'Considerations about the receiving of Scotch money by weight'

Author: Isaac Newton

Source: MINT 19/3/218, National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, UK

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  - 1 January 2001
    - Catalogue information compiled by Rob Iliffe, Peter Spargo & John Young
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    - Transcribed by Will Scott
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<218r>

Considerations about the receiving of Scotch money by weight.

If for every penny weight that any silver is worse then standard there be from sixty & two shillings deducted three pence & the third part of a penny, the remainder will be the value of that silver per pound weight & the twelft part of that remainder will be the value thereof per ounce very nearly.

The Scotch Marks, Half Marks, Two-mark-pieces & Four-mark-pieces (coyned in y^e reign of K. Cha: II by my Lord Hatton who was then General of the Scotch Mint & accused in Parliam^t for coyning the money ill) being lighter & coarser then standard &for that reason {illeg}|c|alled in, cannot now remain in any considerable quantity. The coarsest of those pieces w^ch we have examined are vij^dwt worse then standard & by consequence worth 5^s per ounce. One piece w^th another they may be recconed v^dwt or v^dwt ob worse then standard & by consequence worth about 5^s 0^d $\frac{1}{2}$ per ounce.

The 60, 40, 20, 10 & 5^s pieces coyned in the reigns of K. Iames & K. William (so far as we have examined them) are most of them standard. Some few pieces are j^dwt ij^{dw^t} & iij^dwt worse then standard \but one with another they may be recconed 1^{dw^t} worse/ & by consequence worth about 5^s 1^d $\frac{1}{2}$ $\frac{1}{8}$ per ounce.

Of those coyned in the end of the reign of K. Cha: II I have only examined two sixty shilling pieces & they prove the one iij^{dw^t} the other iiij^{dw^t} worse then standard. At w^ch rate that coyn will be worth about 5^s 1^d per ounce. If it be thought requisite I will enquire for more pieces of that reign & get them examined.

There is also an allowance to be made for so{illeg}|m|e counterfeit money w^ch may be mixed with the genuine Scotch coyn. By this mixture the broad hammered English money has this year proved 1^{dw^t} worse then standard, & the clipt money the last year (when all counterfeit cast m{illeg}|on|ey <218v> was received) proved iij^dwt or iiij^dwt worse. But what allowance may be made for such mixtures {illeg}|i|n the Scotch money & for the charges of recoyning I leave to be considered.