what is the historical background of the penny symbol in the mark degree and how do writers interpret its lesson

Craftsmen in Mark lodges use a specific coin designated as a Mark penny to receive their wages, as an article on the Mark Masons' Hall website notes. The practice of choosing and registering an individual mark ensures that each worker's labor is properly identified, establishing his right to claim his earnings, as the Mark Masons' Hall website explains.

Symbolically, the allegories surrounding the penny and the selection of a personal mark teach that hard work, skill, and ingenuity are rewarded, according to an article on the Mark Masons' Hall website. The coat of arms of the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons depicts a Mark Man presenting his right hand to receive his wages, situated alongside an axe positioned to punish any impostor who attempts to claim payment without presenting the proper token, as described on the Mark Masons' Hall website.

The traditional reading and interpretation of the wage and penny lesson derives from the Gospel of Matthew, specifically the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard in Chapter 20, verses 1–16, according to a paper read before Quatuor Coronati Lodge. Symbolically, the character of the Mark Master is also associated with the parable in Matthew 25:21, which commends the faithful servant who has proven reliable over a few things and is made ruler over many 1.

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George W. Warvelle observed that the wage scale of a penny a day was introduced by early American ritualists rather than representing a single, universally accepted tradition 1. Older English Mark Man and Mark Mason rituals specified wages in shekels—nine shekels for a Mark Man and twenty-five for a Mark Mason 1. Warvelle suggested that English ritualists set these higher figures to compensate for the low historical wages actually paid to operative craftsmen, whereas American ritualists adopted the penny scale 1.

Masonic writers and governing bodies also differ regarding the wider rules surrounding the mark itself 1. The Grand Lodge of Scotland historically disclaimed responsibility for ritual rules on the subject, while Supreme Grand Chapter records required a mark to consist of an odd number of points joined by lines 1. Older regional workings, such as the independent Yorkshire working of the nineteenth century, mandated specific attendance counts and fixed fees 1. Albert C. Mackey noted that speculative rules governing the shape or points of a mark are modern additions that possess no historical foundation in ancient operative building 1.