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.
- ^ Ausbringung: Stückzahl eines Münznominals, die aus einer bestimmten Gewichtsmenge gemünzt (ausgebracht) wurde. Vgl. Helmut Kahnt, Bernd Knorr: Alte Maße, Münzen und Gewichte. Ein Lexikon. Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig 1986, Lizenzausgabe Mannheim/Wien/Zürich 1987, ISBN 3-411-02148-9, p. 381.