What does 950 mean on jewelry?
Short answer
950: 950 parts per thousand platinum or 950 parts per thousand silver or 950 parts per thousand palladium.
The figure alone does not name the metal: the metal’s colour and the accompanying marks decide.
The stamp in detail
| Item | What the tables say |
|---|---|
| Stamp | 950 |
| Class | Fineness (purity) mark |
| Platinum fineness | 950 parts per thousand (95 % platinum) |
| Legal standard (platinum 950) | United Kingdom, Vienna Convention states, France, United States |
| Source check | Checked against the sources listed below |
| Silver fineness | 950 parts per thousand (95 % silver) |
| Legal standard (silver 950) | France until 1973 |
| Note | French first standard (Minerva 1) until 1973; 925 today. |
| Source check | Checked against the sources listed below |
| Palladium fineness | 950 parts per thousand (95 % palladium) |
| Legal standard (palladium 950) | United Kingdom, Vienna Convention states |
| Source check | Checked against the sources listed below |
What is 950 worth by weight?
Every gram of a piece stamped 950 holds 0.95 g of fine platinum, if the stamp is accurate. Multiply that by the spot price of platinum to get the melt value. It is the floor, what the metal is worth if melted, not what a buyer will pay and not an appraisal.
Example, clearly not live: 10 g at the example price of $1,555.00 per troy ounce (snapshot of 2026-11-10) is $474.95. The working: 10 g → 950 / 1000 → 10 g × 0.95 → 1555 USD/ozt ÷ 31.1034768 g/ozt → 9.5 g × 49.9944 USD/g.
This number is used for more than one metal; the calculator below lets you pick.
Melt value calculator for 950
Enter a weight and a stamp to see the sum.
Today's spot price: LBMA precious metal prices, Kitco live gold or your own dealer's quote. This page never contacts a price service.
What 950 can be mistaken for
Pieces that look like silver and are not:
- silver plate (EPNS)
- alpaca, nickel silver
- white gold and platinum
What a stamp cannot settle: Silver, white gold or platinum without marks: white colour does not tell them apart.
What settles it:
- Jeweller: acids or X-ray fluorescence.
Cautions
- The figure alone does not name the metal: the metal’s colour and the accompanying marks decide.
- A mark is a statement, not proof: it can be forged or struck on a plated piece. An assay confirms it (touchstone and acids, or X-ray fluorescence).
Related stamps
Other ways the same fineness is stamped: PT950, PLAT, PD950.
Frequently asked
What does 950 mean on jewelry?
950: 950 parts per thousand platinum or 950 parts per thousand silver or 950 parts per thousand palladium.
Does 950 mean the piece is solid platinum?
It means the piece is stamped as platinum, silver, palladium, 950 parts per thousand. The figure alone does not name the metal: the metal’s colour and the accompanying marks decide.
How much fine platinum is in a piece stamped 950?
0.95 g of fine platinum per gram of metal, if the stamp is accurate. Melt value is that weight times the spot price. It is not an appraisal.
Sources
- Hallmarking Act 1973, Schedule 2 (revised text)
- Vienna Convention on precious metals, Technical Decisions Rev. 13 (in force 1 Oct 2026)
- Douane française, table of guarantee marks (2009)
- FTC Jewelry Guides, 16 CFR 23.6 (platinum)
- Poinçon (métal précieux, France), Wikipédia (secondary source)
All sources are listed with the method on the sources page.