Mintmaster marks (German: Münzmeisterzeichen, abbreviation Mmz.) are often the initials of the mintmaster of a mint or small symbols (cross, star, coat of arms, heraldic device, etc.) for example at the size of the letters on a coin inscription to denote the coins made under his direction. With his mark, the mintmaster assumed responsibility for ensuing the coins issued by his mint were in accordance with the regulations.[1] Mintmaster marks were used as early as the time of bracteate coinage in the Holy Roman Empire, but these can only rarely be deciphered. All mintmaster marks since the beginning of the minting of Thalers have been identified.
The picture on the right shows the mintmaster's mark, an acorn on a stem, of the Dresden mintmaster, Constantin Rothe, on a Reichstaler issued under Duke John George II of Saxony from the year 1662.
Sometimes there are pictographs and letters on a coin. In this case, the pictorial symbol is usually found in the circumscription of the coin and the letters are divided in the field on both sides of the coin's crest. Mintmasters often used their coats of arms as mintmaster symbols. For example in the Electorate of Saxony:
In Brandenburg:
In Mecklenburg:
In Florence:
Mintmaster marks appear from the late Middle Ages. They were largely superseded in the second half of the 19th century by mint marks in the form of a letter to designate the mint. France (Paris Mint) first replaced mintmaster marks with mint marks to designate the mint as early as the 16th century. The Berlin Mint has used the A mint mark since the middle of the 18th century.
Occasionally, the signature of the coin engraver or just the artist's signature is also found on coins. For example, on the Speciesthaler of 1763 is the Mmz. I F ô F of the mintmaster, Johann Friedrich ô Feral of the Leipzig Mint, and on the arm section the Signum S of medallist Johann Friedrich Stieler.
The mintmaster mark should therefore not be confused with the coin signature (Signum).
There is also a risk of confusion with mint marks used to designate the mint if the mintmaster mark consists of only one letter.
It is also possible for the mintmaster's mark and artist's signature of the medallist or die cutter to be identical on a coin. For example, in the case of Palatinate coins with the mark "A S". This is the artist's signature and at the same time the mintmaster's mark of the Palatinate court medallist, coin die cutter and mint master, Anton Schäffer. As an example, see the illustration of the Flussgoldducat by Karl Theodor von der Pfalz from the year 1763.
A special feature is the use of a banker's mark as a mintmaster mark on a Giulio of the Papal States of Pope Julius II On the reverse side between the two saints St. Peter and St. Paul is the trident-shaped banker's mark of the Fugger family from Augsburg, who had financed Julius II's papal election with loans. The trident on the Giulio testifies to the Fugger's lending for the papal election.
It was not uncommon for coins to be minted without dates and without the minting authority or the even country being specified. Known mintmaster marks can allow identification of undated coins of unknown origin.