Sterling Silver Coin Jewellery
The Law
Most people are aware that it is illegal to deface a coin, it is! However we have a license from the UK treasury to legally ‘Break up a coin of the realm’!
In addition to this, due to the Silver weight of our coin rings, it is also a legal requirement to have hallmarks applied by an assay office.
Many people are unaware that it is actually illegal to sell or even describe something for sale as a precious metal in the UK without a full hallmark. This mark must be applied by an independent Assay Office.
A simple 925 stamp is not a hallmark and can be applied by anyone to any metal so does not guarantee that you are buying silver.
Items sold without an authentic hall mark would also be prohibited from resale in the future. In order to sell them on, they would either need to be hall marked or sold as white metal. This considerably reduces the value to less than the scrap weight of the item. Whilst this may seem a little unusual and to some makers an inconvenience, it is the law and is in place to protect the consumer.
In addition to this, due to the Silver weight of our coin rings, it is also a legal requirement to have hallmarks applied by an assay office.
Many people are unaware that it is actually illegal to sell or even describe something for sale as a precious metal in the UK without a full hallmark. This mark must be applied by an independent Assay Office.
A simple 925 stamp is not a hallmark and can be applied by anyone to any metal so does not guarantee that you are buying silver.
Items sold without an authentic hall mark would also be prohibited from resale in the future. In order to sell them on, they would either need to be hall marked or sold as white metal. This considerably reduces the value to less than the scrap weight of the item. Whilst this may seem a little unusual and to some makers an inconvenience, it is the law and is in place to protect the consumer.
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All of our coin rings are sent to the London Assay Office where they are tested for their silver purity and a full set of UK hallmarks are applied. We also chose to have a date letter applied which adds a little bit of intrigue as each ring will show both the year of the coin and the year of the hallmark over 100 years apart! All of the coin rings shown are made from pre 1920 sterling silver UK circulated coins. Each one has had a previous life and therefore some can show more signs of use than others. These can be made to almost any size with the smaller coins ie the shilling, being suited to smaller sizes, the florins, medium to large and the half crowns large to extra large sizes. 3d coin rings with silver band (as in the first picture) can be made in any size. Prices range from £45 to £140. Cuff links and ear studs are made from the centres of the punched out coins! 
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