Assay Office figures show drop in hallmarking

While figures were up for platinum and palladium in December 2012, registering 1.3 and 22 per cent rises respectively, the total number of items hallmarked showed a drop of 24.9 per cent.

Gold articles saw a drop of 22.8 per cent and silver 27.8 per cent, but there was a noticeable increase for 800 silver which saw a whopping 439.5 per cent rise in articles hallmarked. 950 palladium registered an increase of 16.8 per cent, with 500 palladium seeing a 123 per cent increase.

The final quarter of 2012 overall showed much more positive results, with 999 gold registering a massive 487.5 per cent increase (564 articles were hallmarked compared to the 96 in Q4 2011) and 916 gold registering an increase of 12.4 per cent. The rest saw a drop in figures.

Gold saw an overall 7.2 per cent decrease and silver a similar 5.1 per cent.

Palladium and platinum generally saw a positive move. Palladium numbers increased across the board, the largest rise being in the 500 category with a 26 .2 per cent increase, and with an overall 13.7 per cent increase.

Platinum 850 saw a 116.7 per cent increase while, overall, there was a 0.9 per cent rise.