The Government of India has appointed Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS) as the sole agency in India to operate the BIS Hallmarking Scheme to certify Gold and other bullions.
The BIS Hallmarking Scheme has been aligned with International criteria on hallmarking (Vienna Convention 1972).
A Hallmark, consists of five components i.e.
- 1. BIS Mark
- Fineness number (corresponding to given carratage)
- Assaying and Hallmarking Centre’s Mark
- Jeweller’s identification Mark
- Year of Marking denoted by a code letter and decided by BIS (e.g. code letter `A’ was approved by BIS for year 2000, `B’ being used for the year 2001 and `C’ for 2002 and ‘J’ for 2008).
The Halmark marking is done either using punches or laser marking machine.
Some manufacturers also issue Assay & Certificate of Authenticity (COA) which can be obtained through Assay Offices. Assay offices are institutions set up to assay (test the purity of) precious metals, in order to protect consumers.
All coins and jewellery offered sold by any Jeweller / Store should be BIS hallmarked.