Draft of MINT00633 (Mint 19/2/356)

<362r>

To the Rt Honble the Lords Commers of his Majties. Treasury.

May it please yoer Lordps

1 In obedience to yoer Lordps Order that I should lay before yoer Lordps a scheme for coyning copper money, I humbly represent that the Copper be of such a fineness as to endure hammering without cracking when red hot, this assay being easy & certain & the Swedish money & Copper vessels being of this about this degree of fineness. And because if Copper be made into barrs by casting, it will be not be fine enough to endure this assay, & if it be made into barrs by at the battering mills the workmanship will cost too much: I propose rather the following method of coynage.

2 That fine copper of such a goodness as about two or three years ago was worth about 95 or 96£ per Toun in ye market, & a year ago was worth about 100 £ per Toun or 12d per £wt, be bought by thea Melter of Copper or by any Factor or Factors at a price not exceeding a certain price to be appointed by ythe L your Lordps from time to time, & that the Factor deliver it to the Melter by such an Assay or Rule as they can agree upon, & the Melter melt refine & cast it into cakes & roll the cakes red hot to a due size & blanch them & deliver them to the Master & Worker by weight & Assay, & that the Moneyers cut blancks out of them & coyn the blancks & the Master deliver back the scissel to the Melter by weight, & pay for what remains in his hands after a certain rate by the pound weight.

3 That every Tunparcel of new moneys thus made, or any quantity not exceeding a Tun be well mixed together on a floor & four or five pounds weight be taken from four or five several places of the heap & examined by weight tale & assay & the tale of the Assays at a medium be taken for the tale of the whole heap & of every parcel thereof by the pound weight, & that for every Tun a piece or two out of every pound weight assayed b{illeg}e{illeg} put into a pix; & that the whole heap be then distributed into parcels of five or ten pounds in value & put into barrells to be delivered at that price to those who shall come for them; & that all the Receipts, Assays, & Deliveries & & payments be entred in Books by two Clerks, one for the King & the other for the Master & Worker, & a Controllment Roll be made by the Kings Clerk or other Officer at the end of ye year, & the Pix be then examined bytried before such person or persons as shall be appointed to examin report the examinationtrial to the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury. And because it's impossible to size the money without erring in excess or defect, the error may be limited not to exceed an halfpenny in the pound weight.

5. If the Melter be allowed 4d by the pound weight for refininf melting refininf & casting the copper & rolling & blanching the barrs, & the Moneyers be allowed 1$\frac{\mathrm{3}}{\mathrm{4}}$d for cutting & out & stamping the blanks & keeping the coyning tools in repair & the Master be allowed 1d per £wt for his own trouble & hazzards & for paying the Graver & Smith for the Dyes & Puncheons & 1$\frac{\mathrm{3}}{\mathrm{4}}$d more& a farthing per £wt for the for the Moneyers for cutting & stamping & keeping the coyning tools in repair for their cutting out & stamping the blanks & keeping the coining tools in repair & an half penny for farthing per £wt for defraying <362v> the charges of weighing, assaying, entring in books, barrelling, & putting off & making a controllment Rollthe moneys; ; & if a farthing or perhapsrather an half penny more may be allowed for repairs of buildings, putting the instruments into rapirs in the beginning of the coyange,before the coynage begins, purchasing what instruments are wanting making a Controlmt Rol, passing Accounts & obviating unforeseen accidents: the whole charge of a pound weight of copper money will not be less then 19dbe about 19d or 19$\frac{\mathrm{1}}{\mathrm{4}}$d, supposing that the copper costs not more then eleven pence half penny by the pound weightabove pence half penny or {illeg} pence three farthings eleven pence three farthings. And if, for obviating theany difficulties which may arise happen by the greater risen price of the copper, money if the price thereof should {illeg}still riseing a pound weight be cut into nineteen pence half penny or perhaps 20 twenty pence, the profit above the change will be but small, & may be accounted for & applied to the publick.

4 Six or seven hundred Tunns of copper money has been found sufficient to stocl the nation of England, & in the last coynage created a clamour; & there is scarce above 150 or 200 Tunns now wanting of that quantity. I would therefore propose a slow coynage not exceeding 30 or 40 Tunns per an̄ so that the price of copper may not be raised thereby, & the new money may have time to spread & be dispersed without making a clamour

6 7. Before the method & charges of coynage be fully established in writing, it may be convenient to coyne a Tunn or two by way of experiment to make sure that there be no unforeseen difficulties, & that the method be perfectly right.

6 There may be opportunities of buying fine copper from some of the Mines at 11$\frac{\mathrm{1}}{\mathrm{2}}$d, 11$\frac{\mathrm{1}}{\mathrm{4}}$ or 11d per lwt & it it a sufficient quantity can be procured at 10$\frac{\mathrm{3}}{\mathrm{4}}$ a pound weight of copper may be cut into 18d.