'Directions about the Triall of the monies of Gold & Silver in the Pix'

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Directions about the Triall of the monies of Gold & Silver in the Pix.

About a month before the triall of the monies in the Pix his Majesty or his Council appoints the time & place for that Triall and names (if he pleases) the Lords of the Council before whom it shall be made & notice thereof is sent to the Lord High Chancellour & Lord High Treasurer of England & from the Treasury to the Officers of the Exchequer & Mint.

The Lord Chancellour presently after this Order is to be waited on by the Officers of the Mint to send his Letter to the Wardens & Company of Goldsmiths to return him the names of an able Iury for that Triall and a paper is to be delivered to his Lordship containing the form of the triall.

The return of the names being made to his Lordship he sends his Warrant by his Serjeant at Arms or Serjeants Deputy to summon the Iury by their names to meet at the place & time appointed for the triall.

The Chancellour of the Exchequer is also to be attended about a dinner for the Iury. The place has usually been at the Dogg Tavern in the Palace yard.

The Lord High Treasurer or Chancellour of the Exchequer sends an order for the Standard Troy weights & the Indented Tryall peices of his Majestys crown gold Monies & standard silver monies kept in the Treasury of the Exchequer to be delivered upon the day of the Triall for the use of the Iury

In the mean time the King's, Warden's, Master's & 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 tale of all the monies in the present Pix & when their extracts are all compared & agreed 40 or 50 Copies thereof are written fair to be distributed to the Lords & Iury at the Triall

On the day of the Triall the Officers of the Mint cause the Pixes to be brought before nine in the morning & placed on a Table where the Lords are to sit.

About tenn the King if he pleases & Lord Chancellour & other Lords of the Council take their places at the Table aforesaid, the Officers of the Mint Exchequer Officers & Goldsmiths attending: and the Pixes <228v> are opened by the Officers of the Mint either before the Lords sit down (if they direct it) or after they are sat.

The Lord Chancellour calls to his Serjeant at Arms for his Warrant for summoning the Iury & appoints the same to be delivered to the Remembrancer's Deputy who attends there with the copy of their Oath.

The gold & silver monies in the Pixes being poured on the Table the Lord Chancellour causeth the said Oath to be administred to the Iury.

The Standard Troy weights & the Indented Tryall pieces of his Majestys Crown Gold & standard silver monies kept in the Treasury of the Exchequer being delivered for the use of the Iury, the Lord Chancellour gives the Iury in charge to make triall of the said Gold & Silver money by the said standards of his Majestys Treasury according to the 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 the Lord Chancellour the Chancellour of the Exchequer administers the Oath & gives the charge

The Charge being given the Lord Chancellour appoints the Iury when & where to attend his Lordship with their Verdict & then departs with the rest of the Lords unless any of them be appointed to see the Assays. And the Warden Master & Comptroller lock up the monies & with the Iury withdraw into another room where they take their places according to the order of the Mint for trying the monies.

The Officers of the Mint examin the Indented Triall pieces of the Exchequer by the like triall pieces of the Mint in the Wardens custody & the Iury doth the same by the Triall pieces of the Company of Goldsmiths. They also inform themselves about the triall & for that end inspect the Indenture of the Mint delivered to them by the Master & Worker & so proceed to the triall.

This triall is made by weight fire & water after the same manner as is done in the Mint at the Pixing of the Monies before deliverance the Jury being the Kings Assay masters Weighers & Tellers sworn in the room of the Assaymaster Weigher & Teller of the Mint to try the monies according to the rules in the Indenture & by consequence in presence of the Warden Master & Comptroller who as Officers of the Mint are to see that this triall as well as those made in the Mint be duly performed & the Warden & Comptroller or their Deputies are to enter of Record how much the monies prove too feeble or too strong & make a true accompt thereof to his Majesty.

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The Pix being opened the Jury tells & weighs all the money therein (Gold & Silver apart) & reccon how much it makes in the pound weight. And when they have told out of every species of Gold or Silver monies so much as should make a pound or a pound & an half or two pound weight they weigh it & melt it into an Ingot & weigh the Ingot & the grains & if the wast exceed not 8 or 10 grains in the pound weight they assay it, but if the wast be too great they tell out other money & melt that into an Ingot & assay it, & the Assaymaster reports the Assay in the same manner as is done in the Mint.

Then the Iury draw up & signe their Verdict expressing the weight & Tale of all the monies in the Pix & how much they make in the pound weight & that they are agreeable to standard or better or worse according to the report.

At the time appointed by the Lord Chancellour the said Officers of the Mint & Iury attend his Lordship, & the Jury presenting their Verdict to him the Remembrancers Deputy attends to read it & keeps it when tis read, & enters it of record for the Warden & Comptroller who are to make