Holograph draft of MINT00131 (Mint 19/1/334-5)

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The Act of 18 Car. II chap. 5 saith that no moneys leviable & payable by this Act shall be applied or converted to any use or uses whatsoever other then to the defraying the charge or expence of the Mint or Mints &[that]of the Assaying melting down wast & coinage of Gold & Silver & this encouragement of bringing in of Gold & Silver into t{illeg}he coyned said Mint or Mints there to be coyned &c. The first is the charge of supporting a standing Mint, the second is the further charge of carrying on the coynage in that Mint. And by the next clause of the {illeg}Act the first is limited to 3000li for preventing needless extravagance & the other is left unlimited for encouraging the coynage. The words are: And it is hereby further enacted that there shall not be issued out of the Exchequer of the said moneys, in any one year, for the fees & salaries of the Officers of the Mint or Mints & towards the providing maintaining & repairing of the Ho{illeg}uses Offices & Buildings & other[standing]necessaries for assaying melting down & coyning above the summ of three thousand pounds sterling money, & the overplus of the said moneys so kept or to be kept as aforesaid shall be employed for & towards {illeg}the[contingent]expence wast & charges of assaying melting down & coyna{illeg}ge & buying in of gold & silver to be coyned, & not otherwise. Here the charge of salaries & buildings with their appurtenances necessary for constituting a Mint, (such as are Hearths & Chimneys convenient for furnaces, floors convenient for Mill-rooms, blocks convenient for the Presses & Flatters, benches convenient for the Cutters & for the Graver & Smith, Tables convenient for sizing & for Weighing & telling, stalls & Desks for the Clerks to rate & standard, money chests & boxes for the Treasury & Pix, Locks for the Offices, Gates for the Mint & Wells Pumps & Pip{illeg}es for water) are limited to 3000li. And the overplus is for defraying the charges arising by the coynage, such as are the charge of stationary ware for the Clerks, ballances & weights for the severall Offices, Furnaces, Cuppels, water-silver, Aqua fortis & Charcoal for the Assay-Office, Refining & Allay for bringing the gold & silver to standard, Flasks furnaces melting & wast in the Melting houses, Mills Dyes coining & wast in other Offices, Indentures & Warrants for carrying on the coynage, & charges of making Tryal-pieces & trying the Pix.

After the making of this Act, the salaries upon the establishmt of the Indenture of the Mint amounted unto 2600li & there remained only 400li for the providing & repairing of buildings, wch charge in the old Accounts usually amounted unto two or three & sometimes almost four hundred pounds per ann, or within 20 or 25li over or under. And there is an Article in the Indenture wch obliges the Mast{illeg}er to pay unto the Warden such summ or& summs as are payable by him for salaries & repairs & such other expences of the Mint as have been heretofore usually paid by him.

The Act made in the 4th & 5th year o{illeg}f her Majts reign for en <337v> larging the summe of 3000li. to that of 3500li was not intended to charge the 3000li with any sort of payments wch had not been used to be put upon it, but on the contrary to make more room for bearing those sorts of payments wch used to be put upon it as the words of the P{illeg}reamble of the Act import. And accordingly {illeg}a new salary of 400li per an was setled upon the Moneyers presently after the passing of the Act. And the salaries of the Clerks of the Mint being thought too small were intended to {illeg}be augmented. But it was thought fit first to take care of the old buildings wch were ready to fall. And since that time there has been spent upon rebuilding about 900li or 1000li. As a p{illeg}art of the charge of rebuilding the Engineers shop comes into the Account of the year 1712.

In the Account of that year the salaries upon the Indenture payable by the Warden are 1435li, those payable by the Master to ye Officers under him 1080li, to ye Smith 40li in lieu of 50li, to ye Graver for an Apprentice 35li in lieu of 95li,. The new salary to the Moneyers is 400li. And the charges of the buildings in the Wardens Account are in one Article 389li. 2s, in another 11li. 13s. 6d. Total 3390li. 15s. 6d.