Goldsmiths' Company N/A

The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, more commonly known as the Goldsmiths' Company, is one of the twelve Great Livery Companies of the City of London. Receiving its first royal charter in 1327, its role has been to regulate the craft or trade of the goldsmith. The Company has been responsible since 1300 for testing the quality of gold, silver and, from 1975, platinum articles. In 2010 Palladium was brought into this regime. The word hallmark originates from the fifteenth century when London craftsmen were first required to bring their artefacts to Goldsmiths' Hall for assaying and marking. This requirement continues unchanged today and the Company still carries out its statutory function through the operations of The Goldsmiths' Company Assay Office.