Draft of MINT00633 (Mint 19/2/356)
To the Rt Honble the Lords Commers of His Maties. Treasury.
May it please yoer Lordps
1 In obedience to yoer Lordps Verbal Order I that I should lay before yoer Lordps a Proposal or Memorial for coyning Copper Money: I humbly represent that the Copper be imported into a Mint by weight in barrsclean barrs nealed & of such a of a due weight fineness & size for cutting blanks out of them blanks of such a weight out of them as his Maty shall appoint; theat the fineness be such that when the barrs arwhen heated red hot at one end they will then spread thin under the hammer without cracking; that the scissel be delivered back to the Importer by weight, & the importedr be paid for the excesse of the Copper imported above the scissel returned back, after the rate returned back of per pound weight Averdupois, that it be in the power of the Coyner or Mint-Master to refuse such copper as doth not beare the assat or is not well sized; that when a parcel of Copper money, suppose half a Tunn or a Tunn, is coyned, the same be well mixed by shovelling it forwards & backwards in a heap before sufficient witnesses, & then assayed in four or five distant places & the assays entred in books, & the tale of the heap estimated by taking a medium of all the assays; & the monyey then put into baggs by weight to be delivered to the people & the weight & price of every bagg entred in books, & the weight of three pence or four pence allowed in every Quarter of an hundred weight for turning the scales & preventing clamours about the weight &or tale. And out of every heap assayed, threefour or five pieces may be put into a Box & kept to be examined at the years end before whom your Lordps shall appoint, & a Remedy for errors allowed of an halfpenny per pound weight. And the Mint-master may account annually to the king.
The Officers requisite in this service {illeg}are, 1 A Mint-master & hiswith a Deputy
2 A Smith for forging the Dyes & Puncheons, at
3 A Graver for graving {illeg}& polishing them, at
4 A Moneyer or body of Moneyers for cutting out the Blanks ~ ~ ~ ~ & coining them & taking care of the coining Tools, at
5 A Clerk for entring the proceedings in Books, at
6 Another Clerk (who may be called the Kings Clerk) for doing the like in behalf of the king & his people, & for making a Controllment Roll annually upon Oath.
The Assays may be made by the Moneyer or Smith or any Labourer, & the Copper may be made clean & bright either in barrs bey the Importer or in Blanks by the Moneyer.
Source
MINT 19/2/437, National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, UKMay 1717, c. 484 words.