In attempting to trace some of my genealogy, I came across a story of how one branch of my ancestors acquired their surname, "Hundertmark."

I have been told that the Hundertmark family name is German in origin and it arose when a distant ancestor moved into/within Germany and purchased what would become the family farm for one hundred marks.

After submitting this info to /r/genealogy and /r/heraldry, /u/GoJertsGo had the following insights:

From what I know, the "Mark" only became Germany's currency in 1871. Prior to that the various German states used all kinds of currencies. Since the name appears to predate 1871, it seems likely that the origin story is a later fabrication.

The date of 1871 refers to advent of the Deutsche mark. Based on family birth records, the family name Hundertmark existed prior to the advent of the Deutsche mark (as far back as 1818). Given this, I was wondering if there were other forms of german currency (even ones not widely accepted or recognized) that would have been referred to as a "mark" prior to the advent of the Deutsche mark or Reichesmark?

I have stumbled onto sparse info about something called a mark banco which originates as early as 1619 and wondered if anyone had any additional information so I could perhaps verify if my family's surname history is true.

[Wikipedia page giving sparse info on a predecessor to the Deutsche mark and Reichesmark](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_(currency)

Link Describing the Hamburg Mark Banco

Edit: If anyone can read (or knows someone else who can read) "high" German, please contact me. I have documents written in high german which relate to the origin of my family name, Hudertmark.