeting (30 September 2020)
- Contracting States – Hallmarking Convention
- Foreign Gold Hallmarks & How To Identify Them | Cash4Gold-Now
- Hallmarking Post-Brexit
- Standing Committee and Related Events in Geneva
- ITALY SILVER AND GOLD HALLMARKS – Silvercollection.it
- Mandatory gold hallmarking expanded to 7 more districts – ET Retail
- [PDF] government of india – Digital Sansad
- Possible Egyptian Marks on gold ring? Need help identifying.
- Has anyone seen hallmarks like this? My dad thought they looked …
- Kokoshnik Marks • Online Encyclopedia of Silver …
- KOKOSHNIK MARK ON RUSSIAN SILVER – Silvercollection.it
- hallmarks of Russian silversmiths – an article on ASCAS
- Guidance for selling precious metal items to the public
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I sell gold jewellery with foreign hallmarks in the UK?
Yes, you can sell foreign-hallmarked gold in the UK as long as the metal is genuine. We test the gold ourselves, so even if the hallmark is from another country, we can confirm the karat and pay based on its actual gold content.
Do I need to understand foreign hallmarks before sending you my gold?
No - you don't need to decode foreign hallmarks in advance. If you send your pieces in our free gold selling pack, we will interpret the marks where possible and back that up with testing, so your offer is based on verified purity rather than guesswork.
Are some foreign hallmarks more likely to be under- or over-karated?
Standards vary by country, and some regions have looser enforcement than the UK, which is why we always test the metal ourselves. If a piece tests lower than the hallmark suggests, we explain this as part of your valuation.
What if my foreign gold has no hallmark at all?
We can still test unmarked foreign jewellery to determine whether it is gold and what karat it is. In those cases we rely entirely on testing, then offer a price aligned with the confirmed purity and the live gold price.
