Articles made out of precious metals are usually assayed before they are put up for sale. This is done in order to determine the amount of pure metal in the article. Silver articles may be made out of an alloy of Silver and some other metal to give it strength. Different marks may be used for indicating the fineness of the metal, maker of the article, country and year of assay. The Silver from different countries may be distinguished by its fineness. A Silver standard is followed in many countries for determining the fineness of Silver in an article. The decimal system where a decimal number indicates the quantity of Silver in parts per thousandth is commonly used.
Under the world decimal system, the fineness of Belgian Silver is .835 where the decimal number indicates the amount of pure Silver. Belgian Silver may have a silver standard varying from .800 to .900.
Different marks were used in different periods for indicating the content of Silver in Belgian silverware. The First Empire Period, the Second Empire Period, the Period of Dutch Occupation and the Belgian Realm used different marks. Usually, a number on the article indicated the fineness of Silver.