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

<271r>

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

1 About a month before the triall of the monies in the Pix His Majesty or his Council appoints the time & place for that Triall & names 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.

2 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 the Mystery of Goldsmiths London to return him the names of an able Iury for that Triall. And a Paper is to be delivered to his Lordship conteining the form of the tryall

3. 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 Tryall.

6 In the mean time the Kings 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 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 the Lords & Iury at the Tryall.

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

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

7 On the day of the Tryall the Officers of the Mint cause the Pixes to be brought to the place of trial & placed on a Table before nine in the Morning

About tenn the King if he pleases & Lord Chancellour & other Lords of the Council appointed by his Majesty take their places at the Table aforesaid, the Officers of the Mint Exchequer Officers & Goldsmiths attending and The Pixes by the Officers of the Mint either before the Lords sit down (if they direct it) or after they <217v> are sat.

The Lord Chancellour calls to his Serjeants at Arms for his Warrant for summoning the Iury & appoints the same to be delivered to the Remembrancers Deputy who attends tehre with the copy of the Oath which is in these words.

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 the Lord Chancellour or in his absence the Chancellour of the Exchequer gives the Iury in charge to make triall of the said Gold & silver monies 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 Lord Chancellour appoints the Iury when & where to attend his Lordship with their Veredict & then departs with the rest of the Lords (unless any of them be appointed to see the triall), & the Warden Master & Comptroller & lock up the monies & with the Iury withdraw into another room where they take their places according to the Order at 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 in form themselves fully of the manner of the triall & for that end inspect the Indenture of the Mint delivered to them by the Master & Worker & so proceed to the triall.

This riall is made by weight tale 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 Assaymasters Weighers & Tellers sworn in the room of the Assaymaster & Weigher & Teller of the Ming to try the monies in presence of the Warden Master & Comptroller who as Officers of the Mint are to see that the triall as well as 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 how much the monies prove too feeble or too strong & make a true accompt thereof to his Majesty The King or Lords of the Council appointed by him may be also present. For tis the covenant between the King & Master & Worker that this triall be made publickly before both parties. < text from f 217v resumes > For this trial is appointed by the said Indenture as a part of the business of the Mint

<272r>

The Iury therefore first tell & weigh the monies in the Pix & when any of them have told so much money of Gold or silver as ought to make a pound or a pound & an half or two pound weight they weigh the same & write down the tale & weight thereof & send it to be molten into an Ingott. And when they have told all the rest of the monies they weigh them also & set down the weight & tale of the whole monies of Gold or silver in the Pix & how much money the whole makes in the pound weight.

Then they weight the Ingott & the grains & set down the weight & if the wast be but about 8 or 10 grains in the pound weight they send it to be assayd: but if the wast be too great so that the monies may be suspected to be refined in the melted they melt another parcell of money into an Ingot & send that to be assayed.

The assay being finished are reported in writing in the same form & manner as is done by the Assaymaster in the Mint. And the expressing the weight & tale of all the monies in the Pix & how much they make in the pound weight & that whether they are agreable to standard or to so much better or worse according to that report. And in that mean time the Warden & Comptroller write down how much the monies are too feeble or too strong in weight & allay in order to enter the same of record. Then the Iury draw up & signe their Veredict

At the time appointed by the Lord Chancellour the said Officers of the Mint & Iury attend his Lordship & the Iury present their Veredict to him and the Remembrancers Deputy attends to read it & keeps it when tis read

A Copy of the Oath administred to the Iury

The form of the Veredict of the Iury.

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