What stamps like 999, Pd950, and Pd500 actually mean.
Palladium jewelry is stamped with a small mark showing purity, usually as a percentage out of 1000 parts, often prefixed with “Pd.” Here’s how to read the marks you’re most likely to find.
See the full Palladium Fineness Guide for the exact purity and typical uses of each mark.
Palladium and platinum marks look similar since both use the “950” purity convention, so check the prefix carefully: Pd950 is palladium, Pt950 is platinum. The two metals have different densities and prices, so mixing them up matters. See Palladium vs Platinum: What’s the Difference? for more.
The Palladium Calculator is designed for solid palladium items marked with one of these purities.
Pd950 means the item is 95% pure palladium, alloyed with 5% other metal — the most common purity standard for palladium jewelry.
Check the prefix letters before the number — Pd indicates palladium, Pt indicates platinum. Both metals commonly use similar purity numbers like 950, so the prefix is what actually distinguishes them.