Defence of the present coinage and of the tender accepted against the printed complaint of the disappointed tenderers and three letters of Richard Jones. Newton has accepted not the cheapest tender but the most reliable one
Whereas a printed paper has been delivered at the door of the Honourable House of Commons on behalf of the Petitioners for furnishing the Mint with manufactured copper were rejected some of which were Mr Tho. Chambers, Mr Geo Clark, Mr John Essington, Mr Henry Robinson, Collonel Parker, Mr Rich Iones, Mr Wood, Mr Holloway, & Mr Pye complaining coarseness of the copper money now coined, these are to certify that in the reign of King Charles II the Copper was manufactured in swedeland excepting the stamping; that the Copper now coined {b}eares the assay required & that this is the best assay which can be had in the Mint: that Mr Chambers, Mr Clark, Mr Essington, Mr Robinson &c are {p}artners & one of them insisted upon assaying his own Copper, another made a Proposal by which they would have had 22 per po{ound} weight for {t}hat which is now done for {illeg}
Two Letters written {by} Mr Richard Iones to Members of Parliament being published last Sessions at the door of the House of Commons, relating to the coinage of copper money, & a third Letter to a member of Parliament being published on Saturday {las}t in the same manner in which the two formers Letters are cited as written by an author of note, whose advice the House of Commons should have followed & complaint being made in this Letter that the new copper coin is very defective, & the metal very base & inferior to the copper money coined, the {trial} being less value by two pence in each pound weight & that his Majestys Officers have made a contract which has hitherto been performed scandalously, all which will be made appear if the Honourable House of Commons shall please to appoint Committee who shall send for & examin the P{er}sons who delived in Proposals to the Treasury some of which are Mr Tho Chambers, Mr Geo. Clark, Mr John Essington, Mr Henry Robinson, Collonel Par{k}er Mr Richard Iones above mentioned, Mr Wood, Mr Holloway & Mr Pye, several of whom proposed that the farthings & Halfe pence coined in King Charles time should be the standard of the metal & that in six months time there has been but three tons of copper delivered into the Mint tho the people are in great want of Copper money: in answer to all this {it} is represented that the Copper money coined in the reign of King Charles was of Swedish Copper manufactured into blanks in Swedeland where the copper & workmanship is cheaper then in England, that no finer Copper was proposed by any of the persons above mentioned then that which will spread red hot under the great hammers of the battering mills till it be as thin as the half pence & farthings & that such copper is accounted as fine as King Charles's money, that the copper now brought into the Mint is assayed by battering it both red hot & cold till it be as thin as paper, & no better assay can be had in the Mint. that Copper which beares this assay is not inferior to the Copper which beares the assay of the battering Mill or not above a farthing in the {pou}nd weight inferior to it, that the working of Copper into barrs of due size & fineness for making of money is manufacture not yet practised in England & therefore not yet ripe for a contract that Mr Chambers, Mr Essington & Mr Robinson & (I think) Mr Clark are partners & some of them proposed to do it by the battering mills first at 22 d & afterwards at 19d per Lwt, Mr Holloway proposed to do it by the battering mill at a rate amounting to about 19d per Lwt & Mr Jones at 18d. Those that now supply the Mint with copper do it at 18d per poundweight. Mr Pye in the name of Mr Neale Marchant & Company proposed to deliver copper in barrs which would stand the assay at 17d, but could not under take the flatting & drawing thru the mill to a proper size, & nealing & scouring at that rate. Mr Wood proposed to deliver Plates of fine rolled Copper fit for the Mint at {17}d per poundweight but being absent in the country his son appeared for him at the Mint & went away again without speaking with the officers of the Mint about his fathers Proposal. Mr Parker is partnered with Mr Wood & these two have not since offered to be imployed without entring into a contrac{t.} The persons now imploying do not act upon a contract. They are only upon tryal, & if they do not make good their Proposals, they may be laid aside at any time. To make the Embosments & Puncheons & take off some Dyes from them was a work of four months or above. Since that time they have begun to bring Copper into the Mint & have made trials of several methods of manufacturing it, & are still making further trials, & if it had not been for the importunity of the people, no money would have been delivered till these trials had been over & the best method fixed upon. And now if any of the Petitioners or any other worker in Copper will for a trial furnish the Mint with a Ton or two of Copper monthly well sized & scoured & which shall beare the assay now used in the Mint at 18d per poundweight or under, he shall meet with encouragement suitable to the goodness of the workmanship & the lowness of the price. But it is not reasonable that the persons whose Proposals have been rejected should be witnesses in their own cause.
that the Proposers here mentioned cannot be witnesses in their own cause but recourse must be had to the assays of the copper — that within these five years copper is risen 3d in the pound weight & the manufacture is now dearer in England then 40 years ago in Swedeland & yeta pound weight which in the reign of King Charles was cut into 20d is now cut into no more then 23d .
