page_title: Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths' Alms Houses, Acton
context_page_description: The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths is one of the Great Twelve Livery Companies of the City of London. The company's headquarters are at Goldsmiths' Hall in the City of London.
  The Company, which originates from the twelfth century, received a Royal Charter in 1327 and ranks fifth in the order of precedence of City Livery Companies. Its motto is Justitia Virtutum Regina, Latin for Justice is Queen of Virtues.
context_section_description: The Company was first established as a medieval guild for the goldsmith trade. The word hallmarking derives from the fact that precious metals were officially inspected and marked at Goldsmiths' Hall.
  In 1812, twenty almshouses were built on the former Perryn estate in Acton, on open land west of London. The almshouses were built on land which had been left to the Company by John Perryn in 1657.
  In 1891, the Goldsmiths' Company founded the Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute, which went on to become Goldsmiths, University of London.
  Today, the Company is one of the few Livery Companies still to play a formal role in its ancient trade.
  The Goldsmiths' Company oversees The Goldsmiths' Company Assay Office, where objects made of precious metals are tested for purity, and then marked with an official symbol should they pass the necessary tests. At the Trial of the Pyx, the Goldsmiths' Company is also responsible for checking the validity of British coinage.
caption: Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths' Alms Houses, Acton
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