The Goldsmiths' Hallmark Authentication Committee (GHAC) - formerly The Antique Plate Committee (APC) - was founded in 1939, and is a unique, internationally renowned body, that adjudicates and advises on: the authenticity of an article’s provenance; whether an illegal alteration or an addition has been made; and if the hallmark applied to it is genuine or a forgery.

To commemorate the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III, Assay Offices across the UK have issued a commemorative component mark which can be applied to all precious metals in addition to the hallmark. Watch our expert engineers and technicians creating and applying the mark in London.

Watch a series of four short films by filmmaker Lucy Emms, exploring the process and meeting the people behind the creation, application and use of the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Mark.

Discover the history of Hallmarking in London, from 1300 to the present day.

Find out how the Library & Archive team can help you to identify historic hallmarks.

The quarterly meetings of the Goldsmiths’ Hallmark Authentication Committee are usually concerned with mundane items such as tankards converted into hot water jugs, re-shaped dinner plates and rose bowls constructed from meat-dish covers. However, just occasionally a group of pieces is brought to the Committee’s attention which gives real cause for concern.

At the Snaresbrook Crown Court in London on Thursday 25 September 2008, Mr. Peter Ashley-Russell was sentenced to a total of three years’ imprisonment for offences under the Forgery Act 2006, four offences relating to the faking and forging of antique silver. Ashley-Russell was responsible for the faking and forging of 39 antique spoons, forks, coffee pots and a tazza made of silver. The fraudulent activities included conversion of spoons to forks to increase their value and the application of fake hallmarks using imitation punches that Peter Ashley-Russell had forged.