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]
