The Lithuanian hallmarking system has operated under state assay supervision since the country's independence in 1990, with the assay infrastructure inherited from the Soviet system reorganised under Lithuanian law. The system is administered by the Lietuvos prabavimo rumai (Lithuanian Assay Office), which carries out compulsory assay marking on precious metal articles intended for sale within Lithuania.

Standards

Lithuanian law recognises the standard precious metal finenesses common to the European market: 999, 958, 925, 875, 800 and 750 for silver, with the additional 720 standard for some applications; 999, 958, 916, 750, 585, 500 and 375 for gold; 950, 900 and 850 for platinum; and 950 and 500 for palladium. The fineness is expressed in millesimal terms in the Lithuanian marks, in line with the international standard adopted under the Vienna Convention on the Control of the Fineness and the Hallmarking of Precious Metal Objects.

Marks

The hallmark consists of a state assay mark, the millesimal fineness number, and the maker's or importer's mark. The state assay mark depicts a stylised figure or coat-of-arms element identifying the assay office, accompanied by the year letter where applicable. The marks are applied by punch on completion of assay testing.

The Vienna Convention

Lithuania is a contracting state to the 1972 Vienna Convention on Hallmarking, also known as the Hallmarking Convention. Under the Convention, articles bearing the Common Control Mark applied by an authorised assay office of any contracting state may circulate freely between contracting states without further national assay. This is significant for international trade in Lithuanian-marked articles, as it provides a clear path for goods to move into other Convention states such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Switzerland and others.

Trade significance

For the international trade in estate and antique jewellery, Lithuanian-marked pieces from the post-1990 period are encountered alongside the older Russian-marked pieces from before 1918 and the Soviet-marked pieces from 1918 to 1990. The mark traditions are quite different and a clear understanding of which mark system is involved is necessary for accurate dating and authentication of Baltic-region jewellery.