'Proposals for preserving and encreasing the Coyn of this Kingdome.' Draft of second appendix to MINT00281 (Mint 19/2/78-9)

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Proposals for pre{illeg}se{illeg}rving & encreasing the Coyn of this Kingdome

All gold & silver designed for exportation shall be examined & entred in ye Mint. And for that end all Ingots of Gold & Silver imported & all old Plated iexmported & designed for exportation & all sand gold & virgin gold & virgin silver shall upon its first coming up the River of Thames to the Custome house be brought to the Mint by the Master of the ship &                 other witnesses who shall there shew their Bill of lading & be examined about the importation of the said Gold or Silver. And the said sand gold & Virgin gold & virgin silver & plate & all forreign monies designed for exportation shall be there melted into Ingots. And these Ingots & all other Ingots of gold & silver above mentioned shall at the choise of the Merchant be either coyned into moneis or marked {illeg}wth a stamp provided for that purpose. And the Master of the Mint if desired shall give the Merchant an indented Ticket certifying the weight of the monies coyned out of the said forreign gold or silver & the time of cthe coynage thereof, wch Ticket shall be cut out of a book of ye Mint & entred in the same book.

Ingots not markt with the Mint stamp may not be exported nor carried on board any vessel, nor bought or sold but may be brought to ye Mint for encreasing the coyn of this kingdom. This law now obtaning in France by an edict of last March for preventing the melting down of ye monies

The Merchant upon delivering the Mint Tickets at ye Custome house may within a year after the coynage of the monies mentioned therein by Warrant of the Commrs of the Customes, upon a day appointed in the Warrant ship for exportation the said monies or the same weight of the native monies or any part thereof & also any Ingots wch have the Mint stamp upon them & the Customer shall enter the same & file the Tickets.

All silver monies {illeg}before shipping for exportation shall pay {illeg}1dob ꝑ ounce Troy at ye Custome house for the charges of assaying standarding <602v> melting & coyning the same. And all gold monies shall pay 6d$\frac{\mathrm{1}}{\mathrm{2}}$ob ꝑ ounce for ye like charge. Which Duties shall be kept apart wth ye Duty already granted for encouragemtent of acoynage & therewith paid into the Excheqr & thence imprest to ye Master of the Mint for ye same uses. And all Ingots stampt shall pay to the Master of ye Mint before stamping a farting {sic} per ounce of silver & 1d per ounce of gold for defraying charges of the first meltings & stamping & towards ye charges of assaying melting & coyning the monies & of providing & repairing things ne{illeg}cessary for ye same. For wch Duty the Master of the Mint shall be answerable to ye King.

No gold or silver other then pocket money already allowed shall be exported out of any other port of England then that of London nor ourt of Ireland except into England.

Felony wthout benefit of Clergy to counterfeit the Mint stamp or the Mint Tickets. And other penalties on them who ship silver {illeg}not licensed or wthout paying the Duty or upon any other day then that appointed in the Warrant or buy or sell unmarkt ingots or knowingly bring gold or silver to the Mint to be markt or coynd as forreign wch is not forreign.

Such a Law would enable the Officers of the Mint to understand the state of the money with respect to trade. It would render trade freer then at prsent. It would save the Merchant the trouble and charge of attending with his bullion & witnesses at Goldsmiths Hall and Yeild hall after he has melted it at the Refiners or Goldsmiths. It would check the melting down of or {illeg}monies for exportation or for sale to Goldsmiths much better then the laws do at prsent, & prevent the open or publick importation of go more gold & silver then is imported. It would bring down the price of Bullion {illeg}nearer to a par with money & thereby make the money less liable to be melted down into Bullion. I would increase the coynage by bringing all gold & silver through the Mint & laying on that wch is not coyned a small Duty to pay for the first meltings: for wch Duty there is a precedent in Holland. It would decrease the Indian manufacture of coyning or Bullion in {illeg} Ports where the Company have not a Mint of their own, for which coynage the Indians receive of us a large seigniorage. It would be profitable to the Merchant by the use of his gold & silver when turned into money before exportation. I would encrease or coyn as well by the Merchants money running amongst {illeg}us till exportation as by what is not exported within the year. It would be of great credit to the nation by the Merchants exporting their gold & silver <603r> in the form of English money t{illeg}o be current in forreign nations & thereby make us appear abroad more rich & potent then we do at prsent. And all this would be done without any new charge to the government.