MORE BRITISH GOLD ARTICLES HALLMARKED
  The number of British gold articles
  hallmarked during the first quarter of this year rose by more
  than 11 pct on the corresponding period last year, figures
  released by the Assay Offices of Great Britain show.
      More than 2.5 mln British items were hallmarked during the
  quarter, up 11.1 pct on the same year ago period. The four
  Assay Offices also marked 832,222 foreign gold articles, up 2.5
  pct on last year.
      In weight terms the 7.19 mln grams of British gold assayed
  was a 15.3 pct increase, while the 2.95 mln grams of foreign
  gold represented a rise of 3.1 pct.
      British silver goods assayed totalled 698,132, an increase
  of 6.2 pct but only 78,457 foreign items were marked, a fall of
  11.1 pct.
      A total of 10,968 kilos of silver were assayed, an 11.1 pct
  rise.
      The number of platinum items marked fell 12.5 pct to 1,785,
  while in weight terms the total slipped 8.1 pct to 9,849 grams.
      A spokesman for the Assay Offices of Great Britain said he
  was particularly encouraged to see the percentage increase for
  British manufactured goods.