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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;cwtokenman, post: 197250, member: 2100&quot;]Masonic, or Mark Pennies have many designs (although many are similar), and there are over 500&nbsp; reverse dies that have been used to produce these. According to &quot;Masonic Chapter Pennies&quot; by E. A. King, the Mark Penny when received by a member of the Fraternity, is supposed to be inscribed with his own particular &quot;mark&quot; and as soon as selected, it is placed on record, never to be changed, but to remain his &quot;mark&quot; until the day of his death.&nbsp; The Mark is not a mere ornamental appendage of the degree, but is a Sacred Token of the rites of friendship and brotherly love. Members of the Fraternity cherish them highly, and do not ordinarily part with them during their lifetime. It is the custom of most Chapters to refuse to exchange or supply specimens to anyone who is not a bona fide member of their Chapter.</p><p><br /></p><p>The ordinary, or most common type of Mark Penny is one having the obverse divided into three spaces by two circles. The inscription found in the outer space consisting of the name, number, and location of the Chapter; the middle space contains an inscription stating when the charter was granted, and date, while the inner space, or center contains the words &quot;One/Penny&quot; in two lines.</p><p><br /></p><p>The reverse of this type has a keystone bearing the letters H.T.W.S.S.T.K.S. arranged in a circle. These letters are supposed to represent the &quot;mark&quot; of the ancient Grand Master. </p><p><br /></p><p>Many Chapters have not adopted a special Mark Penny, Shekel, or Token bearing their name, number, location, etc., but cling to the old-fashioned copper cent, the ordinary penny, English and Canadian pennies, and the so-called stock Penny. This latter generally bears the keystone with the usual mark, the mallet, and indenting chisel on one side, and &quot;ONE PENNY&quot; on the other, but there are many variations.</p><p><br /></p><p>No fixed rule seems to govern either designs or metals to be used, thus Marks have been made in silver, gold, copper, brass, bronze, aluminum, iron and lead. In former years many Pennies were made in sets of four, usually silver, aluminum, brass and copper, but this has apparently been discontinued. Solid gold Marks are rare and were probably intended for presentation pieces. Just a very few Pennies have milled edges.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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