CYPRUS ASSAY OFFICE HALLMARKS (CAO)

The Hallmark is a quality control mark placed on an article made of precious metal. It is applied after accurate independent testing by an Assay Office.

Hallmarks are important because they guarantee to the consumer that the article has been independently tested to be of the stated minimum purity.

In Cyprus there is one Assay Office, which is legally empowered to test precious metals articles and to apply a hallmark on them.

CAO HALLMARK

The Cyprus Hallmark consists of three compulsory symbols:

1. The manufacturer's mark - Consists of the initials of the manufacturer of the article surrounded by a small shield e.g.  

2. The fineness mark - The purity of the metal, in parts per thousand e.g.

3. The official mark - the Head of Aphrodite until december 2001 and a ship  as from January 2002 denotes that the article is made of Gold, and the fish that the articles is made of Silver.

 The manufacturer's mark must be struck on the articles by the manufacturer before its submitted to the Assay Office for Hallmarking. The manufacturer may make arrangements for the manufacture's mark to be struck by the Assay Office upon submission of the article to be struck with the approved hallmarks.

The manufacturer's mark which is registered under the relevant section of the Law shall include the initial letters of the name or names of the manufacturer and shall be of such design as may be approved by the Assay Office.

CYPRUS APPROVED HALLMARKS FOR GOLD

MANUF. MARK

OFFICIAL MARK

 FINENESS MARK

 CYPRUS APPROVED HALLMARKS FOR SILVER

MANUF. MARK

OFFICIAL MARK

 FINENESS MARK

 

 

 

Standards of Fineness

The standards of fineness of Gold and Silver articles that are hallmarked are given below:

For gold : 375,585,750 and 916 parts per thousand

For silver : 800,830 and 925 parts per thousand

No negative tolerance is permitted on the above standards of fineness