Draft of MINT00159 (Mint 19/1/228-9)

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The manner of the Tryall of the Pix.
Directions about the triall of the monies of gold & silver in the Pix.

1 aAbout a month before ye triall of ye monies in ye Pix His Majty or his Council appoints the time & place for theat Triall of the monies in the Pix & names the Lords of the cCouncil before whom it shall be tried. The time is usually about a month after 'tis ordered.made & notice thereof is sent to ye Ld High Chancellour & Ld High Treasurer of England & from ye Treasury to the Officers of ye Excheqr & Mint.

2 The Ld. Chancellour presently after this oOrder is to be waited on by ye Officers of ye Mint to send his Letter to ye Wardens & Company of ye Mystery of Goldsmiths London to return him the names of an able Iury for that tTriallor of such a number as he shall think sufficient. And an extract of this a Paper is to be bdelivered to his Lop conteining ye form of ye tryall

3. The return of the names being made to his Lop he sends his Warrt by his Sejrjeant at Arms or Serjeants Deputy to summon ye Iury by their names to meet at ye place & time appointed for ye Tryall.

6 In the mean time the OfficersKings Clerk & the Wardens Masters & Comptrollers Clerks severally extract out of all their books the weight & tale of all the monies taken up from time to time since the triall of the last Pix & the whole tale of all the monies in the present Pix and when their extracts are all compared & agreed 40 or 50 copies thereof are written fair to be distributed to ye Lds & Iury at ye tTryall.

4 The Chancellour of ye Excheqr is also to be waited on attended about a dinner for ye [the principall Officers of ye Mint] with] the Iury: The place has usually been at ye Dogg Tavern & sometimes the Horn Tavern in ye Palace yard.

5 The Ld. High Treasurer or Chancellour of ye Exchequer sends an orders for the standard Troy weights & ye Indented Tryall pieces of his Majts Crown Gold monies & standard silver monies kept in the Treasury of ye Exchequer be delivered upon ye day of ye Tryall for ye use of ye Iury.

7 On ye day of ye Tryall the Officers of the Mint cause the Pixes box or boxes to be brought {illeg}to the place of trial & placed on the a Table before nine in the Morning

About tenn the King if he pleases & Ld Chancellour & other Lds of ye Council appointed by his Majty take their places at ye Table aforesaid, the Officers of ye Mint Excheqr Officers & Goldsmiths attending and The Pixes boxes at ye direction of ye Ld Chancellour are opened by ye Officers of ye Mint either before ye Lords sit down (if they direct it) or after they <217v> are sat. & ye Gold and silver monies therein are poured on ye Table.

The Ld Chancellour calls to his Serjeants at Arms for his Warrant for summoning the Iury & appoints the same to be delivred to ye Remembrancers Deputy who attends tehre wth the Oath copy of the Oath to be administredof ye Iury wch Oath {sic} is in these words.

The Gold & silver Monies in the Pixes boxes being poured on ye Table the Ld Chancellour causedth the said Oath to be administred to ye Iury

The Standard Troy weights & ye Indented Tryall pieces of his Majts cCrown Gold & standard silver monies kept in ye Treasury of the Excheqr & {illeg} being delivered for ye use of ye [& ye triall pieces examined if the Lords please being examined by ye like Indented triall pieces of the Mint delivered by in custody of ye Warden]. the Ld Chancellour or in his absence ye Chancellour of ye Excheqr gives the Iury in charge to make triall of ye said Gold & silver monies in ye Pix by ye said standards of his Majts Treary according to ye rules set down in the Indenture of the Mint, & to do it justly with all possible care & exactness it being a business of a very publick concern

In the absence of ye Ld Chan. the Chan. of ye Excheqr administers ye oath & gives the charge: Then ye Lord Chancellour appoints the Iury {illeg}when & where to attend his Lordp wth their Veredict & thenhe then he departs wth the rest of ye Lords (unless any of them be {illeg}appointed please to see the triall), & the Officers of the Mint & Warden Master & Comptroller to& lock up the monies & wth ye Iury withdraw withdraw {illeg} into another room where they take their places in another room according to ye Order at the Mint for trying the monies after the same manner as is done in the Mint at the Pixing of the same monies before deliverance

The Iury before the Warden Master & Comptroller examin

The first The Warden {illeg} examins {illeg} before ye other Officers & IuryOfficers of the Mint examin the Indented Triall pieces of ye Exchequer by the like triall Pieces of ye Mint in thise {illeg}Wardens custody & the Iury do{illeg}th{illeg} the likesame by the triall pieces of ye cCom{illeg}pany of Goldsmiths, And then ye IuryAnd& {illeg} they also in form themse{illeg}lves fully of the manner of the triall by inspecting the {illeg}from ye Officers of ye Mint & by & for that end inspect the Indenture of the Mint delivered to them by the Master & Worker & examin the Gold & Silver so proceed to ye triall. by number after the Bo Pixes are opened

This riall is made by number weight tale fire & water after the same manner as is done in ye Mint at ye Pixing of the monies before deliverance, the Iury Goldsmiths being tahe jury of Goldsmithsbeing the Kings sworn Assaymasters Weighers & Tellers appointedsworn in the room of the Assaymaster & Weigher & Teller of the Ming to try the monies before appointed by & the King or Lords of ye Councill & also in presence of the Warden Mr & Comptroller who as Officers of ye Mint in the execution of their Office are to see that the triall be duely made as well as that other at ye Pixing of ye monies be duly made the others of Bullion & new coyned monies in the Mint be duly made, according to the < insertion from f 272r > rules set down in the Indenture of the Mint < text from f 217v resumes > & the Warden < insertion from f 272r > & Comptroller or their Deputies are to enter of Record {illeg}how much the monies prove too strong feeble or too strong [& make a true accompt thereof to th{illeg}is{illeg} Majty {illeg}for keeping a just recconing between his Maty & the M{illeg}aster whenever the Coynage Act shall cease]& make a true accompt thereof to his Majty The King or Lords of the Council appointed by him may be also present. at their For tis the covenant between the King & Master & Worker that this triall shall be made before allboth parties publickly before both parties.
      The Pixes being opened the Iury first tell & weigh &c < text from f 217v resumes > For this trial like as well as those of Bullion & new coyned monies is appointed by ye said Indenture as a part of the business of ye Mint & from like ye other trialls of Bullion & those of new coyned monies becomes of force full force against the Master by its being made before the three first said three Officers of ye Mint to be made before them & by being made before them becomes of force [& all the triall of Bullion & money

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are directed by ye same Indenture to be made by sworn Artificers before them & by being made said three Officers & by being made before them becomes of force against the Master, otherwise note. And the King or ant Lord {illeg}of the Crown appointed by him may also be present or appoint any of his Lords of the Councilin behalf of this Majty & the crown For by the contract between the King & Master the triall is to be made before both parties

The Iury therefore first tell & weigh ye monies in ye Pix & when they someany of them have told so much money of Gold or silver {illeg}as ought to have weighed a pound told 44℔ 10s or 66li 15s or 89l in gold & 3℔. 2s, {illeg}or 4℔ 13s or 6℔. 4s.make a pound weight or a pound & an half or two pound weight they weigh ye same & setwrite down ye tale & weight thereof & send {illeg} it to be molten into an Ingott. And p{illeg}d And when they have tol{illeg}d all the rest of ye monies they weigh thatem also & set down ye weight & tale of ye whole monies of Gold or silver in ye Pix & how much money theey whole makess in ye pound weight.

Then they weight ye Ingott & the grains & set down ye weight & how much {illeg} monies it ought to make in ye pound weight if the wast be but about 8 or 10 grains in ye pound weight they send it to be assayd: but if ye wast be too great so that tithe silver gold or silver monies may be suspected to be refined by in the melted & set down they melt another parcell of money into an Ingot & send this Ingottthat to be assayed.

These assay being finished a{illeg}re reported &in writing in ye same form & manner as is done by ye Assaymr in the Mint. And the expressing the whole weight & tale &of all the monies in the Pix & how much they make in ye pound wight {sic} & yt thatwhether they are agreable to standard or standard full or scant or better {illeg}wt or wors 06wt or 1dwt {illeg}or 1$\frac{\mathrm{1}}{\mathrm{2}}$dwt or wthout 2dwt or wthout the remedyor how muchto so much better or worse according to yt report. And in yt mean time the Warden & Comptroller towrite down how much the monies are too feeble or too strong in weight & tellallay in order to enter the same of record. Then ye Iury draw up & signe their Veredict

And the Warden & Assaymaster record much the monies are too strong or too feeble in weight & tale &c & in order to certify ye same to their Majts

At dinner the

At the time appointed by th{illeg}e Lord Chancellour the said Officers of the Mint & Iury attend his Lop & the Iury present their Veredict to him and the Remembrancers Deputy attends to read it & after& keeps it when tis read to receive it.

The form of the Veredict is in these words

TheA Copy of ye Iuries Oath administred to ye Iury

The form of their Veredict of ye Iury.

A copy of The Paper to be delivered to the Lord Chancellour