Evidence indicates that there was a form of the Mark Degree in existence as early as 1599. Its present form has evolved over the years from 1769, through the union in 1813, and the Concordant in 1860 to the present day.

The Mark Degree chronologically follows the Fellow Craft Degree and is one of the oldest degrees of Freemasonry. The Degree appears to have grown out of an ancient ceremony in which each Craftsmen selected a private mark with which to designate his work and this mark was fully registered with the constituted authority.

The legend of the Mark Degree is singularly instructive and is well founded on statements of Holy Writ relating to a period in the building of the Temple before the death of Hiram Abif. It teaches the lesson that education is the reward for labour and it contains a dramatic message that fraud can never succeed.

The symbol of the degree is the Penny.