Silver jewellery and silver articles are frequently bought by Indians. Be it a wedding or any other religious ceremony, this white metal is rampantly used as a gifting article as well as for puja purposes. Although, buying silver for various purposes is quite common, there are numerous instances where the buyer is tricked into buying silver which is not pure or is not of good quality.
What is Hallmarking?
Hallmarking is the accurate determination and recording of the content of precious metals in metals like gold, platinum and silver. Thus, hallmarked metals are guarantee of metals being pure and fine. The hallmarking technique has been adopted to prevent sellers selling irregular gold or silver to customers at prices that are not suitable. For example, a jeweller may sell gold coin to a person at the price of gold when actually the content of gold may be less than what is expected. Such cases make customers lose their money over metals which are not even pure and sellers are able to make inappropriate gains.
Hallmarking of Silver in India
BIS has launched the hallmarking scheme for silver in the year 2005. A lot of silver dealers have since then been issued with hallmark licenses for selling hallmarked silver artifacts and jewellery. In order to determine the purity of silver, hallmarking technique has been rolled out by the BIS, Bureau of Indian Standards, which is the organization responsible for Standardization, Certification and Quality. BIS was launched as a statutory organization under the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 1986.
What should you look for in a Hallmarked Silver Article or Jewellery Piece?
In order to be certain that you are buying pure form of silver, there are a few signs that you should look for in the piece of Jewellery or article that you buy. Following are few such points that will confirm the fineness of the metal that you are buying.
BIS Mark
BIS Mark is one of the foremost marks of purity of silver. It is a sort of triangular symbol with a dot inside the triangle. This is the official logo of Bureau of Indian Standards or BIS.
Purity Grade/Fineness
For fine silver, the purity grade is either of 999.9, 999.5 or just 999 For silver alloys, Jewellery and artefacts, it is 970, 925, 900, 835, 800
Years of Marking
This is denoted by the letter J for the year 2008
Jeweller's Identification Mark
Jeweller's identification mark is yet another technique to verify the purity of the metal.
Customers should look for the above four signs while buying silver or silver jewellery. This is the most efficient technique for finding and buying authentic silver in the country. Before the hallmarking technique was launched, metal sellers and especially jewellers were able to make a lot of money through swindling transactions. Customers were made to believe that they were buying pure metal when the metal was mixed with certain alloys. This practice led to customers being cheated and sellers making more than the right profit. Since the inception of hallmarking by BIS, customers can now freely buy precious metals like silver and gold without worrying about their purity.
There are a lot of mutual funds that customers can choose from but some of the best Tax Saver mutual funds in India right now are:
Top 10 Tax Saver Mutual Funds to invest in India for 2016 or Best 10 ELSS Mutual Funds in india for 2016
1. BNP Paribas Long Term Equity Fund
2. Axis Tax Saver Fund
3. Franklin India TaxShield
4. ICICI Prudential Long Term Equity Fund
5. IDFC Tax Advantage (ELSS) Fund
6. Birla Sun Life Tax Relief 96
7. DSP BlackRock Tax Saver Fund
8. Reliance Tax Saver (ELSS) Fund
9. Religare Tax Plan
Invest in Best Performing 2016 Tax Saver Mutual Funds Online
For further information contact Prajna Capital on 94 8300 8300 by leaving a missed call
---------------------------------------------
Leave your comment with mail ID and we will answer them
OR
You can write to us at
PrajnaCapital [at] Gmail [dot] Com
OR
Leave a missed Call on 94 8300 8300
