The Goldsmiths’ Company Assay Office is where hallmarking began, and we have been testing and hallmarking precious metals for over 700 years. 

We have been responsible for guaranteeing the purity of items made of precious metals since 1300, when the hallmarking statute was passed. We became the official ‘home of hallmarking’ in 1478, establishing the country’s first Assay Office at Goldsmiths’ Hall London, which still operates today.

Our hallmark and our trade depend on integrity and trust, which underpin all our work and what we stand for.

The purpose of the Goldsmiths' Company is to contribute to British national life by supporting its related crafts, industry and trade. Today, the Goldsmiths’ Company family is made up of the Goldsmiths’ Company, the Goldsmiths’ Company Assay Office, the Goldsmiths’ Company Charity, and the Goldsmiths’ Centre.

We work together and collaborate to support the trade, from training and development to investing in makers who live, work, create and learn in the UK; and to support civil society, from grant-making through the Charity to education provided by the Centre, and by upholding standards of hallmarking through the Assay Office and through wider charitable and educational activity.

The main objectives of the Company are:

• To support the precious metal and jewellery crafts, industry and trade through training, education and promotion, primarily through The Goldsmiths’ Centre;
• To operate the Assay Office, and test the coinage of the realm annually through the Trial of the Pyx;
• To fund and support the Goldsmiths’ Company Charity in achieving its charitable objectives;
• To build on our traditions to enhance our contribution to life, work, education and culture in the City of London and more widely;
• To manage our financial affairs to secure the long-term future of the Company and its activities.

The Goldsmiths' Centre

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