Silver content and Hallmarking

[Patstone]

I thought hallmarking was to ensure that sterling silver, fine silver and gold were indeed precious metals, not for instance copper with a small bit of precious metal on in the shape of a 1.5g gold ball, which is tiny. So in this case it would have to be the copper that has the hallmark on as the gold ball is too small and it would have to be stamped on the front face. Perhaps the responsibility should be on the maker to weigh the silver/gold content and send it off to be hallmarked if over weight. Then you have scales etc maybe not being accurate etc.
There have been a few bits that I have sold that have copper added to it to complete a design which have less than the 7.78 grms of silver but would have been over that amount with the copper added. I weigh all my silver stuff as I make it, before I add the copper not realizing that the copper was part of the scenario. I had better check the stock too then I suppose, to make sure that it complies.
I can understand that it is difficult to judge the silver content of an item, but to the people buying surely it isnt a guarantee of silver content, just that it has "some" silver in it.