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Signed by the Mint Board.
Printed in NC, 4: 478-80.
To the R
May it please yo
In obedience to rps
May 31st & Iuly 17th. 1706 upon the annexed proposals of Mr.
Holt & Mr Williams to raise the price of Tin, We humbly
take leave to acquaint rp
made Proposals of the like nature last year for raising the
price of Tin, ch.rpch.
desired a meeting with some of the principal Merchants of the
City trading to the East Indies, who were then of opinion that great
quantity of Tin might be had in the East Indies, & if the price of her
Majesties Tin were raised here, it would encourage the importation of
Tin from thence, & thereby hinder the consumption of English Tin in
Europe. Which opinion of the Merchants We then thought proper to report
to rp
Since rp's.r. Holts proposal, he brought
to us a Dutch Merchant, who informed us that he had been a long time
at Siam, where the only East-India Tin Mines are, & assured us that
those Mines could not
another, then fifty or sixty Tunns rnn
for more Tin then their Mines supplied them with, that the price of
Tin in the Indies was about sixty Gilders rch
& therefore it was never imported by the Dutch but for want of other
commodities for ballast, & that it was scarce used in Europe for
any thing else then glazing earthen ware, being bought up chiefly by
the workmen of Liege for that purpose.
Vpon this information we thought it proper to enquire more fully
into a matter of that consequence, & therefore delayed our report to r.p.t
& writ to Mr Drummond in Holland to enquire into the nature of the
East India Tin, & what quantity their mines might produce.
We therefore now humbly acquaint rp the Dutch Merchant has such a character both here & in
Holland, that we think his credit no ways to be relied on, & that we
have advice from Mr Drummond, that the best East India Tin is
finer then the English, & will beat into a finer leaf without
cracking & draw into threds, like silver & gold, & that the mines in
India are larger then ours. & if we rise up the English Tin above
45 Gilders rch
other places from India, they importing 80 Tunns the last
year, & having imported formerly above 300 Tunns in one
year, & that a high price will also encourage the Germans
to work their mines faster. Which account of Mr Drummond
agreeing so well th.ch.rp
opinion that the price of English Tin cannot be raised
without diminishing the consumption, & hurting the trade
All ch
to rps
I Stanley
Is. Newton
In Ellis
of the Mint upon the
Proposals of Mr. Holt
and Mr. Williams for
rising the Price of
her ts.