Over the past years I have been bought a few items of Gold during trips to Turkey, usually from the Marmaris area.

I have not had a bad experience (yet) from any of the deals, which have been found to be well worth the prices paid.

In Turkey the normal Gold type is 14ct, (585) which is 58.5% pure gold, higher than the 9ct (375) which is 37.5% pure gold as we have in the U.K.

However, I have heard a few "horror" stories from fellow holiday makers, these range from traders offering to clean and polish clients gold jewellery for free as they take the time to think about possible purchases.

 Yes the item has indeed been beautifully restored to a new finish, but during the process a small amount of gold has been filed from the item, the owner is oblivious to this fact, the trader can commit this act hundreds of times a week and ends up with a small fortune in gold filings!

Another is the one that worried me.

 Turkey does not have an international known Hallmark, gold is usually stamped with it`s carat type, ie 14K and or 585, some times you will find the makers name/mark also stamped, NONE of which means that it is GURANTEED to be real gold!

This is what you will find on the gold that you have bought from that nice man who give you a coffee/water/apple tea as you choose that special gift at well below the cost in dear old blighty, and a higher gold content!

As negotiations of the price commences the trader will usually weigh the item (at the time of writing this pure gold is about £12 per gram so 14ct gold has about £6.50 worth of pure gold in it) this gives him the base line for his deal, add to that the cost of craftmanship, government tax, shop rent etc etc etc

A week after you come home from your holiday and impressed your friends and family with your high quality 14ct gold, your skin goes a funny colour were you have worn it!

Thats because it was base metal plated with real gold and stamped exactly the same as the GENUINE 14ct 585 gold!

How can you tell that it is real gold?

Well, apart from the "acid test" or comparing an equivalent piece of your own, size and weight wise, you pretty much depend on trust.

But then we have the ASSAY office here in the good old U.K.

Sheffield, Birmingham, London and Edinburgh in Bonny Scotland!

These are the citys that are home to the Assay offices that safeguard you and me "joe public"  from the Dell Boy dealers and fakers!

 You DO NOT have to be a company, dealer, jeweler or manufacturer to use the services on offer by the Assay office!

For instance, I sent a number of 14ct Turkish items for testing and Hallmarking to an assay office (the gold does not have to be bought in this country to have a British Hallmark put on it)

 As a part of the hallmarking process the gold is tested for the carat content, stamped with a "sponcers" mark, in my case the assay office used there own mark as a sponcer, it will have the carat content stamped in numbers ie 585 and the mark of the city the office is based in, ie:  rose for Sheffield, anchor for Birmingham, leopards head for London and castle for Edinburgh.

Whats the cost you ask? 

You can send up to 6 items for testing/hallmarking which will cost £10.50 the lot, add V.A.T and special delivery postage both ways, full cost was less than £25, just over £2 per item!

Not much for piece of mind!

If you have bought gold items from any country other than U.K, then I  suggest you contact an assay office to have them tested and hallmarked, not only for your own piece of mind but it will also safeguard and increase the value of the item!

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