Mark

From the weight of silver to modern money

The mark was born historically as a unit of silver weight and over time also became a coin and a monetary name widely spread in Germanic Europe. Its importance is linked to the role of the precious metal, to the territorial mints and to the organization of medieval and modern coinage in Central Europe.

In the site cluster, the mark represents the branch of the Germanic system, in relation to the thaler and with the coins created around the weight value of silver. The tradition of the mark is distinct from the Carolingian lira tradition, the franc and the pound sterling.

Related pages

• Germanic system
• thaler
• Monetary families

Historical role

More than a single uniform coin, the mark should be understood as a monetary and ponderal tradition. In contemporary times the name survives in various national currencies of the German and Nordic areas, until the advent of the euro.

European route

In the general framework of European coins, the mark ranks among the main heirs of the medieval coinage of central-northern Europe, in relation to the great cycle of silver coins culminating in the thaler. Its genealogy does not coincide with that of the British pound sterling, which derives from the Carolingian pound system, the soldo and the denier.