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The total number of articles hallmarked across all four of the UK’s assay offices saw a 7.9% increase in February, compared with the same month last year.
According to the data (compiled by the Birmingham Assay Office), there was a total of 55,419 more articles hallmarked in February this year when compared to February 2014.
9ct gold remained flat for the second month in a row. 22ct gold was the only metal to fall during the month with 999 fewer articles hallmarked – a fall of 2.8%.
Experiencing a huge increase in hallmarking was 14ct gold, with an increase of 50.5%, while 18ct gold saw an increase of 34.6%. In total gold reported a 14.3% increase in articles hallmarked, representing an additional 46,606 articles on the same time last year.
Silver was up with a total of 5,525 more articles hallmarked across all categories in February, an increase of 1.6%.
Platinum saw a rise of 6% with 1,156 more articles hallmarked, while palladium increased on a positive January with an increase of 2,132 (31.1%) more articles hallmarked compared with February 2014.
| Month | Month | Variance | % | |||
| Feb-14 | Feb-15 | |||||
| Gold | ||||||
| 999 | 60 | 113 | 53 | 88.3 | ||
| 990 | 1 | 0 | -1 | 0.0 | ||
| 916 | 35,581 | 34,582 | -999 | -2.8 | ||
| 750 | 50,162 | 67,524 | 17,362 | 34.6 | ||
| 585 | 4,991 | 7,513 | 2,522 | 50.5 | ||
| 375 | 236,261 | 263,930 | 27,669 | 11.7 | ||
| 327,056 | 373,662 | 46,606 | 14.3 | |||
| Silver | ||||||
| 999 | 614 | 1,168 | 554 | 90.2 | ||
| 958 | 406 | 1,128 | 722 | 177.8 | ||
| 925 | 350,767 | 354,982 | 4,215 | 1.2 | ||
| 800 | 4 | 38 | 34 | 850.0 | ||
| 351,791 | 357,316 | 5,525 | 1.6 | |||
| Platinum | ||||||
| 999 | 0 | 25 | 25 | 0.0 | ||
| 950 | 19,221 | 20,327 | 1,106 | 5.8 | ||
| 900 | 7 | 24 | 17 | 242.9 | ||
| 850 | 1 | 9 | 8 | 100.0 | ||
| 19,229 | 20,385 | 1,156 | 6.0 | |||
| Palladium | ||||||
| 999 | – | 0 | 0 | 100.0 | ||
| 950 | 6,170 | 8001 | 1,831 | 29.7 | ||
| 500 | 675 | 976 | 301 | 44.6 | ||
| 6,845 | 8977 | 2,132 | 31.1 | |||
| 704,921 | 760,340 | 55,419 | 7.9 |
