Draft of MINT00470 (Mint 19/3/107-8); Mint 19/3/105-6 dated 7 October 1718

<102r>

May it please yo^r Lord^ps

In obedience to your Lord^ps Order of Reference upon the petition\Memorial/ of the General of the Mint of\in/ Scotland for \impresting upon acc^t/ 2400^li to his Lords^p out of the Coinage Duty as due for the service of the said Mint for the two years ending at Christmas last together with such further summ as your Lord^ps shall judge necessary for bearing the charge of coinage, I humbly represent,
    That \That be the Act of \Coinage Act before the |Act of|/ Vnion the Moneys no alteratio there was to be a Mint in Scotland conformable to the Mint in England, &/ by the Coinage Act {illeg}|w|^ch passed in the first year of his M^ty for continuing the Acts former Acts for encouragement of coinage, your Lord^ps are impoured, out of the moneys arising \in Great Brittain/ by the said Act to cause so much money to be applied issued out of the Mint Exchequer to the Master of the Mint in England & to the General of the Mint in Scotland respectively by way of imprest & upon account for that service as shall be necessary for defraying the expences of the said Mints. /And accordingly 1200\
    That upon this Act\since the nations of this Act/ the summ of 1200^li has been already issued to that Mint the General of that Mint & an Account of w^ch should be certified tp your Lord^ps not as an Annuity due to the Mint but upon a|A|ccount, & thefore {sic} an a|A|ccount thereof should be certified to your Lord^ps in order to know what moneys are to be further imprest to his Lord^p.

That the \standing/ salaries of the Officers \of that Mint/ amount unto 930^li \per an/ |[|{illeg}|be|sides 50^li per an allowed unto the Clerk of the Bullion untill the place h{illeg}|is| place becomes void, he being a superfluous Officer.] And if about 40 or 50^li more be allowed yearly for repairing the Offices & keeping the dwelling houses wind & water title., the whole will be less then 1040^li & the] & therefore if 1000^li per an d towards {illeg}|th|e charges of \coinage & of/ {illeg}|k|ee{illeg}|p|ing the Offices in repair & the dwelling houses wind & water tite, & the ballance of the Account may be paid off after certified into the Treasury annually \in order/ to be paid off. There \{illeg}/ is \also/ a further salary of 50^li per an allowed to the Clerk of the Bullion untill his place becomes void he being an useless officer. And the Indenture of th{e}|a|t Mint became void by the said late Act of Parliament in relation to the Masters Office office {sic} of receiving & paying & accounting.

All which being considered I am humbly of opinio 7amp; that by the Act of Vnion the two Mints ought to be as {illeg} \in England is not altered & the Mint/ in Scotland ought to be conformable to that in England: I am humbly of opinion that out o the money arising by the coinage Act in England be still imprest to the Master & Worker in England of his Maties Mint in the Tower \by a Sign Man/ as before <102v> the Act of union \& in the same manner {illeg}/. And that out of the moneys arising by the coinnage Act in great Britain so much be imprest \|from time to| the sign/ime\ upon acc^t/ {illeg}|fo|r the use & service of his Majesties mint at Edinburgh & upon accou \by a like Sign Manual/ as shall be sufficient|,| for the use 7amp; serviec that Mint & the for the maintenance thereof. A{s} untill\so that/ the whole moneys amount unto the upon the \{do not}/ from time to time up{illeg}|o|n the same sign manual do not exceed a certain summ supose t

The sal{illeg}|a|ries of\i|I|n/ the Mint in Scold|a|nd {sic} \the salaries/ amount only to {illeg}|9|80^li per an whereof 50^li per an is to cease at the death of the late Clerk of the Bullion{illeg}|:| \{illeg}/ & \therefore/ 1200^li per an to that Mint without including the charge of coyn{illeg}|a|ge is too much. If to the {illeg}|2|00^li already in their hands 1800^li more be added to make up the whole summ 3000 for the three years ending at Christmas last & the 1800^li be imprest {in} {illeg} {for} to the said General for the use & service of that Mint in general so that it may be applied|ca||ble| to all sorts of charges: when the Account is made up for the said till Christmas last, & the ballance of the account is certified to your Lord^ps, it will then appear {what} {illeg}|to| your Lord^ps what further summ {illeg}|s|hould be imprest.

The {stan} salaries of that Mint amount unto 980^li per an whereof 50^li per an is allowed to the late C{illeg}|l|erk of the Bullion during lif his life & 50^li per an ha{d}|{s}| been\was/ added to the Wardens place salary {f} a little before the Vnion in consideration of services done to some of the Nobility of Scotland. And when these two fifty poun{illeg}|d|s cease the salaries will amount only to 880^li per annu. And therefore an Annuity of twelve hundred pounds per an \without including the charge of coinage/ is too much.

It may be sufficient at present to add 12|8|00^li more to the 1200^li already imprest, so as to make the whole summ 3000^li \advanced/ for the three years ending at Christmas \last/. And when the Accounts shall be made up for those three years \& a copy thereof sent to your Lord^ps/, the ballance of the Acc^t will make it \will then/ appear what to your Lordps what further summ should be imprest. But I am humbly of opinion that there should be a signe Manual – – – untill a new Indenture shall be made.

And when that Mint shall be to a posture to coine, {illeg}care may be taken that there be always a summ of money lodged in S{illeg} (suppose of one, or\or/ two hundred or three\or three/ hundred pounds,) lodged in the Generals hands for{illeg} bearing the charges thereof, & appropriated to that service; with direction that whenever that summ shall fall short, d|t|he charges of coinage be born out of any other moneys in the Generals hands untill \{illeg}/ the ballance thereof\deficiency can/ be made {illeg}|up|

All w^ch &c

✱ & the charge of repairing keeping the Officers in repair & the dwelling houses wind & waster {illeg}|ti|te can be but small.

And that there may be no more complaints {illeg}|o|f the want of moneys to beare the charges of coynage, the General may have notice t{illeg}|o| pay those charges in the first place & let the deficiency (if there by any) fall upon the {illeg}|s|alaries.

<103r>

– wherein is set for{t}h that pursuant to the Acts of Parliament for coinage the encouragement of coinage, moneys have been issued after the rate of 1200^li per an {illeg} yearly for the service of the Mint in Scotland untill 1^st Decem. 1714. And that by \pursuant to/ an Act in the first session of this present |P.| yo^r Lo^ps are impowered to twl|e|lve hundred pounds more have been issued upon account & 2400^li more for one years service \untill 1^st Decem 1715/ & 2400^li more are due for the two years {endin} for {illeg} ending 1^st December last. I humbly represent that no moneys are due to that Mint by way of an Annuity|.| except the coinage moneys \|[|or annal Rep {illeg}{illeg}e, |[|unless/ which arises yearly in Scotland to \sh{illeg}|o|uld/ be imprest yearly\& paid/ to them \upon account/ by a si{ne}|gn||e| Manual as is done they arise after the \same/ manner that the mo coynage moneys are paid to {them} w^ch are paid to Engl w^ch arise in England are paid |in|to the Mint Master in England as they arise; that both Mints the Act of Vnion appointin ordeining that his Maj^ts Mint in Scotland should be conformable to his Mint in England. And for\then/ what further summs may be wanting for discharging the ballance of the Accounts of the General of that Mint & carying on the servicec thereof {illeg} your Lord^ps are impowed|r|d to order the same to be paid out may by \further/ imprest upon the same sine|gn|e Manual as your Lord by your Lord^ps Orders.

The standing salaries of that Mint amount unto 930^li per an, {&}|b|esides an allowance of 50^li per annum to the Clerk of the Bullion during life or untill he quits it\untill duuring life/. And therefore 1200^li per an without including the charges of coinage, is too much. And that if i|I|t may be sufficient \at present/ to add 1800^li more to the 1200^li allready imprest so as to make the whole summ 3000^li for the three last years ending at Christmass last,|.| untill\And then/ the Accounts shall be made up till that time & the Ballance thereof certified to your Lord^ps. for those three years & your Lord^ps shall be certified how much of the three thousand pounds hath been paid for Salaries & how much for repairs of the Offices & keeping the dwelling houses wind & water tit{illeg}|e|, & what is the ballance of the whole account|]|\& a copy thereof sent to your Lord^ps/: it will then appear to yo^r Lord^ps what {illeg}|fu|rther summs ought to\should be {sic}/ be imprest. But there ought to\should may/ be a signe manual \|now| directed |sent|/ to the General of th{a|e|}|{a}|{t}\t/ Mint \impowering &/ directing him to pay the salaries to whom they shall \|are or| d{illeg}|shall|ing/ due by the Indenture of that Mint, & to pay off Bills of charges duly examined by the {War} Master, Warden & Counterwarden & to make upon his Accounts annually, & directing \in their several Posts to take care that the moneys be duly coined &/ |him &| all the Officers to observe the Rules & Precepts set down in the Indenture of that Mint \(except the alterations made by Parliam^t)/ untill a new Indenture shall be made|.| |[|excepting the alterations which have been made by the late Act of Parliament]

But considering that the General of that Mint is not \yet/ impowered \by th{y}|e| Indenture of that Mint/ to pay any moneys, I am humbly of opinion that there should be a signe Manual sent to him impouring & directing him to pay the salaries & other expences to whom they are or shall become due by the \said/ Indenture of that Mint & to make up his {illeg}|A|ccounts annually, & directing him & all the Officers in their several places to take care that the moneys be well\duly/ coined, & to observ{e} |all| the Rules & Precepts set down in the \said/ Indenture of that Mint (except the alterations made by Parliament) untill a new Indenture shall be made.