THE MARK THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE
Did you know that the assay mark is one of the oldest ways to protect consumer rights?
The assay mark guarantees the quality and fineness of articles with precious metals – gold, silver, platinum and palladium.
In Portugal, the Assay Office ensures the certification of items, safeguarding consumer protection, preventing counterfeiting and promoting fair competition between economic operators.
In addition to the assay mark, articles must also bear a responsibility mark. The responsibility mark consists of an engraving with a unique and exclusive design associated to a letter of the name or firm of the economic operator, serving to identify the person or body responsible for introducing the article of precious metal on the market
In order to help economic operators comply with some mandatory legal requirements in remote sales, the Assay Office now allows you to access, on this website, to mandatory information that the operator must provide to the final consumer in the sale of articles with precious metal: the list of appraisers of articles with precious metals and gemological materials, the quotation for precious metals in the Metal Exchange and the official marks of the Portuguese Assay Office.
Please remember to always check if your jewelry has the mark that makes the difference and get some information before buying your article.
In case of doubt as to the authenticity of the metal, you should contact the Assay Office at contrastarias@incm.pt.
You may check here all marks, in detail and interactively:
GOLD
Sheep’s head
999‰
(24 k)
916‰
(22 k)
800‰
(19,2 k)
750‰
(18 k)
585‰
(14 k)
375‰
(9 k)
SILVER
Rabbit head
999‰
925‰
835‰
830‰
800‰
PLATINUM
Hummingbird head
999‰
950‰
900‰
850‰
PALLADIUM
Lynx head
999‰
950‰
500‰
BARS
A removable armillary sphere superposed on the words platinum, gold, palladium or silver, to be applied to the bars of those metals
GOLDSMITHS’ ARTICLES
WITH SPECIAL INTEREST
Old man’s head
Goldsmiths’ articles containing marks of extinct municipal assay marks
Old man’s head crowned with laurel
Goldsmiths’ articles of recognised archaeological, historical or artistic interest, manufactured before 1882
Duck
Goldsmiths’ articles of recognised archaeological, historical or artistic interest, manufactured after 1882 and provided that they are proven to be more than 50 years old
OTHER MARKS
Goldfinch
Used goldsmiths’ articles, meaning that the fineness warranty is limited to clean metal and that it receives the designation of special Assay Office mark.
Owl
Goldsmiths’ articles whose manufacturer is unknown, replacing the responsibility mark
Butterfly
Platinum articles with fineness 500, provided that they are proven to be more than 50 years old
Dragonfly
Gold items with fineness 800, provided that they are proven to be more than 50 years old
Ladybug
Silver items with fineness 833, provided that they are proven to be more than 50 years old
Bee
Watches, glasses and bezels with fineness 750, provided that they are proven to be more than 50 years old
Composite articles
For marking parts of precious metal, in composite goldsmiths’ articles composed of precious and common metal
COMMON CONTROL MARKS
GOLD
PLATINUM
SILVER
PALLADIUM
Portugal has been a party to the Convention on the Control and Marking of Articles of Precious Metals since 1982. This Agreement has established the marking with the Common Control Mark in order to facilitate international trade in precious articles, making it possible to export them to the Convention Member States without any additional formalities. It is an international mark that has the same legal status as national official marks.
Law No. 98/2015 of 18 August, Portaria No. 374-A/2017, of 31 October and Notice (Aviso) No. 21026/2020 of 29 December
Table of Marks in force since 1st January 2021
