In the United Kingdom, the Hallmarking Act 1973 makes it an offence to describe as platinum, gold or silver an item which is not hallmarked as appropriate or exempt from hallmarking. In July 2009, following a proposal by the British Hallmarking Council, an amendment to the Act also brought palladium under the hallmarking regime.
The first UK assay office was Goldsmiths Hall, founded around 1300, and where the term "hallmarking" originates, meaning "marked in Goldsmiths Hall". Since then, there have been ten assay offices in the UK.
There are four remaining assay offices in the UK: