This month The Times newspaper published an article about an antique dealer who’d had a Victorian ring purchased from his shop by a team participating in the popular BBC TV programme Bargain Hunt. The ring was disqualified from the competition because one of the programme’s experts dated it as mid-20^th Century (1951). The dealer disputed the claim and came to the Assay Office to get the hallmarks evaluated. Our Library team were able to date the ring based on images provided by the dealer matched against our archives. The Library team concluded that the ring was, indeed, from the Victorian era. Read the article here. 

This examination of pieces was written about again in a piece in the Independent called "Inside the Goldsmiths' Company: how forensic experts take down the UK's biggest silver forgers".  It profiled the Antique Plate Committee, "the only organisation of its type in the world".    You can read the article here.  Read about the procedure of the Committee, and how to submit articles to be examined on our website here.