Latvian hallmarking is administered by the Latvian Assay Supervision Inspection (Latvijas Proves Uzraudzibas Inspekcija), an agency under the Ministry of Finance. Latvia restored independence in 1991, joined the European Union in 2004, and acceded to the Convention on the Control and Marking of Articles of Precious Metals (the Hallmarking Convention, also known as the Vienna Convention) the same year. The country's hallmark system therefore aligns with both EU consumer law and the Convention's Common Control Mark (CCM) regime.

Marks applied

A fully struck Latvian hallmark on a domestic article comprises three or four elements. The first is the standard mark, indicating fineness in parts per thousand (for gold: 999, 958, 916, 750, 585, 500, 375; for silver: 999, 925, 875, 830, 800; for platinum: 999, 950, 900, 850; for palladium: 999, 950, 850, 500). The second is the assay-office mark, depicting an oak leaf, which has been the Latvian state hallmark symbol since the system was reconstituted after independence. The third is a letter indicating the year of assay (date letter). The fourth, where applicable, is the maker's or sponsor's mark, registered with the Inspection.

Articles intended for circulation among Hallmarking Convention member states may also be struck with the Common Control Mark, a balance-scale design that is recognised as proof of fineness across all signatory countries.

Statutory thresholds

Below specified weight thresholds, articles are exempt from compulsory assay. The thresholds are 1 gram for gold, 2 grams for silver, and 0.5 gram for platinum and palladium. Articles below these thresholds may be sold without state hallmark provided the maker's mark and fineness are correctly indicated.

Historical marks

The interwar Latvian republic (1918-1940) operated a hallmarking system that was discontinued during Soviet annexation; Latvian articles from the Soviet period (1944-1991) bear Soviet star hallmarks rather than Latvian ones. The pre-independence Riga makers' marks survive on antique pieces and are catalogued in Latvian museum collections, but the Soviet-era system superseded the local one entirely. Modern Latvian marks therefore date no earlier than 1991, and most Latvian-marked stock in circulation today is from the post-2004 EU-aligned period.

Trade implications

For dealers and collectors, a Latvian hallmark provides the same legal assurance of fineness as any other Convention country. Latvian-made silver from craft cooperatives in Riga and Ventspils, and modern jewellery from designers including Andris Lauders and the Riga goldsmiths' guild, carries the oak-leaf mark. Pre-1991 pieces require the same caution as other Soviet-era stock: marks from the Soviet hallmarking system identify origin but do not always reflect Western-equivalent fineness conventions, and authentication of pre-Soviet Latvian work requires comparison against Riga jewellers' archives.