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Currency signs, mint marks and the devices struck into money.
Currency signs are about as settled as symbols get: Unicode encodes them, ISO 4217 fixes a three-letter code beside them, and in several cases a central bank announced the sign and the date it took effect. The distinction worth holding is that the sign is for display and the code is what moves money.
These records say so themselves — the setting appears in the symbol's own reviewed description or in one of its documented meanings.
The hand the Hebrew Bible is written in.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “…and the older Hebrew letters survive mainly on coins”
The unique code identifying one individual note.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “An alphanumeric code unique to an individual banknote, conventionally printed twice on the same face…”
A Khwarazmian chancery hand.
Its visual description places it there: “Aramaic-derived letters written right to left, attested on coins, silver vessels and documents rather than in…”
Two banknotes or currency signs with arrows, marking a bureau de change.
Its description places it there: “Two banknotes or currency signs with arrows, marking a bureau…”
Words or a pattern cut into a coin's rim.
Its summary places it there: “…coin shows its damage immediately. It survives on coins with no precious metal in them at all”
A scatter of small rings on a banknote that scanners refuse to copy.
Its description places it there: “A scatter of small rings on a banknote that scanners refuse to copy”
Lines a hand cannot draw.
Its summary places it there: “…intricate interwoven line pattern engraved on banknotes, certificates and instrument dials”
A coin recarved by hand.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “Worked on a coin because the metal was available, the surface…”
The Sasanian hand on rock.
Its visual description places it there: “…largely separate, cut into rock faces and struck on coins”
Raised ink a reader can feel on a banknote.
Its description places it there: “Raised ink a reader can feel on a banknote”
Grooves or lettering round the rim, invented against coin clipping.
Its summary places it there: “The ridges on a coin's edge are a security feature four centuries…”
A small extra emblem marking an occasion or a production detail.
Its summary places it there: “…mint's own signature, a batch. It differs from a mint mark in being deliberate and commemorative rather…”
Obverse, reverse, legend, exergue, edge — the parts, and which carries what.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “…mark usually sit, so the smallest lettering on a coin is generally the part that dates and places it”
A metallic strip embedded in the note, surfacing in windows.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “A narrow strip incorporated into a banknote during manufacture, weaving to the surface at…”
Raised dots or bars letting a note be identified by touch.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “…raised dots or bars printed in intaglio on a banknote, arranged differently for each denomination so…”
An image in the paper itself, visible only against the light.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “An image formed in the substrate of a banknote by varying its thickness during manufacture…”
These belong to a system or a curated family that lives here. A laundry care symbol is met on a clothing label whether or not its own wording happens to say so.
A capital letter B with a single vertical stroke rising above and below it, the sign for the Thai baht.
A capital B with two vertical strokes, used for bitcoin.
A lower-case c crossed by a vertical stroke, marking a hundredth of a currency unit.
An S crossed by one or two vertical strokes, used for dollar and peso currencies.
A lower-case letter d crossed by a short horizontal stroke through its ascender, with a line beneath, the sign for the Vietnamese đồng.
A rounded E crossed by two horizontal strokes, marking the euro.
A rounded letter S laid on its side with an open curve, crossed by two short horizontal strokes, the sign for the Ukrainian hryvnia.
A Devanagari 'ra' with a doubled horizontal bar, marking the Indian rupee.
A capital letter N crossed by two short horizontal strokes, the sign for the Nigerian naira.
Two angular forms side by side, each an upright with a horizontal arm, joined at the top by a continuous line, the sign for the Israeli new shekel.
A capital letter P crossed by two short horizontal strokes, the sign for the Philippine peso.
A crossed, looping L, marking pound sterling and other pound currencies.
A capital letter P with a closed bowl, crossed by a single short horizontal stroke at the foot of its stem, the sign for the Russian ruble.
A capital letter T with a second horizontal bar below its crossbar, the sign for the Kazakhstani tenge.
A letter L leaning to the right with an upward hook at the foot, crossed by two short strokes rising to the right, the sign for the Turkish lira.
A capital letter W crossed by two short horizontal strokes, the sign for the South Korean won.
A capital Y crossed by one or two horizontal strokes.
If you can describe what you saw as well as where, say both: “winged skull on a gravestone” narrows a list of 33 to a handful.