The total number of hallmarked items is set to top 10 million for the first time since 2011, the latest data from the four UK assay offices suggests.
Overall hallmarking figures, collated by the Assay Office Birmingham, dropped by 7.8% in November compared with the same period last year, mainly driven by a marked decline in the number of silver articles. But on an annualised basis 2014 remains on course to be the strongest year since 2011.
Despite a still-respectable performance from gold, which rose by 21,816 items (4%), 925 silver dropped 17.8% (more than 110,600 items), dragging the all-office average down. After a year of some very large gains, this is the first time total hallmarking figures have dropped in any year-on-year comparison in 2014.
It is thought that the festive trading period and a more positive picture of consumer spending overall will produce a year-on-year rise in hallmarking for December, making November’s dip an anomaly in an otherwise positive year.
| Month | Month | Variance | % | |||
| Nov-13 | Nov-14 | |||||
Gold |
||||||
| 999 | 270 | 45 | -225 | -83.3 | ||
| 990 | 18 | 3 | -15 | -83.3 | ||
| 916 | 31,063 | 37,630 | 6,567 | 21.1 | ||
| 750 | 103,821 | 92,956 | -10,865 | -10.5 | ||
| 585 | 8,528 | 6,774 | -1,754 | -20.6 | ||
| 375 | 400,828 | 428,936 | 28,108 | 7.0 | ||
544,528 |
566,344 |
|
21,816 |
|
4.0 |
|
Silver |
||||||
| 999 | 2,331 | 2,084 | -247 | -10.6 | ||
| 958 | 2,031 | 900 | -1,131 | -55.7 | ||
| 925 | 623,179 | 512,563 | -110,616 | -17.8 | ||
| 800 | 3 | 48 | 45 | 1500.0 | ||
627,544 |
515,595 |
|
-111,949 |
|
-17.8 |
|
Platinum |
||||||
| 999 | 1 | 14 | 13 | 1300.0 | ||
| 950 | 22,962 | 20,662 | -2,300 | -10.0 | ||
| 900 | 12 | 31 | 19 | 158.3 | ||
| 850 | 3 | 531 | 528 | 17600.0 | ||
22,978 |
21,238 |
|
-1,740 |
|
-7.6 |
|
Palladium |
||||||
| 999 | – | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | ||
| 950 | 6,357 | 4724 | -1,633 | -25.7 | ||
| 500 | 1,447 | 1285 | -162 | -11.2 | ||
7,804 |
6009 |
|
-1,795 |
|
-23.0 |
|
TOTAL |
1,202,854 |
1,109,186 |
-93,668 |
-7.8 |
