556E.1 Fraudulent marking.

Any person making for sale, selling, or offering to sell or dispose of, or having in possession with intent to sell or dispose of, any article of merchandise made, in whole or in part, of gold or any alloy of gold, and having stamped, branded, engraved, or imprinted thereon, or upon any tag, card, or label attached thereto, or upon any container in which said article is enclosed, any mark indicating or designed to indicate that the gold or alloy in such article is of a greater degree of fineness than the actual fineness or quality thereof, unless the actual fineness thereof, in the case of flatware or watchcases, be not less by more than three one-thousandths parts, and in case of all other articles be not less by more than one-half carat than the fineness indicated by the marks stamped, branded, engraved, or imprinted upon any part of such article, or upon any tag, card, or label attached thereto, or upon any container in which such article is enclosed according to the standards and subject to the qualifications hereinafter set forth, is guilty of a fraudulent practice.

556E.10 "Person" defined.

The term "person" as used in this chapter shall embrace persons, firms, partnerships, companies, corporations, and associations.

556E.2 Tests.

In any test for the ascertainment of the fineness of the gold or alloy in any such article, according to the foregoing standards, the part of the gold or alloy taken for the test shall be such portion as does not contain or have attached thereto any solder or alloy of inferior fineness used for brazing or uniting the parts of said article; and in addition to the foregoing tests and standards, the actual fineness of the entire quantity of gold and its alloys contained in any article mentioned in this and section 556E.1, except watchcases and flatware, including all solder or alloy of inferior metal used for brazing or uniting the parts of the article, all such gold, alloys, and solder being assayed as one piece, shall not be less than the fineness indicated by the mark stamped, branded, engraved, or imprinted upon such article, or upon any tag, card, or label attached thereto, or upon any container in which said article is enclosed.

556E.3 "Sterling silver."

Any person making for sale, selling, or offering to sell or dispose of, or having in possession with intent to sell or dispose of, any article of merchandise made in whole or in part of silver or of any alloy of silver and having marked, stamped, branded, engraved, or imprinted thereon, or upon any tag, card, or label attached thereto, or upon any container in which said article is enclosed, the words "sterling silver" or "sterling" or any colorable imitation thereof, unless nine hundred twenty-five one-thousandths of the component parts of the metal purporting to be silver of which such article is manufactured are pure silver, subject to the qualifications hereinafter set forth, is guilty of a fraudulent practice, but in the case of all such articles there shall be allowed a divergence in fineness of four one-thousandths parts from the foregoing standard.

556E.4 "Coin silver."

Any person making for sale, selling, or offering to sell or dispose of, or having in possession with intent to sell or dispose of, any article of merchandise made in whole or in part of silver or of any alloy of silver and having marked, stamped, branded, engraved, or imprinted thereon, or upon any tag, card, or label attached thereto, or upon any box, package, cover, or wrapper in which such article is enclosed, the words "coin" or "coin silver", or any colorable imitation thereof, unless nine hundred one-thousandths of the component parts of the metal appearing or purporting to be silver of which such article is manufactured are pure silver, subject to the qualifications hereinafter set forth, is guilty of a fraudulent practice; but in case of all such articles there shall be allowed a divergence in fineness of four one-thousandths parts from the foregoing standards.

556E.5 Other articles of silver.

Any person making for sale, selling, or offering to sell or dispose of, or having in possession with intent to sell or dispose of, any article of merchandise made in whole or in part of silver or of any alloy of silver and having stamped, branded, engraved, or imprinted thereon, or upon any tag, card, or label attached thereto, or upon any container in which said article is enclosed, any mark or word, other than the word "sterling" or the word "coin", indicating, or designed to indicate that the silver or alloy of silver in said article is of a greater degree of fineness than the actual fineness or quality, unless the actual fineness of the silver or alloy of silver of which said article is composed be not less by more than four one-thousandths parts than the actual fineness indicated by the said mark or word, other than the word "sterling" or "coin", stamped, branded, engraved, or imprinted upon any part of said article, or upon any tag, card, or label attached thereto, or upon any container in which said article is enclosed, subject to the qualifications hereinafter set forth, is guilty of a fraudulent practice.

556E.6 Tests for articles.

In any test for the ascertainment of the fineness of any such article mentioned in this and sections 556E.3 to 556E.5, inclusive, according to the foregoing standards, the part of the article taken for the test shall be such portion as does not contain or have attached thereto any solder or alloy of inferior metal used for brazing or uniting the parts of such article, and provided further and in addition to the foregoing test and standards, that the actual fineness of the entire quantity of metal purporting to be silver contained in any article mentioned in sections 556E.3 to 556E.5, inclusive, including all solder or alloy of inferior fineness used for brazing or uniting the parts of any such article, all such silver, alloy, or solder being assayed as one piece, shall not be less by more than ten one-thousandths parts than the fineness indicated according to the foregoing standards, by the mark stamped, branded, engraved, or imprinted upon such article, or upon any tag, card, or label attached thereto, or upon any container in which said article is enclosed.

556E.7 Gold-plated or gold-filled articles.

Any person making for sale, selling, or offering to sell or dispose of, or having in possession with intent to sell or dispose of, any article of merchandise made in whole or in part of inferior metal having deposited or plated thereon, or brazed or otherwise affixed thereto, a plate, plating, covering, or sheet of gold or of any alloy of gold and which article is known in the market as "rolled gold-plate", "gold-plate", "gold-filled", or "gold-electroplate", or by any similar designation, and having stamped, branded, engraved, or imprinted thereon, or upon any tag, card, or label attached thereto, or upon any container in which said article is enclosed, any word or mark usually employed to indicate the fineness of gold, unless said word be accompanied by other words plainly indicating that such article or part thereof is made of rolled gold-plate, or gold-plate, or gold-electroplate, or is gold-filled, as the case may be, is guilty of a fraudulent practice.

556E.8 Silver-plated articles.

Any person making for sale, selling, or offering to sell or dispose of, or having in possession with intent to sell or dispose of, any article of merchandise made in whole or in part of inferior metal having deposited or plated thereon, or brazed or otherwise affixed thereto, a plate, plating, covering, or sheet of silver or of any alloy of silver, and which article is known in the market as "silver-plate" or "silver-electroplate", or by any similar designation, and having stamped, branded, engraved, or imprinted thereon, or upon any tag, card, or label attached thereto, or upon any container in which said article is encased or enclosed, the word "sterling" or the word "coin" either alone or in conjunction with any other words or marks, is guilty of a fraudulent practice.

556E.9 Violation.

Every person guilty of a violation of the provisions of this chapter, and every officer, manager, director, or agent of any such person directly participating in such violation or consenting thereto, shall be guilty of a simple misdemeanor; but nothing in this chapter shall apply to articles manufactured prior to June 13, 1907.