Draft of MINT00633 (Mint 19/2/356)

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

May it please yoer Lordps

1 In obedience to yoer Lordps verbal Order that I should lay before your Lordships a Proposal Memorial for coyning Copper Money: I humbly represent that the Copper be imported into a Mint by weight in clean barrs nealed & of a due fineness & size for cutting out of them Blanks of such a weight as his Majts. shall appoint; that the fineness be such that the Barrs when heated red hot will spread thin under the hammer without cracking; that the scissel be delivered back to the Importer by weight, & the Importer be paid for the excess of the Copper imported above the Scissel returned back, after the rate of              per pound weight averdupois; that it be in the power of the Mint-Master to refuse such copper as doth not bear the assay or is not well sized nealed & cleaned; that when a parcel of copy money suppose half one Tunna Tunn or {illeg}two, Tunns is coyned the same be well cleaned mixed by shoveling it forwards & backwards in a heap before sufficient witnesses, & then assayed before them in four or five distant places & the assayes entred in Books & the tale of the heap estimated by taking a medium of all the assays; & the money then put into baggs by weight to be delivered to the people, & the weight & price of the baggs entred in books, & the weight of three or four pence allowed in every quarter of an hundred weight for turning the scales & preventing clamourscomplaints about the weight & tale; And out of every heap assayed four or five pieces may be put into a Box & kept to be examined at the end of the year before whom your Lordps shall appoint; & a Remedy of about half a penny in the pound weight allowed for accidental errors. And the Mint-master may accoount annually to the King.out of the produce of the coynage as fast as it shall arise to pay for the copper imported after the rates aforesaid & be discharged upon taking back his Notes, & to pay also for the repairs ofputting the buildings & coyning tools into repair at the first setting up of the coynage & for such new tools & other things as shall be wanting & account annually to the King.

The Officers reuqisite in this service are, A Mint-master with a Deputy. A Smith to forge the Dyes & Puncheons. A Graver for graving them & polishing them. A Moneyer or Body of Moneyers for cutting out the Blanks & coyning them & taking care of the coyning Tools & keeping them in repair.. A Clerk for seeing the moneys assayed & weighed & entring the proceedings in Books. Another Clerk (who may be called the Kings Clerk) for doing the like in behalf of the King, & for making a Controllment Roll upon oath. And an Auditor for examing the Account. The assays may be made by the Moneyer or Smith or any labourer.; & the barrs & scissel weighed by the Moneyer & the Agent of the Importer together.

If the barrs be not nealed & cleaned by the Importer, the blanks may be nealed & cleaned by the Moneyer.

All which is most humbly submitted to yoer Lordps great wisdome.

Mint Office. May     1717.                          Is. Newton