September hallmarking figures up 18%, 9ct gold continues to shine
Rising hallmarking figures showed no sign of abating in September, as the latest results compiled by the Birmingham Assay Office showed an overall rise of 18.2% across all precious metals, compared with September last year.The standout performer was, as has become the norm this year, gold, with 9ct rising 100,644 items to 360,533 in total – a 38.7% rise. Interestingly, 22ct showed the second largest rise – 38.4% – and overall, gold showed an increase of 34%.
There were more modest rises in other metals, with silver showing a 5.2% rise (most of which was powered by a 5.1% rise in 925, which finished on 433,847 articles), and platinum rising 1.3%. Palladium stayed stationary overall, with exactly the same number of items being hallmarked in total as September last year (7,882).
Quarterly figures, also released this month, showed similarly encouraging rises. Gold overall was up 23.6%, an increase of 242,308 articles compared with the previous year, taking the total to 1,270,970 for the quarter. Silver rose 6.7%, but platinum actually decreased by 6.8% for the quarter. Overall, precious metal articles hallmarked rose 13.4%.
September hallmarking figures below. To see Q3 hallmarking table, click here.
GOLD
24ct (999) – up 100% (30 items)
24ct (990) – down 85.8% (20 items)
22ct (916) – up 38.4% (46,156 items)
18ct (750) – up 17.8% (76,781 items)
14ct (585) – up 3.9% (10,491 items)
9ct (375) – up 38.7% (360,553 items)
Total gold articles – up 34% (494,031 articles)
SILVER
Fine silver (999) – up 143.6% (1,503 items)
Britannia silver (958) – down 37.5% (1,029 items)
Sterling silver (925) – up 5.1% (431,087 items)
800 parts silver – up 93.2% (228 items)
Total silver articles – up 5.2% (416,056 articles)
PLATINUM
999 parts – up 100% (1 items)
950 parts – up 1.2% (21,719 items)
900 parts – up 80% (9 items)
850 parts – up 400% (20 items)
Total platinum items – up 1.3% (21,749 items)
PALLADIUM
999 parts – level (0 items)
950 parts – down 2.8% (6,571 items)
500 parts – up 16.8% (1,311 items)
Total palladium items – level (7,882 items)
TOTAL ITEMS HALLMARKED IN SEPTEMBER 2014: 957,509– UP 18.2%
