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Reference

Purity and hallmarks

What the small stamp on your jewelry or silverware means, and what each purity is worth per gram at today's price.

Gold karat stamps

KaratNumber stampPure goldPer gram nowWhere you see it
8K33333.3%—Common in older European jewelry. Not sold as "gold" in the US.
9K37537.5%—Common in the UK and Commonwealth.
10K41741.7%—The lowest karat that can be sold as karat gold in the US.
12K50050.0%—Often seen with "GF": "1/20 12K GF" is gold filled, not solid.
14K58558.3%—The most common US jewelry gold.
18K75075.0%—Fine jewelry and European pieces.
21K87587.5%—Common in Middle Eastern jewelry.
22K91691.7%—South Asian jewelry; Gold Eagle and Krugerrand coins.
24K99999.9%—Pure gold: bars, many bullion coins, some Asian jewelry.

Silver marks

MarkPure silverPer gram nowWhere you see it
999, Fine99.9%—Bullion bars and coins.
958, Britannia95.8%—British Britannia standard, and older Britannia coins.
925, Sterling92.5%—Most silver jewelry and US flatware made since the late 1800s.
900, Coin90.0%—US coins before 1965 and older American "coin silver".
80080.0%—Common in German, Italian and other European silver.

Connecting to price feed… Melt value only.

Watch out

Stamps that mean it is not solid

GF, Gold Filled, 1/20 12K, 1/10 10K
Gold filled: a karat-gold layer bonded to base metal. The layer must be at least 1/20 of the weight, so most of the item is not gold.
GP, GEP, Gold Plated, Electroplated
A very thin gold layer. Little or no scrap value.
HGE, HGP
Heavy gold electroplate. Still plated, and still very little gold.
RGP
Rolled gold plate: like gold filled, but with less gold.
Vermeil
Gold-plated sterling silver. Usually valued as sterling.
EP, EPNS, Silverplate, Quadruple Plate
Silver-plated base metal. Almost no silver value.
Nickel silver, German silver, Alpaca
No silver at all. A copper, nickel and zinc alloy.

The rules behind the stamps

In the US, the Federal Trade Commission’s Guides for the Jewelry, Precious Metals, and Pewter Industries(16 CFR Part 23) set what “gold”, “gold filled” and “sterling” may mean in advertising and marking. The National Gold and Silver Stamping Act allows a small tolerance on stamped purity.

A stamp is a claim, not a test. Fakes are stamped too. See how to tell if gold is real.

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