Mint Marks
In former times it was customary to grant to various individuals, in different parts of the country, the
privilege of coining and issuing money in the name of the reigning sovereign. The pieces so issued
were to be of a prescribed type, size, weight and standard, that there might be one uniform
appearance in the coins circulating in the kingdom. It is probable that in many instances the dies were
actually made in London and transmitted to the various mints where they were to be used. To
prevent fraud, it was necessary that the coins issued from every mint should be tested, and for this
purpose the Trial of the Pix at Westminster was established, whereby pieces taken at random from
the whole mass coined at each mint were melted and assayed, and, if found to be of the prescribed
weight and fineness, the moneyers, masters, and workers of the mint received their quietus, and
were freed from all charges which might thereafter be brought against them, grounded upon any
imputed failure in the execution of the contract under which their privilege had been granted to them.
It was probably in order that each moneyer's coins might be separated at these trials of the Pix, and
that each might be responsible only for his own works, that the names of the moneyers, or of the
mint, or both, were stampt upon the coin and formed a part of the type.
As these trials of the Pix were only occasional, and took place at irregular periods, sometimes very
frequently and sometimes very rarely, it became necessary that there should be upon the pieces,
coined at different times and perhaps under different contracts, some distinctive mark, "that so the
moneys from which the contracters were not discharged might be distinguished from those for which
they had already received their quietus." These marks are usually called privy, or mint marks; a fresh
one was adopted after every trial of the Pix; and each new mark was continued upon the coins of each
mint until a fresh trial of the Pix took place. During the period that mints were established in a variety
of places, different marks would of course be used concurrently; but upon coins issued from the same
mint the marks would indicate a succession of coinages, and, had proper registers been kept and
preserved at our several mints, they would have answered the purpose of dates in controuling the
arrangement of a cabinet. The mint marks upon the Durham episcopal coins are generally derived
from the armorial bearings of the Bishop for the time being, and are consequently as well susceptible
of a strict chronological arrangement as if they had actually borne a date. There are however some
exceptions to such a general rule, when, even in the same mint, there are two concurrent marks.
upon the sixpences of Queen Elizabeth we may find not unfrequently the same date with two
different mint marks; this in general arises from the circumstances of the trial of the Pix having taken
place in the middle of the year, one mark having been used in the beginning, another towards the
close of the year: as for instance the portcullis may have been used at the beginning of 1566, the lion
at the end, and again the lion at the beginning of 1567 and the coronet at the end. But there are some
irregularities for which there is a difficulty in accounting; the sword was used in 1582, so also was the
bell which continued to be used in 1583, the letter A was also used in 1582 and 1583, so that at least
two mint marks were used concurrently; the same circumstance occurred in 1595 with the ton,
woolpack, and key; the want of proper records prevents our obtaining an explanation of these
anomalies.
The piety of our ancestors induced them to make a cross, variously modified and decorated, a
conspicuous part of the type of their coins; and also to place a cross at the commencement of the
legend, sometimes on the obverse, sometimes on the reverse, and sometimes on both; and it was
very frequently made to serve the double purpose of being the Christian symbol and the last letter of
the word Rex. But when mint marks, properly so called, came into use, they usurped the place, at the
beginning or end of the legend, which had been usually occupied by the cross.
When the names of the moneyers and of mints were of general occurrence upon coins, mint marks
were less necessary, and, if there were any further indications of peculiar coinages, they have escaped
detection, or at least have not been recognised as such; there are however peculiarities upon some
coins for which it seems difficult to account, but upon some such principle. See Rud. xviii. 28. xix. 15.
xx. 21. 22. 23. and other coins of the reigns of Eadred, Eadwig, Eadgar, &c. &c. Of such, as they occur
only occasionally and somewhat rarely, it would not avail to any good purpose to enter into a detailed
statement; but it may be of some interest to have an account of such marks as we know to have been
intended to distinguish between different coinages, and we have to express our regrets that want of
leisure prevents our making such an investigation into the minute details of History, as might enable us
to explain the meaning and the origin of many of them. We feel satisfied that a great number of them
were not mere forms accidentally adopted, but were symbols or badges of some illustrious patron, or
some distinguished personage connected with the mint where they were used, or of the place where
the mint was established. Of such a description of marks we have conspicuous and well known
examples in the armorial bearings upon the coins of Durham, the cardinal's cap on some coins of York,
the ton upon the coins of Abp. Morton, and the knot upon those of Abp. Bourchier. This last, from
what of attention to the feeling which frequently prompted the adoption of peculiar marks, has
generally been called a crown of thorns. There are some others whose import we may be able to
explain in the subsequent pages, and there are doubtless many more which will be elucidated by the
perseverance and research of numismatists now that their attention has been directed to the subject;
and we are convinced that these labours will be rewarded by the many interesting particulars, which
will be brought to bear upon the history of our national coinage.
It was not until the reign of the first Edwards that the regular mint marks began to be adopted, and we
need not therefore look back to a remoter period, and endeavour to draw conclusions from the
indefinite marks, which appear upon some coins; such as the letters which follow the moneyers'
names upon the coins of Henry II. But besides those objects which are usually called mint marks, and
which are generally ranged with the line of the legend, there are various marks which are
modifications or variations from the ordinary types, or are additions thereto, and all of which have the
effect, even if they were not intended to have the object, of enabling us to separate one coinage
from another, and which therefore we think it will be interesting to point out.
The first instance of the substitution of any object for the usual Christian symbol occurs in the reign of
Henry III., but with what view the change took place there does not seem to be any means of
ascertaining. Upon some of his coins, a mullet or a star appears above his head at the commencement
of the legend; and upon others the star is represented between the horns of a crescent. This badge
was borne by Richard I. and appears upon his great seals; it was adopted by John, for we find it upon
his Irish coins; and it was continued by Henry III., for we know that none but menials of his own
household were allowed to wear it. See Rot. Parl. Vol. III. p. 4776. This combined mark is a symbol of
the Turkish empire, even down to the present day; we find it upon the golden medals presented by
the Sultan to the English officers who served in the Egyptian campaign in 1802, and we find it
emblazoned on the shields of some families, whose ancestors are said to have distinguished
themselves in the course of the crusades. Whether the adoption of this mark upon the coin, at the
particular time when it was struck, had any allusion to these paroxysms of enthusiasm it is difficult to
say, but Henry III. did certainly, at least at one time, urge his barons to grant him a liberal supply of
money under the plea of undertaking a crusade; and it s not impossible that he might have stampt
such of his money as was issued at that period with the Turkish badge in token of a conquest, which he
never achieved, nor even intended to attempt.
Victoria |
Table of Contents |
Mint Marks, Edward I and Edward II
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