Stamping your gold.

[viacin]

These questions were asked in another post by someone else, but I thought they deserved their own topic.

What are the laws on stamping the purity of your gold on the bar itself?
Do you have to be a registered/certified assayer?
is the U.S. Mint (or other govt.'s Mints) the only ones allowed to do it?

 

[Noxx]

That's a good question. Waiting for answers as well...

 

[goldsilverpro]

What are the laws on stamping the purity of your gold on the bar itself?
Do you have to be a registered/certified assayer?
is the U.S. Mint (or other govt.'s Mints) the only ones allowed to do it?

I may be out of touch, but I know of no US laws concerning the stamping of the gold purity on the bars, unless, maybe, if you stamp karat values, as in jewelry. Of course, if the content is less than the stamped purity, one would be liable for fraud.

In the US, I've never heard of a requirement for any certification or registration to do commercial assaying. The poor assayers either get shot or go out of business.

BTW, I'm seriously considering a small setup to do fire assaying on scrap, for a very competitive fee. If I do it, it will happen soon. I'm retired, but very bored. I may even refine a little karat gold scrap. I miss the gold and silver stains on my hands and the smell of aqua regia in the morning. I've probably run 10,000 fire assays in my life and I give accurate results.

 

[viacin]

GSP, you're my man (or woman?) for any assay I need. I've yet to even buy a single piece of scrap gold though, so it might be a while >.<

Retired you say? Time to go fishing, see the world, and complain about the "young whipper snappers" running through your grass. AAAhhh....the Good Life.... At my current rate, I have 43 years to go...so sad.

 

[Noxx]

Viacin, his name is Chris

 

[viacin]

nice to meet you Chris, I'm Kevin. I have a 5 yr old son named Chris, after my middle name Christopher.

 

[sawmill]

GSP and all
There is laws requiring an assayer to be certified,registered ,and
bonded. Any stamps or hallmarks on precious metal has to be applied
by a certified testing firm,or a firm with a registered hallmark to be
considered legal.
If the content has not been assayed by an approved ,and certified
assayer ,the purity stamp is worthless,and can't be used when selling.

There is what is called the uniform professional code and it covers
assayers too. I do know that all the Western States all go by the same
rules and regulations,so that professionals can operate over state lines.

Go to this site and it will explain the laws in detail. It is a long read
and you need to read it all to get a good idea of the requirements.
After reading this then you will know why the testing labs and assayers
get the big bucks.
www.btr.state.az.us/UserFiles/File/PDFs/Rules.pdf

 

[goldsilverpro]

That's in Arizona.

Here's a site that lists the individual states. It is for land surveyors but lists other occupations. Arizona is the only one I found that lists assayers.
http://www.libsci.sc.edu/bob/class/clis734/webguides/Russell_Liner_734.htm

I'm in Missouri and here are the regulated professions in that state. Assayers aren't listed. Strangely enough, neither are labs.
http://pr.mo.gov/regulated-professions.asp

I see nothing in the AZ document about operating over state lines. Can you provide something that says otherwise?

As far as I can see, there is no requirement for me to become certified. Also, for states that do require it, it seems to be related to the mining industry. I will only do assays on scrap and never on ores. No offense, but I had my fill of working with miners and prospectors many years ago.

I still can't find any U.S. laws governing the stamping of PM bars. Can you give more info on this?

Google has never heard of the Uniform Professional Code, except for accountants and actuaries.

I seriously doubt that anyone in any government agency is qualified to certify an assayer of PM scrap. Ore, maybe, but not scrap. Two different deals.

Canada seems to be a little more strict on all this stuff.

 

[Harold_V]

Canada seems to be a little more strict on all this stuff.

From conversation with a friend in the UK, they are really tough on hallmarking. It must be performed by certified people. The maker of jewelry must submit it for marking.

Years ago, in the UK, the penalty for mis-marking was death.

Harold