Banker's mark

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 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]

References

1. 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.