GOLDSMITHS AND SILVERSMITHS g CAP. 46.             1
CHAPTER 46 
GOLDSMITHS AND SILVERSMITHS ORDINANCE
 To repeal and re-enact with amendments the law relating to Goldsmiths
and Silversmiths.
1st December, 1920
ORDINANCE XII of 1920 as amended by Act X of 1932; Ordinance II of
1938; Acts: XXII of 1949, XXV of 1962; Legal Notices: 4 of 1963, 46 of
1965; and Acts: VII of 1966, XXXI of 1971, LVIII of 1974, XI of 1977,
XLIX of 1981, II of 1982, VIII and XVIII of 1990, and XXVII of 2001.
Short title.
Silversmiths Ordinance.
Interpretation. 
Added by: 
XXXI. 1971.9.
2. In this Ordinance, and in any regulations made thereunder - 
"body of persons" means any company or society of persons,
whether corporate or unincorporate, whether vested with legal
personality or not;
"Consul" means the Consul for Goldsmiths and Silversmiths and
includes any public officer whom the Minister responsible for
finance may from time to time authorise to carry out the duties of
Consul;
"person" includes a body of persons.
Gold and silver 
articles to be 
stamped. 
Amended by: 
XXXI. 1971.2.
3. (1) ( a )  No gold or silver article shall be sold, exchanged, or
otherwise transferred or dealt with unless such article
is marked with the appropriate Government stamp
showing the standard of fineness of the gold or silver
used in its manufacture.
( b )  No commercially imported gold or silver article shall
be sold, exchanged or otherwise dealt with in the
course of trade, nor shall any such article be released
by the Comptroller of Customs, prior to it being
marked by appropriate Government stamps showing - 
(i) its foreign origin;
(ii) the standard of fineness of the gold or silver
used in its manufacture.
Exceptions.
( a ) any gold or silver ornament in any work of another
substance;
( b ) any gold or silver work which cannot bear the pressure
of the stamp without being broken or losing the
necessary solidity;
( c ) any gold or silver article having an antiquarian value; 
( d ) any gold or silver article worked on platinum or
platiné;
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( e ) any gold or silver article in which the value of the
pearls or precious stones and of the manufacture is, in
the opinion of the Consul, by far higher than the value
of the metal used.
(3) Subject to any condition as he may deem fit to impose, and
saving the provisions of subarticle (2), the Minister responsible for
finance may, by notice in the Government Gazette, from time to
time direct that the provisions of subarticle (1), or any of them,
shall not apply to any specified gold or silver article or to any
specified class or category of such articles.
By whom and how 
stamped. 
Amended by: 
XXV. 1962.3; 
L.N. 4 of 1963; 
L.N. 46 of  1965.
4. (1) The stamp shall be affixed by the Consul for
Goldsmiths and Silversmiths, after an assay of the article has been
made in accordance with the regulations which shall, from time to
time, be made by the Minister responsible for finance.
(2) Any such regulations shall be published by notice in the
Government Gazette and a copy thereof shall be laid on the Table
of the House of Representatives during a session thereof, and they
shall come into force on the day fixed in such notice, unless they
are rejected by the House of Representatives within three weeks
from the date on which they shall have been laid on the Table of the
said House.
Standards for gold 
and silver articles. 
Substituted by: 
XXXI. 1971.3; 
II.1982.2.
5. (1) The following standards of fineness shall be recognised
for the purposes of this Ordinance:
( a ) for works of gold 916, 750, 585 and 375; 
( b ) for works of silver 959, 925, 830 and 800.
(2) The standard of fineness shall be indicated by the number
which represents the number of parts by weight of fine gold and
silver, as the case may be, in one thousand parts by weight of alloy.
Inferior articles. 6. (1) Any article which without being inferior to the lowest
standard established by law does not exactly reach one of the legal
standards, shall be stamped as being of a legal standard
immediately inferior to that resulting from the assay or shall be
broken at the option of the artificer.
(2) Any article in respect of which the stamp is refused by
reason of its inferiority to the lowest legal standard shall be broken
in the presence of the Consul and the owner of such article.
Punishment for 
incorrect 
declaration. 
Amended by: 
XLIX. 1981.4.  Cap. 
9.
7. (1) Any person who incorrectly declares that an article
presented for stamping is of a homogeneous substance or does not
conceal extraneous substances, shall be liable to the punishments
established in the Criminal Code for contraventions.
Punishment for 
fraudulent 
declaration.
(2) Any person who fraudulently declares that an article
presented for stamping is of a homogeneous substance or does not
conceal extraneous substances, shall, on conviction, be liable to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding eighteen months.
GOLDSMITHS AND SILVERSMITHS g CAP. 46.             3
Where by 
fraudulent 
declaration 
offender procures 
stamping of article, 
etc.
(3) If by means of any such fraudulent declaration any person
procures the stamping of an article which conceals any extraneous
substances, or is not of a homogeneous substance, or if any person
alters one or more parts of a stamped article, or conceals therein
any extraneous substances, such person shall, on conviction, be
liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.
Notice to be given 
by Consul.
(4) No proceedings shall be taken against any artificer who has
made an incorrect or fraudulent declaration that an article presented
by him for stamping is of a homogeneous substance, before the
lapse of eight days from the day on which a notice to that effect is
given to him by the Consul: within which time such artificer may
require that the article so presented be melted down and that of the
substance so obtained the Consul shall make a second assay.
Mark of artificer.
Amended by: 
XXXI.1971.5; 
XVIII.1990.2.
8. (1) No gold or silver work manufactured in Malta shall be
stamped by the Consul unless every component part thereof, except
such parts as do not suffer the pressure of the stamp, bears the mark
of the artificer who has worked it.
(2) The provisions of this section shall not apply - 
( a ) where the total weight of any such article does not
exceed one gram; and
( b ) where, in the opinion of the Consul, the stamping of
the artificer’s mark may be dispensed with because of
exceptional technical difficulties.
Licence required to 
carry on the trade 
of goldsmith, etc. 
Amended by:
VII. 1966.2;
XXVII. 2001.33.
Cap. 441.
9. (1) It shall not be lawful for any person to carry on the
trade of goldsmith or silversmith, or to deal in gold or silver
manufactures, without a licence from the regulatory authority under
the Trading Licences Act.
(2) Such licence shall not be granted to itinerary traders nor
shall it be granted to any goldsmith or silversmith unless he
satisfies the conditions which may, from time to time, be prescribed
by regulations in that behalf, and deposits with the Consul a
specimen of the mark which he intends to apply to his works.
(3) It shall not be lawful for any goldsmith or silversmith to use
a mark already used by another goldsmith or silversmith.
(4) It shall not be lawful for any goldsmith or silversmith to
manufacture filigree articles other than by hand, or to manufacture
imitation filigree articles.
Jewellery for sale 
shall bear label 
indicating local 
manufacture and 
fineness.
Amended by: XXII. 
1949.2; 
VII. 1966.3.
10. (1) No article of jewellery manufactured in Malta, shall be
sold or exposed for sale without a label indicating its local
manufacture and the fineness of the gold or silver used in its
manufacture.
(2) It shall not be lawful to sell, expose for sale, exchange or
otherwise deal with in the course of trade any article of filigree
manufactured other than by hand or any imitation filigree article.
(3) No article of jewellery of foreign manufacture shall be sold
or given in exchange or exposed for sale or for exchange without a
label indicating its foreign manufacture and, in the case of filigree
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articles, the date of importation thereof.
(4) It shall not be lawful for any vendor to label any article of
jewellery of foreign manufacture as an article of local manufacture.
(5) Every trader in gold and silver manufactures shall exhibit in
a conspicuous place in his shop an official notice stating that all
articles of jewellery manufactured locally should bear the
Government stamp and containing an enlarged reproduction of the
Government stamps.
Duties of Consul. 11. The Consul for Goldsmiths and Silversmiths may, at any
time, inspect the shops of traders in gold and silver manufactures
for the purpose of ascertaining whether the provisions of this
Ordinance, or of any regulations made thereunder, are being
observed.
Consul to be the 
official valuer. 
Amended by: 
XXXI. 1971.7.
12. The Consul for Goldsmiths and Silversmiths shall be the
official valuer for locally manufactured and for commercially
imported jewellery, and no person may open a shop or set up any
office or other premises for the assaying and valuing of jewellery.
Valuation of 
metals. 
Amended by: 
II.1938.2; 
L.N.4 of 1963; 
XI. 1977.2.
13. (1) The Minister responsible for finance shall have power
to fix, from time to time, by notice published in the Government
Gazette, the price of gold and silver on which valuations made by
the Consul shall be based.
(2) Such price shall be fixed according to the Maltese weight
and in Maltese currency.
Goldsmiths, etc., 
are forbidden to 
purchase jewellery 
before it is shown 
to Consul. 
Amended by: 
XLIX.1981.6.
14. (1) It shall not be lawful for any goldsmith, silversmith or
other dealer to purchase any gold or silver articles manufactured in
Malta, or pearls or precious stones, from any person unknown to
them without first showing such articles, pearls or precious stones
to the Consul.
(2) The Consul to whom any such articles, pearls or precious
stones are presented shall make an entry thereof in a book kept for
that purpose, specifying the weight, quality and value thereof, the
day on which the same were presented to him, and the name and
surname of the person by whom they were so presented.
(3) The provisions of subsection (1) of this section shall not
apply where the purchase is made at a judicial sale, or at a sale of
pledges of  Il-Monti .
Returns to 
Commissioner of 
Inland Revenue.
Added by: 
XXXI. 1971.8.
15. (1) The Commissioner of Inland Revenue may, at any time
by notice in writing, require from any person who deals in gold
and/or silver articles a return showing the details set out in the
notice regarding the stocks of any such articles held by such a
person on any date specified in the notice before the opening for
business, being either the date of the receipt of the notice or a
subsequent date.
(2) The notice referred to in subarticle (1) shall prescribe the
time limit, which shall in no case be less than six days from the
receipt of such notice, within which the return is to be submitted to
the said Commissioner.
GOLDSMITHS AND SILVERSMITHS g CAP. 46.             5
Power of Minister 
responsible for 
trade to restrain 
exportation of 
gold. 
Added by: 
X.1932.1. 
Amended by: 
XXII.1949.3; 
L.N. 4 of 1963; 
XI.1977.2; 
XIII. 1983.5.
16. (1) It shall be lawful for the Minister responsible for trade,
whenever he deems it necessary for the protection of the local
goldsmith’s industry, to prohibit, by means of a Government
Notice, the exportation from Malta of gold, whether in dust, ingots,
broken pieces, coins, manufactured articles or in any other form.
(2) If any gold is exported or brought to any quay or other
place to be shipped for exportation from Malta, or is water-borne or
air-borne to be so shipped or exported in contravention of such
prohibition, such gold shall be forfeited, and the exporter or his
agent and the shipper shall be liable to a penalty of fifty liri or to
pay double the value of the said gold, whichever is the greater.
(3) It shall also be lawful for the Minister responsible for trade,
whenever he deems it necessary for the protection of the local
filigree industry, to prohibit by means of a Government Notice the
importation into Malta of filigree articles whether made of gold or
of silver or any other metal.
(4) If any filigree articles are imported into Malta in
contravention of such a prohibition, such articles shall be forfeited
and the importer or his agent shall be liable to a penalty of fifty liri
or to pay double the value of the articles, whichever is the greater.
For this purpose the value of the articles shall be that assessed by
the Consul without prejudice to any proof of a lower value made in
the course of the proceedings.
(5) In this section "importation" means and includes the
bringing of articles into Malta from any other place by whatever
means the carriage is effected.
Forfeiture of gold 
or filigree articles 
exported against 
prohibition, to take 
place  ipso jure  in 
certain cases. 
Added by: 
X.1932.1. 
Amended by: 
XXII.1949.4;  
XI.1977.2.
17. (1) The forfeiture referred to in the last preceding section
shall take place  ipso jure  without the necessity of any judicial
proceedings if, within eight days from the day of the publication of
a notice signed by the Commissioner of Police, no one shall have
claimed the gold or filigree articles so seized, by a judicial letter or
any other letter addressed to the said Commissioner.
(2) The said notice shall describe the gold or filigree articles so
seized by specifying the marks or other external signs they may
bear and the grounds of the seizure thereof, and it shall state that in
default of any claim being made by a judicial letter or any other
letter addressed to the Commissioner of Police within the time of
eight days from the date of such notice, the said gold or filigree
articles shall be forfeited.
(3) The said notice shall be published in the Government
Gazette and a copy thereof shall be posted up at the door of the
Police station in Valletta.
Recovery of 
penalty. 
Added by:
X. 1932.1.
Amended by:
XXII. 1949.4; 
L.N. 46 of 1965
LVIII. 1974.68.
18. It shall be competent to the Attorney General, on behalf of
the Government, to take action before the competent court for the
recovery of the penalty referred to in article 16 and for the
forfeiture of the gold or filigree articles under this Ordinance
whenever legal proceedings to that effect shall be rendered
necessary.
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Punishments. 
Amended by 
X.1932.2.3; 
VII.1966.4; 
VIII. 1990.3. 
Cap. 9.
19. (1) Saving the provisions of articles 7 and 17 of this
Ordinance and of articles 19 and 543 of the Criminal Code, it shall
be lawful for any Court of Magistrates, sitting as a court of criminal
judicature, to award for any offence against this Ordinance, or
against any of the regulations made thereunder, any of the
punishments established in the said Code for contraventions or two
or more of such punishments cumulatively according to
circumstances.
(2) The court shall also order the forfeiture of any article in
relation to which an offence against the provisions of article 9(3) or
of article 10(2) has been committed and such article shall thereupon
be forfeited to the Government.
Offences by body 
of persons.
Amended by:
X. 1932.3.
Substituted by:
XXXI. 1971.9.
20. Where an offence is committed by a body of persons, every
person who, at the time of the commission of the offence, was a
director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of such body of
persons or was purporting to act in any such capacity shall be guilty
of that offence unless he proves that the offence was committed
without his knowledge and that he exercised all due diligence to
prevent the commission of the offence.
The Tariff has been omitted under the Statute Law Revision Act, 1980. 
Fees:  See  L.N. 12 of 1983.
