The introduction of the mint-master, Johann Philipp Zinckgräff, on the 1594 probation day on the upper Rhine by his new employer, Hans Count of Salm in Kirn, revealed that Philipp Zinckgräff came from a family based in Colmar, Alsatia. However, since Philipp's origin can be traced to Henne Zinckgreve from Bürgel near Offenbach, it can be deduced that Henne's ancestors immigrated from Alsatia to Bürgel.

Since Henne Zinckgreve's arrival the family stayed in Frankfurt am Main for two generations. His son Philipp lived about 1505 in Sachsenhausen, a southern suburb of Frankfurt, in the Klappergasse. In the year 1535 Lorenz Zinckgreve started working for the Palatine Count Duke Johann II and moved to Simmern in the Hunsrück region. Five years later his younger brother Johann followed him. He worked as a goldsmith in Simmern from 1540-1573.

At least two of Lorenz Zinckgreve's children were born in Meisenheim am Glan, meaning that he lived temporarily in this city. When the Palatine Duke Georg (1559-1569) decided temporarily not to produce any coins, the Counts of Erbach Lorenz Zinckgreve came to the rescue. Subsequently he was introduced on May 3, 1561 on a special occasion in Nürnberg by the Counts of Erbach as their mint-master and moved to Michelstadt in the Odenwald region.
In 1591 the Frankfurt council minutes mention a house in the Kruchgasse next to "Lorenz of Simmern, mint-master". Apparently he moved back to Frankfurt where he died as well.

Of Lorenz Zinckgreve's children only Johann Philipp remained in Simmern, from where he moved to Kaub in old age. Lorenz' daughter Otilia married Peter Dreier and followed him to Straßburg. Eleonore married Christoph Schertz and lived in Weigelsdorf in Silesia.
Lorenz' oldest son, Laurentius Zinckgräff, worked for the Palatine court and moved to Heidelberg, where his son Julius Wilhelm Zincgref was born.  As a faithful servant, Laurentius was granted by his Elector Johann Casimir property in Münster an der Nahe. This property was owned previously by the von der Leyen family. It reverted back to the Palatinate, since they did not have any male descendants.

Julius Wilhelm Zincgref's sons, Johann Hermann and Philipp Abraham, were born in Sankt Goar and lived in Simmern. Later they returned to their Reformed communities. Philipp Abraham became a citizen of Kreuznach, where he, his wife Anna Katharina and his one-year old son Philipp died in the year 1666 within a few weeks of pestilence. They were all buried in Kreuznach. Johann Hermann died in 1697 in Kaub, where he was buried.

Johann Hermann Zinckgreff's son Julius Wilhelm II worked for the Nassau clan – first in Siegen, later in Dillenburg - where he was buried in 1738. The younger son, Johann Hermann II, died already in 1718 in Simmern and was buried there in the main church.

Johannes Zinckgraf found his professional challenges in Neustadt an der Haardt (=Neustadt an der Weinstraße), where he became the founder of the Neustadt line. His half-brother Johann Wolf(gang) Zinckgräff presumably died in the Naumburg castle above Bärenbach near Kirn an der Nahe. He is recognized as an ancestor of the Weinheim line, because his son Johann Friedrich settled in Weinheim an der Bergstraße which is the basis for the Heidelberg line.

Due to the destruction of the Palatinate caused by the French King Louis XIV and the Palatine Hereditary Succession Wars during the 17th and 18th century many people in the Palatinate emigrated to the "New World", mainly to the United States: so Zinkgrafs can be found mainly in the states of Illinois, Wisconsin, Washington, and to a lesser extent in Texas and California.

At the beginning of the 19th century the young Johann Martin Zinckgräf from Heidelberg was trained in the Netherlands as a surgeon-major and left in 1802 for South Africa, where he participated in the Dutch military to defend the Batavian Republic against the British conquerors. Upon his return about 1830 he settled in Belgium.

In 1853 Philipp Heinrich Zinkgräf of Weinheim avoided enlisting and emigrated to Mexico.

In the 1880's the brothers Ferdinand and Philipp Zinkgräf emigrated from Weinheim to Argentina and lived in Buenos Aires. Most of Philipp Zinkgräf's descendants now live in General Roca in Rio Negro/Patagonia.

From the Neustadt line of the family, Georg Elias Zinckgraff, born in Biedesheim, emigrated to Brazil, where he died as a medical doctor in Porto Allegre. Karl Albert Zinckgraf of Biedesheim emigrated first to Australia and then settled in New Zealand.