I get the impression from some of the comments on this subject that
some folks think that we have to mark our pieces with quality stamps.
Of course, it is to our advantage to do so for selling purposes, but
the USA requirement is only that IF we do quality-mark it, then we
must mark it with our hallmark to indicate just who it is that has
stated that it is of that quality. So if you do not mark it with any
quality stamps, you are not in violation of anything.
I personally do not like to send precious metals out into the world
without marking them, because I feel it is a shame to let them
eventually fall into the hands of those who might dispose of them
carelessly, thinking that they are of no intrinsic value, after all
of the human and ecological cost of their mining and refining. But I
sometimes do not mark small or fulll-round sculptural items, if it is
difficult to do without being unsightly.
Though I now have a good view of what is correct, I’m not absolutely
sure how I will decide to mark the mixed-metal items that I am
planning to make. But I usually do decide in the end to do the right
thing according to law. Keum-boo would probably assay out okay as
silver in a melt, since there is such a very small percentage of gold
applied to it.
Thanks for your comments, Jim Binnion. You seem to be the person,
due to the nature of your mokume work, who has been most motivated
to figure this all out, even though you may have not liked the
answers that you have finally settled on. C’est la vie. Thanks for
sharing your research with us; I have a lot of confidence in your
conclusions.
M’lou Brubaker, Jeweler
Goodland, MN, USA