Further draft of MINT00265 (Mint 19/2/618-20)

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2 On the Quantity of Coyn in ye Nation

Out of the 16 Millions of Silver money recconed by Mr. P. to have been in the Nation about the year 1676 I made severall abatements in my former paper, as 1st of a Million or a million & a half of counterfiet Money Mr P. (sect 8) thinks this abatement too much by far & that ye Counterfeit Money scarce exceeded 100000li. I reccon it thus. The five Millions melted down in ye Exchequer proved one Ingot wth another about 7dwt worse then standard. This worsness arose from false silver money of base allay and if in the peices of base allay taken one with another one half of ye mettal was fine silver ye base money of base allay must have been about ye 15 part of ye 5 Millions, that is about ye third part of a Million. There was another sort of narrow cliptfalse money made of st{illeg}erling silver in imitation of little clipt money little clipt money. They made it of {sic} of clippings and broad money without allay and this being of standard silver, past as Current as if it had been Coyned in ye Kings Mint & for yt reason abounded most in ye Coyn. I reccon it therefore at above $\frac{\mathrm{1}}{\mathrm{2}}$ a million The Brass money being most discernable was least in Quantity. iIf it be recconed 1$\frac{\mathrm{1}}{\mathrm{2}}$ ꝑ Cent of the whole, it will amount to about 75000li so that all the Counterfeit money in these five Millions amounted to about 900000li And if all ye Counterfeit Money in the other five Millions Recoyned was but one third part as much, the whole will amount to above 1200000li.

2dly I abated 500000li for the wearing of ye money & 3dly 3 or 400000li for ye clipping thereof and the abatements were proportionable to what I had observed in some parcels of broad hammered money wch had been long hoarded in the Country most of it unclipt & ye rest not so much clipt but about 25 or 30 years ago it might be very possible in payments the clipping scarce appearing to ye Ey{illeg}e without weighing the peices. The Mr P. makes the like abatements to be made in my Computation for the wearing culling washing & filing of ye Milled money. But this could not amount to 1$\frac{\mathrm{1}}{\mathrm{2}}$ ꝑ Cent & & so are not worth mentioningin all the {illeg} milled money (new & old together & so is considerable, whereas the wear of the hammered money was about 65 ꝑ cent, & clipping almost as much.

4thly out of ye milled money wch in 1676 he reccons at 3 millions I abated above a Million. For Guineas began to be Coyned at 44$\frac{\mathrm{1}}{\mathrm{2}}$ to the pound weight in Apr: 1 1663 the Kings Warrant for Coyning Milled money of Gold & silver, wth four distinct Escutcheons on the Reverse was dated in April 1663 & from that time to ye end of December 1676 there was coyned in silver by the Mint accompts 1779277li 19s. 6d. whereof about 220000li was out of Cross and Harp Money Out of ye 3 Millions I should have abated therefore above 1200000li.or In ste the money for Dunkirk In stead of 3 Millions therefore he should have recconed only 1779277li. 19s. 6d, so yt I had reason to about above a million out of his recconing

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5thly out of the 3 Millions recconed to be melted down out of yt hammered money after after ye years 1676, I make another great abatement of two Millions and an half. Mr P. (sect. 7) replies that his assertion as to those 3 Millions was grounded upon informations taken from men that were Apprentices or Servants to Goldsmiths and Refiners they owning that after the year 1670 they found above $\frac{\mathrm{1}}{\mathrm{3}}$ of the old Coyn fitter for their purpose then the new milled money I answer that they that culled for Melting culled also for clipping the clippings being as fit for Melting as the weighty money and that they might frequently find a third part of the hammered Money fit for both these purposes together and more fit then the Milled money was, that being unfit for the Clippers Trade. But if the men above mentioned affirmed that aboutafter the year 16756 or soon after yt they found one third part of the hammered money weightier then the Milled Money was & on that account fitter to be culled for melting, there mustseems to be some mistake in the testimony. For the hammered shillings had one wth another lost aboutve 5 graines apeice by wearing as I found by weighing some parcells of unclipt shillings. These were therefore grown too light to be so fit for the cullers Trade as yt Milled Money generally was and the Sixpences were more worn in proportion to their weight and yt smaller Money still more. All the Money of Q. Eliz and almost all yt of K. Iames ye I and half that of K Cha. I was in shillings and sixpences and smaller money and so not fit for Culling to ye Melting Pott The half Crowns were scarce a third part of all ye hammred Money and therefore in the year 1676 scarce Exceeded 4 Millions. oOf these 4 Millions part were hoarded in ye Country and since the year 1676 and Came not to the cullers hands, part were clipt either before 1676 or afterwards and part were culled for Melting before the year 1676, and the rest had one with another lost 67 or 8 grains a piece by wearing so that scarce one in tenn was so weighty as the milled half Crowns but if we should allow one in five to have been so weighty yet they would scarce amount to half a Million.

I do not see therefore but that ye abatements wch I made out of M P's recconing of 16 Millions were reasonable, so <622r> that instead of supposing that about ye year 1676 we had 16 millions of silver monies I had rather reccon that we have not then above 10 or 11 Millions and that in the year 1689 when we were richest we had but about 12$\frac{\mathrm{3}}{\mathrm{4}}$ Millions of those monies not in tale but in weight and fineness.

In my Recconing how much silver money we have remainings {sic} now in the Nation at present I said that we have about a Million of old milled money or not much less Mr P. (sect 9) thinks that we have not half so much. His reasons are the great Consumtion {sic} there was of that Coyn after 76 & the small appearance of it in the time of the Recoynage or since. This is a generall way of arguing without coming to a recconing and so is of less force then ye recconing wch I went upon. For that we have a Million or not much less, I gathered by theMy recconing was grounded upon the appearance of this money {illeg}which toI {illeg}did met with in payments. For by examining the Proportion of the old milled money to the new in a parcell or two., For I had found the old about an eight or ninth part of the whole. And since the writing of my former paper I examined the proportion againe in a Parcell of 25lib of silver monies brought to me from the Bank of England & I found in it 3li 1s. 6d of old milled money.If there has been recoyned 6900000li and ye old milled mixed therewith be now about an Eight part of the whole then that old milled money at its first mixing with the new must have been about 980000li.wch is about an 8th part of the whole. And in another parcel I found it above a sixt part of the whole. Now if we reccon (in round numbers) thereatt there were about seven millions recoyned & that the old milled money mixed therewith is an eitighth part of the whole then that old milled mo money at its first mxing {sic} with the new must have been about a million

Mr. P sect 9) says that if we have so much old milled money it ought to be added to ye Computation of ye 16 millions. I answered that in ye computation of ye 16 millions Mr P. in his first paper recconed 3 Millions of old milled money, wch (as I have shewed) was too much by above a Million, & therefore ought not now to be encreased.

So then I see no reason to alter my recconing of 7$\frac{\mathrm{1}}{\mathrm{4}}$ Millions of Silver monies (milled & hammered) still in the Nation for I do not yet see any reason to believe that the monies melted down or Exported since ye recoynage amount to above 1500000li

What is said by Mr P. (sect 10) to diminish my accompt of the Guinea has been considered above where I shewed that there has been not onely a large Coynage but also a large increase of our stock. In my former pap{illeg}er I made an abatement of an eight <622r> part of the whole for ye weighty Guineas culler out and brought back to the mint and if that abatement should be doubled it would not very much diminish my recconing, Especially if ye Guineas coyned the last 14 months year wch in my former paper I did not reccon and ye forreign gold monies wch of late by the overballance of trade have plentifully flowed into England and still continued to do so, be added to it. And after the culling and recoyning of the weighty Guineas has been allowed for it for ought to be objected no more, unless it cane be proved that the allowance is too little.

If in the dead months of Exportation Merchants have have sometimes Coyned their bullion twas surely not wth intention to export ye Same in moneymelt down the money afterwards & export it Contrary to Law but wth the Money to buy new forreign Bullion when the time for exportation should approach and therefore such Coynage made addition to or stock.

If any Gold hath been bought wth ye clippings of silver monies melted down into Ingotts & Exported as Mr P. sec 9 {illeg}thinks probable: the Gold is an addition to or stock of GoldGuineas and ye silver exported is allowed for in my former paper in the 5$\frac{\mathrm{1}}{\mathrm{2}}$ millions wast lost out of the silver monies

And the like is to be said of sigolvder {illeg}brought in by Forreigners to get by loads upon Publick funds as Mr P represents sect 10 &c for since the year 1694 we have paid our Forreigne debts in any thing butrather then gold And those debts wch now remaine unpaid are not to be considered in recconing the Quantity of moneys now in the Nation but musta{illeg}re to be accounted for in the Course of Exchange & ballance of trade wch at prsent is on our side., & yet must be deducted from or {illeg}wealth & may entitle forreigner to above a million or two of or money a considerable quantitysome part of or money.

All wch being considered I do not see but that the recconings set down in my former paper come near the truth vizt that in the year 1689 when we were richest we had about 12$\frac{\mathrm{3}}{\mathrm{4}}$ millions in silver monies (not in tale but standard value) and about 5$\frac{\mathrm{1}}{\mathrm{4}}$ millions in Guineas & Pistoles, in all about 18 Millions besides broad Gold. And at present we have about 7$\frac{\mathrm{1}}{\mathrm{4}}$ millions in Silver monies milled and hammered and about 8$\frac{\mathrm{1}}{\mathrm{2}}$ Millions in Guineas & Pistoles besides broad Gold in all we have about 15$\frac{\mathrm{3}}{\mathrm{4}}$ millions which is about 2$\frac{\mathrm{1}}{\mathrm{4}}$ Millions less then in the year 1689 & about a milliona considerable quantity of wch may belong to forreigners by reason of their stocks in or publick funds. {sic}. In makeing this Estimate I do not pretend to be exact. Where I could meet with exact recconings I followed them and in the rest I used ye best of my judgment