Number of hallmarked pieces reaches 11-year high in Q1
The total number of pieces hallmarked in 2022 Q1 is the highest in 11 years, with total pieces climbing 109.1% to 2,597,104 total pieces from 1,242,326 seen in the same period in 2021, according to the latest figures from the Birmingham Assay office.
It comes after the total number of pieces hallmarked in March rose from 493,423 to 922,645, up 87%.
Gold hallmarked pieces in March 2022 rose 79.5% from 214,697 to 388,986, in line with its Q1 2022 79.5% rise from 559,932 to 1,004,826.
Meanwhile, silver also saw a significant rise in March, with 500,639 pieces representing a 90.4% rise on the 262,923 seen in 2021. This takes its total in Q1 to 1,499,299 so far, up 135.2% from 637,557.
Platinum hallmarked pieces also climbed 109.7% in March, in line with its 106.9% Q1 rise.
Only palladium saw a decline of -22.8%, however this remains 25.2% above the previous year.