Part 9 of a series on metals. for August 28 2026.

                                         
                                        #7147 Portuguese gold snake bangle.

Let's go on a little holiday to a few places familiar to us through their metallic quirks.

While we naturally focused on gold up to now, let's start today with silver.

                         #4901 Sterling silver desk set. 

Most familiar is the word 'sterling', which is so ubiquitous that it is used as a synonym for 'top drawer' - the very best. As we explained in post 268 (see July 17th) it implies 925 parts of silver with the rest being stronger, less expensive metals. "sterling" and the lion passant that represents it in the UK were replaced for a short while (1697-1720)  by an even higher standard, called Britannia with the lion replaced by a figure, called 'Britannia'. On the whole, the Brits have stayed loyal to the sterling standard since then.

Not every country around the world emulated the British standard. The French, never to be outdone, used 950 as their standard with Minerva facing right as the hallmark. Most of Europe were happy with 800 silver and we will find a variety of hallmarks as well as the numbers 800 on the majority of European silver. 
Antique Russian silver is highly regarded and prior to the nasty last few years of their history, was enthusiastically collected around the world. It is very specifically hallmarked including an '84' which indicates the Russian standard of 875 parts silver. 
Chinese silver has been collected with wild enthusiasm for a few decades, not only by the Chinese, buying back so much of their history, but by westerners who appreciate the beautiful workmanship of their silver products.  Most Chinese silver that we might come across was made especially for Western markets. In the absence of a legal standard for silver, Chinese silver might be high grade - as much as 940 parts per 1000, low grade and it might not be silver at all. 
A fascinating parallel to Pinchbeck which we previously discussed, is Paktong - a silver look-alike that contains no silver at all, made in China. The word 'paktong' literally means 'white copper', giving us a good hint at one of its 3 components (nickel, zinc and of course, copper). 

The USA has also been a bit of a Wild West regarding standards with no legalities enforcing conformity. There is a governmental demand that if you choose to mark your silver products, the marking must be accurate. Fair enough. 

Most of the silver discussed to now was used to make small domestic items. Our focus is on antique jewelry, so we have to go back to gold. 

Gold is a lot more to humans than its mere value or practical use. It is the stuff of myths. It is what men died for. It is the standard by which we judge our world, regardless of whether the economists say so or not. When the world is in trouble, people turn to gold more than anything else as an investment and safeguard against worse times. 

    18k gold in France. 

There are countries in the world where gold is the equivalent of a bank. 
In the brief window that Myanmar (Burma) opened, I visited that amazing place. In advance, we were told that there are no banks in Burma. We had to take new, uncreased bank notes to use as currency. What about the local population? If a farmer had a good year, he put his earnings in gold. Pure gold. On every street corner in Yangon and other towns, there are little shops that buy and sell gold. When same farmer needed money, he sold the gold at the little gold shop. While the other tourists bought place mats and knick-knacks, I bought a pure gold hair clip that might be too soft to actually wear.  

     Real gold over lacquer from Myanmar.

Traditionally, when an Indian woman is married, her property goes to her husband. She would be utterly without any form of independence or self-protection were it not for the fact that her jewelry remains her own. For the Indian woman, gold jewelry was her bank and her insurance policy. 

Nobody loves gold more than Indians. Indian gold is traditionally of a very high purity - 22k, although today, a lot of modern manufacture is substantially less.  

       #4733 Indian ring.  

We are all familiar with the usual gold standards of 18k, 14k and some lower 9-12k. The French, (see above comment about never being outdone), don't regard anything as gold if it is below 18k. Please read our previous posts on gold purity and hallmarks. In the UK, 18k was used, but so were 14, 15, 12 and 9k. Both 12 and 15k were discontinued after 1932. If you find jewelry marked 12 or 15ct, you know it predates that year **. The Russians maintained something like 14k gold, exactly 874 parts of 1000, written as 84 which is an old system of referring to gold as 'zolotniks'. What a fabulous word! 
Interestingly, I learned that the Portuguese demanded an unusually high 19.2k standard of gold.

Before we go into a litany of gold standards, you will be relieved to know that many countries have signed on to a world-wide agreement about gold standards. We are not quite there yet but look to a future where gold is gold is gold regardless of origin.  Meanwhile, hallmarks are a way of safeguarding the consumer (you and me) against metal fraud. 

 

 

Notes: ** the use of 'karat' and 'carat' is interchangeable. In the Uk, karats are marked ct on jewelry. 
Please see our previous posts on metals to learn more about metals and what can affect you, the antique jewelry collector.

Questions and comments: Please email antiques@brendaginsberg.com
Find jewelry on www.brendaginsberg.com
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