Shroff. To sort circulating silver coins in trade according to fineness by banks and merchants in the Orient. The term is both the verb for the act – also called shroffing– and the employee who does the testing. He sorts out spurious coin, notes debased coins and marks acceptable standard coin with a chop mark (also called shroff mark). He marks acceptable coins with a punch containing his bank’s or merchant’s symbol. Coins rapidly became heavily chop marked after many transactions. See illustration, chop mark.