I certainly understand the legalities of the hallmark and I get that one cannot claim that something is silver if it is not properly hallmarked. As to the equation, however, that if there is no hallmark it is not silver, I would direct you to Shakespeare's Juliet: "What's in a name? that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet...." Or as paraphrased by Andy Griffith, "You can change the name of a rose, but you can't do nothin' about the smell."