There are stamps on gold jewelry that sometimes are confusing, some of the European stamps are almost impossible for the average person to understand, like me. If you have jewelry with any of the numbers below and wondered what they meant this may help you in identifying it. Some costume jewelry is heavily coated with gold, most is 12k gold filled and the majority of them are stamped somewhere on the piece, but a some are not so when testing it, you have to rub it down to the base metal to test it using an ink eraser in an inconspicuous place. If someone tells you that a piece is 12k gold, more than likely it is plated, you very rarely see jewelry done in 12k solid gold...
375 = 9c/ct
538 or 585= 14K
750 = 18K also an Eagles head {French}-18K
14KP = plumb {exact} this was not used until the 1980s.
Russian stamps = 56=583= 14K
Platinum = 900 Plat-100 Irid the dogs head was used after 1912 for platinum.
1/20 14K or 12K GF = Gold filled.
RGP = rolled gold plate
HGE = heavy gold electroplate.
Silver = 925 = Sterling 92.5% silver.
800, 825, 830, 850, 900 are European or Continental stamps for silver.
EPNS = Electroplated nickel silver
Alpaca = copper, zinc, nickel, 2% silver.
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