Response to the criticisms made by Jones and Essington of the new copper issue

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To the R^t Hon^ble the Lords Comm^ers of his Ma^ts Treasury the Memorial of S^r Isaac Newton most humbly sheweth

That Cours copper \when made read hot/ will not spread under the hammer when made red but flyes in pieces. And that in refining it, so soon as it begins to spread under the hammer when made {illeg}red hot. {illeg}|, it| get begins to be called fine copper, & then it is worth about 13^d per lw^t, & when it is fine enough to beare the hammers great hammers of the battering mills, it is reputed {very} fine copper |& equal in finenes| free from all mixtures & is then valued at about 14^d$\frac{1}{2}$ per lw^t. And of \about/ this degree of fineness is the was the copper money coined in the reign of King Charles II, [And the complaint made the last winter by M^r Iones & M^r Essington & their partners was only the copper money then coined {were} was not so fine by two pence in the pound weight.] w^ch was\it being/ of Swedish copper manufactured into blanks in Sweden. And of the about the same degree of fineness was is all such copper as with\being made red hot will then/ spread /very\ thin under the {hammer} hand hammer upon an anvill without cracking The fir[To beate it as thin as a leafe under an hand hand hammer is a Trial as great as to beat it as thin as a shilling under the great hammer of the battering mills.] And this {illeg} assay by\And this essay by/ |[|The hand hammer is established by his Ma^ts warrant to {illeg} And the money hither coined by {Rule} be|y| w^ch by|e| the Rule by w^ch all the copper received into the Mint & all the money coined out of it was to be assayed, & has been assayed & by which the Copper Pix is to be tried.]|And by his Maties Warrant the money ought to be of this degree of fineness| Copper may be refined to a much higher degree so as to be worth 2^s or 2^s 6^d per lw^t or above. But such copper is of little use except for the wire drawers trade\making wire or leafe copper// & there is no certain assay \or rule yet known/ by w^ch the fineness of it may be {illeg}{t}ed ascertained |& the highest degre to w^ch it may be refined is not yet known| {illeg} And as t|T|here have been blanks made of much fined copper then the money by people not imployed \by me/ & stamped in the Mint without my knowledge & then polished to give them a more beautifull gloss & shewn about to \deceive people &/ bring the money into discredit, & brockage |hath also been| picked out of the money & shewn about a parcel of money received from the Mint, {or}\&/ there may have been blanks of very coarse copper carried to the Mint & there stamped without my knowledge, or otherwise counterfeited, & mixed with the brockage. The goodnes of copper cannot be known by the looks alone. It must be assayed. The redress of the colour By the colour & grain in breaking\of the copper when it is newly broken/ some judgment may be made by a skilful person: but the surest trial is by the malleability \of the copper/ hot & cold. And therefore this was made the assay of standard copper by his Ma^ts Warrant, & by this assay the Pix is want to be tried of what has been coined is to be tried|.| by the same warrant