palves Posted July 21, 2015 Posted July 21, 2015 (edited) Hi guys, I am doing a bit of research on Portuguese Medieval Mint Marks and, as part of this little project, I am looking mint marks in other countries: When were they used? Why were they used? Meanings, etc etc etc... I would be extremely grateful if you could, please, send me some references, links, etc... that you think might be useful. Thanks in advance! Edited July 21, 2015 by palves Quote
Rob Posted July 21, 2015 Posted July 21, 2015 Google Trial of the Pyx. A change of mark usually followed the trial.The marks effectively tie down the coin to a particular period in time and so the Mint Master could be held responsible for the coinage. A slight variation occured in the Civil War where it appears that individual engravers had their own mark. In Saxon times the moneyer had to sign the reverse. Everything was to do with accountability. Quote
TomGoodheart Posted July 21, 2015 Posted July 21, 2015 (edited) As I understand it coins were either made directly by the Royal (or other) authorities, usually under the direction of a Master of the Mint, or private moneyers were given licence to produce coinage. In both cases there needed to be a means for the Crown authorities to check the quality of coins produced met the required standards. So coins were marked in such a way by use of a private (known to the authorities and Mint Master/ Moneyer) or 'privy' mark. Then if there were problems the King or whoever would know who to hold to account. This was no idle threat. At Christmas 1124, King Henry I summoned all of the English moneyers to Winchester, where most of them were castrated and had their right hand amputated for failing to produce coin of the required standards. Later on other variants were used, such as assayer's marks on Spanish/American silver or engravers' marks on French coinage. This coin for example bears the mark of the Paris mint (A), as well as the cornucopia (mark of the then mint director) and Artemis holding a bow, the privy mark of Augustin Dupré the then Engraver General! Oddly it has no conventional numeric date, simply being marked as an issue of year (L'An) 4 of the Revolution (from September 1795) ... . Edited July 21, 2015 by TomGoodheart Quote
scott Posted July 22, 2015 Posted July 22, 2015 not just France, you saw it in imperial Russia as well Quote
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