Is it possible to value gold at home by putting it on the kitchen scales and looking at the kitemark?
Kitchen scales aren’t usually meant for weighing such light items (eg rings, earrings, neck chains, etc) so on the whole they won’t be very useful. Unfortunately putting all the items onto the scales won’t help much either, different prices are offered for different metals, you’ll be offered more for an 18ct gold piece than a Sterling silver item, gram per gram. Someone offering to purchase the items from you must have accurate weighing scales that comply with The Weights & Measures Act 1985. The majority of precious metal items bear a “hallmark”, the earliest form of consumer protection dating back to the 1300s, comprising of a standard mark (this shows the standard of fineness of the metal, ie the purity of the precious metal content), the assay office mark (which indicates the assay office which tested and marked the item), the sponsor’s mark (the unique mark of the company or person responsible for sending the article for hallmarking – often the maker) and usually a date letter (th
