Banker's mark
Type of mark found on ancient Roman coins

Denarius of 83 BCE, depicting Venus, with a banker's mark next to the tip of her nose

A banker's mark (or bankers' mark) is a symbol or letter stamped or scratched into many republican and early imperial Roman coins, whose exact purpose is unclear.[1][2][3][4]

The marks are found on either the obverse or reverse of a coin.[1]

Historians and numismatists have speculated that the marks may have been used to assess the purity of a coin's silver, demonstrate that it was not a plated forgery, for accounting or auditing purposes, or to denote that the coin did or did not have the specified weight.[1][5]

There is also debate as to why these marks stopped appearing after very early imperial Roman coinage.[1]

Research on coins found in the Netherlands has shown that four types of marks exist: punch marks, symbols, single letters, and letter combinations. This diversity in mark types suggests that no single explanation suffices. Rather, a combination of purposes (validation, custody, identification, or administrative accountability) is more likely. The marked coins can therefor be placed within a broader military and administrative context of coin circulation, rather than interpreting them solely as metal tests or banker’s marks.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Fox, Deborah (3 January 2025). "Bankers Marks on the Worcestershire Conquest Hoard". Research Worcestershire. Retrieved 10 January 2025.
  2. ^ "RIC I (second edition) Augustus 126, Spain, 'Uncertain mint 2' (Colonia Patricia?)". Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology. Retrieved 10 January 2025.
  3. ^ Hall, David. "Holding history – coins of the late Roman Republic" (PDF). South Wales and Monmouthshire Numismatic Society.
  4. ^ "Ancient Coins Grading Tutorial". Heritage Auctions. Retrieved 10 January 2025.
  5. ^ "Coin (obverse), Denarius, of Decimus Iunius BrutusAlbinus". National Museums of Scotland. Retrieved 10 January 2025.
  6. ^ Cruysheer, Anton (1 November 2025). "Reconsidering Function. Observations on Marked Roman Aurei and Denarii from the Netherlands". De Beeldenaar. 49 (6): 285–291. doi:10.5281/zenodo.17409527.
  • Media related to Bankers' marks on coins at Wikimedia Commons
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