Identity and provenance checks when you sell gold or silver

01

Why a precious-metals buyer asks who you are

Gold and silver are small, anonymous once melted and easy to turn into money. That makes a buyer of them a target for two kinds of misuse: selling stolen property, and turning the proceeds of crime into a clean bank balance. The checks below keep both out. They protect honest sellers too, because a payment made after proper checks is much less likely to be questioned later. Being checked is not the same as being reported: the guide to what gets reported when you sell gold explains the difference.

• A buyer who has identified the seller and recorded the item can help the police and, if the item turns out to be stolen, see it returned to its owner.
• UK financial sanctions forbid making funds available to a person on the sanctions list, and knowing who is being paid is how that is avoided.
• Paying only into an account in the seller's own name makes it much harder for a stolen parcel or a hijacked email account to turn into a payment to someone else.

The legal background, for anyone who wants it: acquiring or possessing criminal property is an offence under section 329 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, and handling stolen goods is an offence under section 22 of the Theft Act 1968. Both apply to every business. In England and Wales the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 excludes gold, silver and any alloy with 2 per cent or more of either from scrap metal, so the scrap-yard identity rules do not govern a gold buyer. Scotland licenses metal dealers under a definition that includes precious metal. The checks here come from that law and from the published sourcing procedure.

02

What is asked, and at which point

The responsible sourcing page is the procedure Assaypost is bound by, and it says so. This guide describes its shape, so that you know what to expect before you post.

1. Contact details before you postYour name, postal address, email and a telephone number, so that the parcel can be matched to a person and the offer sent to the right place.
2. One photo ID before the first paymentA photograph of one government-issued photo ID. If you do not have a passport or photo driving licence, say so before you post. The name on it is checked against the bank account you give and the contact details you sent (clause 4.1 of the responsible sourcing page). It is asked for once, before the first payment to you.
3. Proof you may sell an inherited item, or someone else'sFor an estate item, that means the grant, letters of administration or a letter from the executor. Selling for somebody else needs their written authority, and their identity is checked as well as yours (clause 4.2 of the responsible sourcing page, and clause 9.3 of the terms). If you are selling for a club, a business or any other organisation, ask before you post and you will be told what authority is needed.
4. Sometimes, a question about where things came fromA very large parcel, or several from the same seller, leads to a short conversation about where the things came from. Selling more than once is not a problem in itself, and the question is not an accusation (clause 4.3).
5. Payment into your own accountPayment goes by bank transfer to a UK account in your own name (clause 7.1 of the terms). Assaypost does not pay cash (clause 9.1). If you are selling for an estate or for someone else and the money should go to a different account, ask before you post.

03

How your identity document is protected

An identity document, your address, your bank details and photographs of your belongings are all sensitive. The privacy notice sets out the legal basis for each, how long each is kept, who can see it and how to use your rights. For the identity document in particular:

• Only the document and the date it was checked are kept, and it is not passed to a third party to verify.
• A document sent through this website, once the forms are switched on, is stored separately from the case file, and each time anyone opens it, who and when is logged. One sent by WhatsApp or email is downloaded to that store and deleted from the message thread once the store is in use.
• It is deleted on the schedule in the privacy notice, not kept indefinitely.
• Do not put an identity document in the parcel, and do not send one on WhatsApp, by text or by email before you are asked. The request says how to send it.

04

Inherited items, estates and selling on someone else's behalf

Many sales follow a death. The person selling is not the person who owned the items, and the right to sell comes from the estate, not from having them in a drawer. That is ordinary, and it still needs documenting so that the estate is protected from a later dispute.

Grant of probate

Issued by the probate registry, it confirms that the executors a will names may deal with the estate.

Letters of administration

The equivalent where there is no will, naming the administrator who deals with the estate.

A letter from the executor

Where the estate has been shared out and a piece has passed to you, a letter from the executor saying so is one of the documents the procedure accepts.

Selling for someone who is alive

You need the owner's written authority, and both identities are checked (clause 9.3 of the terms). The terms say payment goes to an account in the seller's own name (clause 7.1), so if the owner should be paid directly, ask before you post.

If the grant has not been issued yet, say so. The sale can wait for it, and photographs can be looked at in the meantime so that you know what is worth posting later. A rough idea from photographs is not a valuation and should not go into the estate's records. An estate's money is not paid to anyone who cannot show authority, however plausible the circumstances, because another beneficiary could challenge that payment later. The guide to selling jewellery before probate is granted sets out what is worth doing while you wait.

05

What happens if an item may be stolen

Occasionally an item raises a question that cannot be settled on the spot. What follows is settled in advance: it is the procedure in section 5 of the responsible sourcing page, which Assaypost is bound by.

1. What starts a hold. Reasonable grounds to suspect an item is stolen, and nothing less. That means an engraving that does not match the seller and that nothing explains, an item we find listed on a stolen-property register, an account of a piece that does not fit it, or a report from the police or an owner. Another person's name engraved on an inherited piece is normal; it matters only when nothing explains it.
2. What happens to the item. It is set aside whole, photographed and logged. It is not priced, not tested further, not melted and not sent anywhere.
3. When you are told. Promptly and in writing: what is held, why, and what happens next. The only exception is where telling you would be unlawful or the police have asked for silence, and then you are told as soon as that ends.
4. What ends a hold. Something that explains the piece, such as a receipt, an insurance schedule, a probate inventory or a photograph of a relative wearing it. Or a register entry turns out not to match, the police say they have no interest, or the suspicion is not made out. You then choose whether to sell or to have it back, posted at Assaypost's cost.
5. How long it lasts. A hold is reviewed at least every 28 days, and you are written to at each review. Where the police have taken over the question, the timing is theirs, and you are told who to ask.
6. The rest of your lot. It is never held because of one piece. Anything not affected is offered on or returned as usual.

A hold is not an accusation. Missing paperwork, a surname that changed on marriage, or not knowing where a grandparent bought a ring sixty years ago are the kind of things one conversation can clear. If it is not cleared, the hold can be challenged through the complaints process, with no form and no fee.

06

An estate sale, from the grant to the transfer

What follows is an ordinary estate sale, step by step, with the paperwork included.

1. The executor asks firstPhotographs of a jewellery box, a canteen of cutlery and a tin of odds, sent before anything is packed. A rough idea comes back, free. Any piece that may be worth more to a specialist, an auction house or a dealer is flagged, so the executor can take it there first.
2. The grant arrivesA grant of probate names the executors and confirms their authority; where there is no will, it is letters of administration. GOV.UK advises not making financial plans or putting property on the market until you have probate, and Assaypost follows the same approach with estate jewellery. If no grant is needed for the estate, say so before you post and you will be told what is asked for instead.
3. Identity and authority are checked togetherThe executor's own identity is checked in the ordinary way, and the grant shows the authority to sell. Neither is enough alone: a checked person without authority cannot be paid an estate's money, and a document with nobody checked behind it proves nothing.
4. The lot is listed and offeredEverything that arrived is listed, weighed and checked for its metal; the methods used depend on the piece and are listed on the offer. Anything that may be worth more than its metal is flagged with the reason before any offer. One written offer for the lot follows.
5. Payment goes where the estate can account for itBy bank transfer, never in cash, to a UK account in the seller's own name under clause 7.1 of the terms. If the estate has its own account and the money should go there, ask before you post. The transfer leaves a record the executor can put in the estate accounts.

The awkward part is the middle: a grant can take weeks or months after the application goes in, and a house often needs emptying before then. The two do not have to happen in the same month. Photographs can be looked at now, and nothing needs posting until the grant is in your hand. If a lot has already been posted, ask for longer and it waits, unsold (clause 10.2 of the terms), or it comes back at Assaypost's cost while you sort things out (clause 6.4 of the terms; for estate lots, clause 10.3).

07

Seller risks and exceptions

• Buyers who ask nothing. A buyer who pays without identifying you is exposed to stolen goods, and you are left with a payment that may later be questioned. Treat the absence of checks as a warning.
• Cash. It leaves no record, whereas a bank transfer to your own account shows who paid you, how much and when.
• Name mismatches. An account in a maiden name, a joint account or an ID with an old address can hold up payment. Say so before you post and you will be told what settles it.
• Selling without authority. Selling a relative's things without written authority, or an estate's before the grant, can lead to a hold and a family dispute. Get the authority first.
• Sending documents the wrong way. Never put identity documents in the parcel. Wait to be asked, and use the route the request gives you.
• A hold takes time. The rest of your lot is not held with it, but the held piece cannot be paid for or returned until the question is settled, and the timing can depend on the police. Photographs sent first can bring a question up before the item leaves your hands.

08

When not to use the scrap route

It is also the wrong route for items the beneficiaries may want to keep, or that the estate still needs valued. A probate valuation and a buyer's offer are different documents for different purposes, and one cannot stand in for the other. Dividing jewellery between beneficiaries and valuation, appraisal or offer explain which you need. The probate and estate jewellery page explains how Assaypost handles an estate, and the about page says who you would be dealing with.