TL;DR A 916 stamp means 916 parts of pure metal per thousand, or 91.6%. On rings, chains and bangles it almost always means 22 karat gold, because 22 of 24 karats is 91.6%. 916 silver exists but is uncommon: Russian 88 zolotnik silver and Finnish silver marked 916H are the main sources. 916 is not sterling, which is 925.
A 916 stamp states purity: 916 parts of pure metal in every 1,000. Most of the 916 marks people search for sit on gold jewelry bought in India, the Gulf or Southeast Asia, where 22 karat gold is sold as "916 gold". A smaller number sit on antique silver, mostly Russian or Finnish.
Is a 916 stamp gold or silver?
On jewelry, a 916 stamp nearly always means 22 karat gold. Twenty-two twenty-fourths is 0.9167, written 916 in the millesimal system, and 22 karat is the everyday standard for gold jewelry across South Asia and the Gulf. As a silver standard, 916 appears mainly on Imperial Russian 88 zolotnik pieces and on Finnish silver marked 916H.
| What you see | Most likely metal |
|---|---|
| 916 or 22K916 on a yellow ring, chain or bangle | 22 karat gold |
| 916 beside the BIS logo and a six-character code (India) | 22 karat gold, BIS hallmarked |
| 916 beside a crown and a UK assay office mark | 22 karat gold, UK hallmarked |
| 916H on white metal with Finnish marks | 916 silver, Finland, 1925 to 1968 |
| 88 with Cyrillic initials and a Russian town or kokoshnik mark | 88 zolotnik silver, about 916 fine |
| 916 on white metal with no other marks | Unclear; test it |
What does 916 mean on gold jewelry?
On gold jewelry, 916 means 22 karat gold: 91.6% pure gold, with the remaining 8.4% usually silver and copper. It is softer and more yellow than 18 karat (750) gold. The UK lists 916 among its legal gold standards, and India's Bureau of Indian Standards hallmarks 22 karat gold as 22K916.
A current Indian BIS hallmark has three parts: the BIS logo, the purity grade such as 22K916, and a six-character HUID code that can be checked in the BIS Care app. A bare 916 without the logo and code is the jeweller's own claim. Searches for "916 silver rate" usually mean the price of 22 karat gold, since India's silver grades do not include 916.
What is 916 silver?
916 silver is an alloy of 91.6% pure silver, with copper making up most of the rest. It is solid silver, a little below sterling. The standard comes from Russia's zolotnik system: 88 zolotniks of pure silver out of 96 is 91.7%. Russian silversmiths used 88 for finer work, while 84 (87.5%) was the common Imperial standard.
Finland used a 916H mark for silver from 1925 to 1968. The H stands for hopea, Finnish for silver. Outside these two traditions, a 916 on white metal deserves a test before you call it silver. The Russian 84 silver mark page explains the zolotnik numbers and the Russian silver hallmarks guide covers the town and kokoshnik marks.
Is 916 silver sterling?
No. Sterling silver is 925, or 92.5% pure, and 916 falls 0.9 percentage points short. In the UK and under US Federal Trade Commission rules, a piece below 925 cannot be called sterling. UK hallmarking law recognises only 800, 925, 958 and 999 for silver, so a UK assay office will not strike 916 on silver.
| Mark | Purity | Usual metal |
|---|---|---|
| 875 or 84 | 87.5% | Russian Imperial silver |
| 900 | 90.0% | Coin silver |
| 916 | 91.6% | 22 karat gold; rarely silver |
| 925 | 92.5% | Sterling silver |
| 958 | 95.8% | Britannia silver |
In use, 916 and 925 silver look, wear and tarnish almost the same. The melt difference is small: 100 grams of 916 silver holds 91.6 grams of pure silver against 92.5 for sterling.
How can you tell 916 gold from 916 silver?
Colour and weight separate them quickly. 22 karat gold is a deep yellow and never tarnishes. Silver is white and goes yellow, brown, then black in crevices. Gold is also far heavier: 22 karat gold weighs roughly 17.5 to 18 grams per cubic centimetre, while silver weighs about 10.5.
- Weigh the piece in air, then suspended in water on a kitchen scale.
- Divide the dry weight by the difference between the two readings.
- A result near 17 or 18 points to 22 karat gold; near 10 to 10.5 points to silver; well below 10 points to a plated base metal.
A magnet should not pull on either metal. A jeweller with an XRF analyser can read the alloy in seconds. The silver testing guide covers acid and ice tests.
What does "trademark 916" or a maker's mark beside 916 mean?
The letters or symbol beside a 916 stamp identify the maker or retailer, not the metal. On Indian and Gulf gold the jeweller's mark often sits next to 916; on Russian silver the maker's Cyrillic initials and the assayer's mark do the same job.
Look the maker up in a reference for the country you suspect, and treat a 916 with no maker's mark at all as an unverified claim.
Key takeaways
- A 916 stamp means 91.6% pure metal; on jewelry it almost always means 22 karat gold.
- India hallmarks 22 karat gold as 22K916 with a BIS logo and a six-character HUID code.
- 916 silver is rare: Russian 88 zolotnik silver and Finnish 916H are the main sources.
- 916 is not sterling; sterling is 925, and the UK does not hallmark silver at 916.
- 22 karat gold weighs about 17.5 to 18 g/cm3; silver about 10.5 g/cm3.
Sources
- Hallmarking Act 1973, Schedule 2 (standards of fineness), legislation.gov.uk
- Bureau of Indian Standards: hallmarking FAQ
- Zolotnik, Wikipedia
- Finnish silver and gold hallmarks, silvercollection.it
- FTC Guides for the Jewelry, Precious Metals, and Pewter Industries, 16 CFR Part 23
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 916 mean?
916 means 916 parts of pure metal per thousand, or 91.6%. On gold jewelry it is 22 karat gold, because 22 of 24 karats is 91.6%. On silver it means 91.6% silver, a rare standard found mainly on Russian 88 zolotnik pieces and Finnish silver marked 916H.
Is 916 real silver?
A piece that is genuinely 916 silver is solid silver, 91.6% pure, slightly below sterling. Most items stamped 916 are 22 karat gold, though, so check the colour and weight first. A white piece that tarnishes and weighs about 10.5 grams per cubic centimetre is silver.
Is 916 better than 925?
For silver, 925 sterling is slightly purer than 916 silver, by 0.9 percentage points, and only 925 can be sold as sterling. For gold, 916 means 22 karat, which is far more valuable than any silver. The two numbers usually describe different metals.
What is 916 gold?
916 gold is 22 karat gold, 91.6% pure. It is the standard for gold jewelry in India, where the BIS hallmark reads 22K916 beside the BIS logo and a six-character HUID code, and it is one of the legal gold standards in the UK.
What is the difference between 916 and 750 gold?
916 gold is 22 karat and 91.6% pure; 750 gold is 18 karat and 75% pure. 916 is richer in colour and softer, so it dents and scratches more easily. 750 is harder and better suited to rings set with stones.
