10-11)

Author: Isaac Newton

Source: MINT 19/1/106, National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, UK

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- Revision History
  - 1 January 2001
    - Catalogue information compiled by Rob Iliffe, Peter Spargo & John Young
  - 29 September 2011
    - Catalogue exported to teiHeader by Michael Hawkins
  - 14 January 2017
    - Transcribed by Will Scott
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<106r>

The Assaymasters weights are 1, 2, 3, 6, 11, 12 & represent so many ounces. The weight 12 is about 20^gr more or less as he pleases to have his weights made. With this he weighs the silver into the fire. And recconning a wast answering to 2 penny weight he weighs it out of the fire by the weight 11 to see if it be standard & if it be heavier or lighter he adds in the lighter scale penny weight & halfpenny weight to see how much it is better or wors. His scales when cleane turn with the 128^th part of a grain, that is with the 2560^th part of the weight 12 which answers to less than the 10^th part of a penny weight.

⁺ < insertion from lower down f 106r > He cutts off from every Ingot a piece of about a drachm for two assays beats it out into a thin plate, scrapes it clean & cuts it into the ballance &c. In assaying the money he clips a little off from several pieces of money & assays them together. The Assay-drops of the money & of the Pot assay (but not of th{e} ingots) are his fee. He makes ⁺ < text from higher up f 106r resumes > He makes two assays of every Ingot, puts 13 coppeles at once into the furnace uses lead separated from its ☾: of this & ☾ an equal quantity He lets the fire cool gradually till the silvers set least by cooling too quickly the silver spring & the assay thereby make the silver seem wors then it is When the lead is blown off the ☾ looks very bright. The dimensions of the Assay furnace are these

<106v>

The melter runns from 600 to 800^{llw^t} of ☾ in a pot. When the ☾ is molten he puts in the allay. For the 1^st melting including coales & wages of melters & mouldmakers & pots Ladles Ingot molds he is allowed $\frac{3}{4}$ per pound weight. For wast 1 $\frac{1}{4}$ ^d & as much for remelting, the scissel & its wast that is in all 4^d per pound weight. The sweep he has into the bargain & at his own charge makes it up for himself. There is more wast & expence in the scissel then in the ingots in proportion of 4 to 3 or 5 to 4 or thereabouts provided the quantity of silver melted be equ{al} The scissel is to the money made out of it as 7 to 9 or thereabouts & all the ingots melted in the first melting to all the scissel melted afterward as the money made at every melting to the scissel of that money that is as 8 to 7+. There is more wast in money, plate & scissel then in Ingots & more in lincel & sweep then in scissel. For The wast is of the allay evaporating & this evaporation is most when the metal is ready to melt. Hence standard lincel {o}r sweep by melting becomes better 2 or 3 penny weight, & scissel better perhaps $\frac{1}{3}$ penny weight A blast carrys away the fumes of the metall & thereby increases the wast. Therefore the melting pot should be covered close with an iron cover under the flames as well as the fire with a cover over them. The metal once molten fumes {less} & therefore scissel, & perhaps the lincel & sweep should be put into Ingots first molten. For they wast least, when put into molten metal. The

{Hastings} To the

May it please your Lordships

The petition annexed of the Clerks of the Officers of the Tower of London