<268r>

My Lord {sic}

The Copper Ore wch I received of yor Lordp to be assayed yeilds only          of silve{illeg}|r| in the pound weight Averdupois. It is therefore a different sort of Ore from that wch yeilded the silver, wch yor Lordp gave me to be assayed.

A pound weight (Averpois) of the|a|t Ore yielded not fi{illeg}|f|teen pence but fifteen penny weight & some grains of silver [wch upon the Assay proved \not xdwt ob but/ xviidwt better then standard & therefore is worth four shillings & two pence.]

|And| A piece cut off \from the silver/ & flatted & carried \sent/ to the Mint \by my Lord Mayor/ to be assayed had some black dirt sticking \fast/ to it, wch made the Assay prove \only/ xdwt ob better, but by two assays of cleane{r} pieces since made by my order {si}the silver proves xviidwt better; A|a|nd fifteen penny weight of such silver is worth 4s 2d four shillings & two pence. And therefore a pound weight of the true Ore yields 4s 2d in silver.

To the Rt Honble {illeg} my Lord Viscount Townshend Principal Secretary of State.

My Lord

I understand that The silver wch your Lordship gave me to be assayed, {illeg} was produced out of a pound weight Averdupois of Ore & weighed f not fifteen pence but fifteen penny weight & some grains when it first came out of the Ore. It had some dirt sticking to ye bottom \of it/ & a piece cutt off & flatted with the dirt & sent by my Lord Mayor to the Mint to be assayed, proved \only/ xdwt ob better then standard, because\because/ the Assay was\being was/ spoiled by the dirt wch stuck fast to the assay piece. For b|B|y two assays {cut} off\wch I caused to be made/ of clean pieces cut off from it\the silver/, it proved xviidwt better then standard. {illeg}|No|w fifteen penny weight of such \fine/ silver is work four shillings & two pence. And therefore according to ye information given to my Ld Mayor \of London/ the Ore is exceedingly rich, a pound weight averdupois holding 4s 2d in silver.\This silver holds no gold/

But the Copper\Two ounces of the Troy of the of theTroy of the/ o|O|re wch your Lordp gave me to be assayed seems to be of another sort of Ore yeilded upon the first melting three penny weight of silver wch upon the Assay proved{illeg} two penny weight worse then standard, & therefore was worth 9d14, & after this rate a pound \weight/ averdupois of the Ore produces 22 penny wt\weight/ of silver \wch is/ worth about 5s 7d.

An ounce Troy of the same Ore yeilded upon the first melting 1dwt ob 12gr & this being melted again wth a convenient flux pounder there remained only\left/ 1dwt & 10{illeg}|0|gr \of fine silver/, & after a third melting there remained 1dwt wanting 4gr, some of the silver being lost among the scorias. This last silver upon the Assay proved xiijdwt better then standard.

This silver holds no gold\The Ore holds little or no copper. It is silver Ore, but where it grows doth not yet appear to me./

All wch is submitted to yor Lordps consideration

Is. Newton

An acct of the ore taken out of Sr Iohn Erskin's mine

© 2024 The Newton Project

Professor Rob Iliffe
Director, AHRC Newton Papers Project

Scott Mandelbrote,
Fellow & Perne librarian, Peterhouse, Cambridge

Faculty of History, George Street, Oxford, OX1 2RL - newtonproject@history.ox.ac.uk

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