Draft of MINT00611 (Mint 19/2/305) with further details on processes for testing copper

Author: Newton, Isaac

Normalised TextCatalogue Entry

<303r>

To the most Honble the Earl of Oxford & Earl Mortimer Lord H. Treasurer of great Britain

May it please yor Lordp

1 I humble {sic} beg leave to lay before yor Lordp before yor Lordp that the Master & Worker of her Majts Mint is not obliged to receive all the gold & siver {sic} coyne brought into her Majts Mint to be coyned. If any gold be imported wch is not tough, he returns it back to be toughned at the Importers charge.tho it be standard. If the gold or silver imported be uneavenly mixed or be too coarse {sic}, he returns it to be remelted or refined at ye Importers charge. If any gold or silver be too coarse the M{illeg} he returns it to be refined at the charge of the importers [And the M it is left to the discretion of the Master to judge whether the gold or silver is fit to be received or to be returned back.] And by pari{illeg}ty of reason the he should not be obliged to receive all{illeg} sorts of copper to be coined. If it be too coarse or too hard or want malleability or be ill coloured or otherwise faulty, he ought toshould be at liberty to return it back to the owner to be made fit for the Mint at the owners charge; otherwise it [& theis whether the Importers be patentees or others.{illeg} power should be lodged in him as well for Copper as for gold & silver, whether the Importer be a Patentee or not.] Otherwise {illeg}it be impossible {illeg} will be
     IfTo coin Copper of equal goodness wth a sample Trial piece is a slippery proposal there being no certain way to compare {illeg}them but by theirexceedin{illeg}gy {sic} difficult & almost impracticable to coin the money of {illeg}good m{illeg}alleable copper The Swed{illeg}ish money is much of such copper as when red hot will hammer without splitting, cracking, & the best wat {illeg}of assaying such copper is by ha{illeg}mmering it when red ho{illeg}t, & bending it when cold. {sic} This the & brea{illeg}ting off a piece to o{illeg}bserve the grain & colour. This is the assay of those who refine copper till it come {sic} to a due degree of fineness, & no other assay of fine copper is to be relied on. Copper wch is of For the price of fine C{illeg}opper depends upo it {illeg} malleability. No coarse copper {illeg}whatever it ductile to as to beare the assay of the hammer. When it willin refining it begins to beare this sort {illeg} Assay begins to be accounted it sold in ye market for 1123 about 1112 per lwt. When it is made do fined{illeg}uctile as to draw into wire i{illeg}t is valued at 2 or 3 shillings per lw{illeg}t, & the fitter it is for the wire drawer the greater is its price. Such fine copper is used also in the Mint for allaying of Gold & Silver because i{illeg}t makes the money more malleable, {illeg}Those that make brass find that the finest copper drinks up most of the Lapis & thence some have framed a nation that {illeg} for a {illeg} there may be a way of assaying the wast Copper by the Lapis may {illeg}But the wWire drawer who sets the price upon it will value {illeg}it according to its ductibility & will judge of its ductibility as finds it by his own experience in drawing i{illeg}t into wire.

12 In valuing coarse copper such as is not f{illeg} such as bears not the Assay by the h{illeg}ammer There is an {illeg} assay of copper by refining a small parcesl & {illeg}thence recconing what will be the wast & charges in refining a Tunn of such copper, & setting a value of upon it accordingly. And such an Assay is useful in buying coarse c{illeg}opper to be refined, but {illeg}is of no use in assayin buying fine copper. The price of fine copper depends upon the malleability, & two parcels of fi copper equally fine wch by such an assay are equally fine may differ very much in <303v> their malleability, & by consequence in their price. {illeg} There may be a penny a pound difference in their price.

23. {illeg}All coarse copper is hard & b{illeg}rittle or& in refining it begins to be called fine copper when it begins to be soft & malleale {sic}. They that refine it {illeg}frequently take out of the mass in fusion a spo with an iron spoon a little parcel & hammer it when red hot. And so soon as it hammers into a think plate withotut cracking, & whenthey hammered into a a {sic} square rod about a third of a convenient thickness & bend it when cold & {illeg} breaking of a piece {illeg} the gr{illeg}ain & colour where it b{illeg}reaks & by the malleability grain & colour judge of its fineness., & accordingly set the price. The malleability is the chief Test, the grain colour assist the making a judgemen are further indications of the goodness of the Copper. And when they find the Copper sufficiently malleable to beare hammering & {illeg}rolling into vessels & plates they value it at about 1114d or 1112d per lwt averdupois, & call it fine copper. And of such copper hammered & rolled the Swedes make their money. Some are so skilful in refining copper that they make it still {illeg} more malleable so as to fit it into the {illeg}be drawn into wire, & then the wire-drawer gives two or three shillings a pound for {illeg}it accordingly as he finds it less or more fit for his purposemall ductile {illeg}& fit to be drawn into wire. And some observe that in making of brass the finest or most malleable & ductile copper takes up most of the Lapis calaminaris & thence conclude that the finest copper may be assayed by observing how much of the Lapis it d{illeg}ranks up. Tut this way of assaying is troublesome & not yet in use, nor exact enough to be trusted in a Mint by reason of ye different goodness of ye Lapis. The malleability & ductility of fine copper is that wch sets a price upon it & therefore is the truest Assay

Copper refined to that degree & in that manner as to be malleable without cracking when red hot is the most usefull for manufacturing & the fittest material for into {sic} all sorts of copper vessels & for copper money. The Swedish copper money is of this standard; & [And if the English copper money be of the same standard it may be a pound weight may be cut into 18912d wchout {illeg} if the moeny be {illeg}not edged or into 192012d, {illeg}if it be edged; provided the money be made wthout copper can be cast into clean barrs. But Or {illeg}el{illeg}se it may if it be made into barrs by casting ithammering a pound weight may be cut into 20t if not edged or into 21d if edged, {illeg}& a pound out of every pound weight an half penny may be reserved for paying for the coyning tools & setting up a copper mint, & paying for the copper {illeg}in case the price should rise] And if the English copper money be of the same standard a pound weight may be bought & coyned by casting, for 1{illeg}7d or 1{illeg}714d per lwt if the same be not edged & the price of Copper do not rise, & or for a penny more if the same be edged & for three farthings or a a penny more if the same coyned be hammered {illeg} be coyned by hammering & the a penny {illeg} more may be allowed for incidents & the charges of putting off & a farthings per more in coyning four or sfixve hundred Tunns will pay for the puttin charges of setting up a mint.] And if the English copper money be of the same standard a pound weight will be worth about 1114 or 1112 at ye Warehouses, & if it be made much more malleable the Wire drawer will 2 or 3 shillings a pound for it. {sic} because of its fitness for his use. Tis the ductility that makes it useful & the usefullness that makes it malleable. sets a price upon it, & the tryal by hammering & bending hot & cold that determins the ductility. Refiners of too coarse Copper in not malleable till it begins to be fine. In refining copper the Refiner takes out an iron spoonful from time to time and tries it by ye hammer & the bending & by the grain & colour in breaking untill it b by those signs he finds the copper to be fully fine & ready t{illeg}o vitrify. And then he lades it out into iron pawns. This is <304r> the trial in refining copper & by consequence the proper trial for the Mint of fine copper fit to be coyned into copper money.