Birmingham Assay Office

The Birmingham Assay Office stands in the Jewellery Quarter, one of four such offices in the United Kingdom. It began in 1773 after Matthew Boulton and Sheffield silversmiths persuaded Parliament to allow Birmingham to assay silver. The first office occupied three rooms above a New Street inn and employed only four staff. Matthew Boulton became its first customer on the opening day. The office moved several times before settling into a purpose-built building on Newhall Street in 1877. The office is managed by a board of thirty-six Guardians who set standards for wrought plate. Its hallmark, the anchor, was chosen by a coin toss in 1773. Today the office offers hallmarking, metal analysis and bullion certification among other services. In 2003 it hallmarking thirteen million articles, making it the largest in the world. The Newhall Street building is listed at Grade II. The current premises on Moreton Street opened in 2015. The two-storey blue-brick building houses modern laboratories and conference rooms. Its walls display bricks bearing hallmarking symbols and the anchor town mark. A private museum, the Silver Collection, shows historic pieces. The former Newhall Street building now serves as Assay Studios, an innovation hub.