The United States Patent Office started issuing patent numbers in 1836. An amazing variety of 19th and 20th century American antiques, jewelry and collectibles are marked with the patent number identifying the year that the object was patented.
Hi Sheryl thank you for your good question - Can hallmarks be just numbers?
What exactly ARE Gold hallmarks in the first place? A hallmark is a stamp or mark of approval indicating that your gold piece meets the international standards for gold fineness.
A gold hallmark indicates the millesimal fineness of your golden item and it, in some way, is the manufacturer?s guarantee that his claims for the purity of gold used in that particular item is indeed true.
The purity mark or gold fineness, ie. "750" is technically the HALLMARK however nowadays people use the word hallmark to describe just about every mark they find on a piece of jewelry.
Pure gold, as a metal, is generally too soft to be used for anything, For this reason, other metals are mixed with gold to create gold alloys sturdy enough to be used as raw material for gold crafts. The problem with this is that if the metal added to gold is too much, the monetary value of gold goes down.
Not everyone has the ability to determine the purity of gold in a certain item. In fact, not even veteran goldsmiths would be able to tell you accurately the millesemal fineness gold alloys by simply looking at them. Therefore, without the gold hallmark, individuals will not be able to determine if the gold item they are purchasing is worth the price they are paying for.
Numbers marks commonly found on jewelry may include the following: registry marks year of registry marks registry numbers patent numbers design numbers manufacturing numbers
