Mintmark

Also known as `privy mark'. A symbol or mark placed on a coin to differentiate it from other similar coins struck elsewhere and indicate where and by whom it had been struck. Used to control the quality of the coins being struck, these marks substituted the practice of including the moneyer's name in the legend. If something was wrong with the weight or the metal content of the coins, then the monarch knew who to `speak to'. A mintmark was used for some hammered issues and on milled issues. It could help link dies to coins and sometimes undated coins can be dated accurately by their mintmark.