'Observations concerning the Mint'

<10r>

Observations concerning the Mint

Of the Assays

The Assaymasters weights are 1, 2, 3, 6, 11, 12 & represent so many ounces. The weight 12 is about \16 or/ 20 ^grains more or less as he pleases to have his weights made. With this he weighs the silver into the fire & recconning a wast answering to two 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 weights & if need be an half penny weight & grains to see how much it is better or wors. His scales turn w^th y^e 128^th part of a grain, that is w^th y^e 2560^th part of y^e weight 12 w^ch answers to less then y^e 10^th part of a penny weight. They are fenced about w^th glass windows to keep them from y^e motion of y^e air & have in them little thin brass platters to take away the weights by w^thout handling the scales.

He cuts off from every Ingot a piece of ab\o/ut a drachm for two assays beats it out into a thin plate, scrapes it clean & cutts it into the ballance &c. In assaying the money he clips a little off from severall pieces of money & assays them together. The Assaydrops of the money & of the pott-assays (but not of the Ingots) are his fee. He makes two assays of every ingot, puts 13 Coppels at once into the furnace uses \the poorest/ lead separated from the ☾\{allay} assayd {or}/ of this & silver {or}{are} {aqua quantity}\& run into bullets. A bullet is/\twice the weight of y^e silver. He foliates a bullet w^th y^e hammer; tears it in two, wrap{s}/ /up the silver in one half, & adds a whole bullet to it, so that the lead is 3 to one\ He lets the fire cool gradually till y^e silver set least by cooling too quickly the silver spring & the assay thereby make the silver seem wors then it is. When y^e lead is blown off the silver looks very bright. The Assay Furnace is of copper plates luted half an inch thick within. It is about 18 inches squar{e} 10 inches high to y^e grate (w^ch is of iron barrs) & about 15 inches above y^e grate. The muffle stands upon y^e grate & y^e coppels are set in w^th a pair of tongues upon the floor of y^e grate through a round hole in y^e side of y^e Furnace w^ch is afterwards filled w^th live charcoal. In a quarter of an hour the lead fume{s} away & the operation is done. The King pays for the muffles coppells & furnaces. Pottern ore is the poorest of silver & \steel ore & other/the poorest sorts {sic} ores are y^e richest in silvers.          commends y^e Lead of Villach as best for Assays because poorest in silver.

<10v>

Of the Melting

The Melter runns from 600 \or 700/ to 800^℔ \& of late 1000^℔/ weight of silver in a pot & melts 3 potts a day in each furnace within the space of about 12 or 14 hours. The first pot is about 5 hours on y^e fire y^e two next about 4 hours a piece. When y^e silver is molten he puts in the allay. For each melting he is allo (including fire, pots, \Hoops/ tongues shovels ladles ingot molds \sand/ & wages of melters & mould makers) he is allowed three farthings per pound weight & for wast five farthings & as much for melting the scissel & for its wast, that is in all 4^d per lbwt\(vizt 2^d for {bullion} Ingots & 2^d for y^e scissel Formerly he had only 3$\frac{1}{2}$ per lwt for ☾ & 1^s 1^d per lwt for ☉/. The sweep he has into y^e bargain & makes it up for himself at his own charges. A pot \for 8{{illeg}|00|}/ weighs about 500^℔wt & cost 20^d per ℔, and lasts about a month or six weeks {illeg}|or| {seven times} two months {illeg} above, that is if they be very good more or less that is about 120 meltings so that pots cost about $\frac{1}{8}$^d per lbwt of silver melted in them & if hoops \ingots molds/ & other utensils \{illeg}& {a} {saved}/ be added they cost less then $\frac{1}{6}$^d per ℔wt. A pot in three meltings each day spends spends about 25 {stacks}\bushalls/ of coales per diem, & imploys about 10 men \at 20^d. per diem each/ in making molds. {feeding}\looking to/ the fire & \filling &/ ladling out the potts. \The mens wages & coals at 6^d per Bushel to $\frac{1}{6}$ ꝑ ℔wt or something less./ The sweep amounts to &         & the charge of making it up to             per lwt. And the coales at 6^d per Bushel to about $\frac{1}{16}$ of a penny {illeg}|per| lwt. The Pots shrink in the fire by long use so that a Pott w^ch when new holds 800^lwt, when it has been used a month or six weeks will hold but 700 or 650^lwt, or perhaps less.

The Scissel if the Pot is crouded full & well charged a 2^d & 3^d time wasts as little (or w^thout a sensible difference) as if it be filled w^th Ingots, & the three meltings (if the pot be not quite so full) are done in y^e same time or within a little.

The hammered money was melted last year \at y^e Exchequer with a blast in small/ in potts of 50^℔ weight a piece, 75^℔{w} weight of money in a pott, about 162 pot fulls each day. The potts cost 8 pence a pound & last about 30 \or 35/ meltings a pieceor potfulls a piece. So that y^e potts cost $\frac{1}{6}$ of a penny per lwt of silver melted in them. But y^e blast makes quicker dispatch this way with perhaps less then half y^e expence of fire then in y^e other way w^th great pots. The little pots are best for coarse silver to be refined, the great ones for standard silver because they alter the fineness least & make least wast for the melter. M^r Floyer & M^r Shales were payd $\frac{3}{4}$^d per lwt for melting \at y^e Excheq^r this Winter/ besides potts (w^ch {came} to weighed about 50^℔ per pott, cost 8^d per ℔ of iron {illeg}{&}\or/ $\frac{1}{7}$^d per lbwt of money melted in them) & Refitting of Ingots Mittens for workmen, earthen potts, sandover, baskets cartage of potts &c (w^ch cost about w^ch cost about $\frac{1}{70}$ of a penny \per lwt/ or $\frac{1}{10}$^th of y^e potts) but the potts &c should{illeg} be included in y^e $\frac{3}{4}$^d for melting. Every pot each <11r> day takes up a bushel of coals \or above/ in the first melting \{at} each mor{ning}/ & half a bushel or less in y^e rest, that is about $\frac{7}{12}$ o{f}\a bushel/ {ea}{at ea}ch melting at a mean rate, that {illeg}is if coale \be 6d a/ {bush}el, about $\frac{1}{20}$^th of a penny per lwt. The wast {at}\the first/ melting of hammered money w^th the blast in these little potts is recconn{ed} at 2^d (or $\frac{2}{3}$ ^dwt) per lwt, the sweep being allowed for in this recconning & estimated at a farthing per lwt. The Plate taken in at Chester last May proved generally about 5^dwt or 6^dwt \(per lwt)/ worse then standard (by reason of the soader) with a wast of about 5 ounces per C^wt or 1^dwt per lwt

Of the making the Moneys

Sixteen ounces Troy of sixpenny Blanks were blancht in 6 minutes & lost of their weight in blanching the first experim^t 8^gr the next 10^gr y^e next 7^gr the next 9^gr \& at a second blanching for 7 minutes of time one grain more/ at a middle recconning \they lost at one blanching/ 8$\frac{1}{2}$ gr. Whence a pound Troy loses about 6$\frac{1}{3}$ gr. & a pound Troy of crown blancks 3^gr of $\frac{1}{2}$ crown blancks 4^gr & of shilling blancks 5^gr. By experim^t I found that a pound Troy of $\frac{1}{2}$ crown blancks lost 3$\frac{1}{2}$ gr.

A sixpenny barr weighing 16 ounces Troy lost in Nealing three times, got 3 grains in weight y^e first time, lost $\frac{1}{2}$ a grain y^e second time & got 1$\frac{1}{2}$ grain the third time, that is in all the three nealings it grew heavier by 4 grains. A shilling barr of 15 ounces Troy in one nealing grew heavier by 1$\frac{1}{2}$ grain. So that Nealing increases y^e weight of a \shilling/ barr of a pound weight Troy by about 1^gr or 1$\frac{1}{4}$^gr & of a sixpenny barr by about 1$\frac{1}{2}$ or 2^gr. And Nealing & blanching together decrease the weight of a pound weight of sixpenny blancks by about 5^gr, of shilling blancks by 4^gr, of $\frac{1}{2}$ crown blancks 3^gr of crown blancks 2$\frac{1}{3}$ gr. And if the sixpenny, twelvepenny, half crown & crown blancks be taken in common in y^e proportion of 1, 4, 3, 2 the nealing & blanching together decrease the weight of a lwt by $\frac{\mathrm{5\; +\; 16\; +\; 9\; +\; 4}\frac{2}{3}}{10}$ $\frac{34\frac{2}{3}}{10}$ or 3$\frac{1}{2}$^gr. If the blancks be not well nealed they will not blanch well.

The Moneyers melt their limel per se without any mixture to make it run & in melting it grows better 2^dwt 3^dwt or 4^dwt & loses 1, 2 or 3 lwt of its weight The limel is not above the $\frac{1}{100}$^th part of y^e money. And if the loss in the limel be $\frac{1}{80}$^th part thereof by scattering & $\frac{1}{80}$^th by melting, the wast by the limel will be $\frac{1}{4000}$^th of the money that is $\frac{3}{16}$ of a penny per lwt

<11v>

There is also a wast in the milling by the dripping off of sand \with some particles/ which of silver & in the nealing by some blanks falling out of \the pan upon/ the hearth & lying there till they be half consumed by {the} \fire and in shreds/ {illeg} of silver scattered up & down the rooms & lost in y^e {dus}t or by sticking to the workmens shoes: all w^ch cannot amount to $\frac{1}{4}$ of a penny per lwt. So that the whole wast in the making of the moneys by the Moneyers comes not to 1^d per lwt.

Two Mills with 4 Millers, 12 horses \two Horskeepers/, 3 c|C|utters, 2 Flatters, {illeg}|8| sizers One Nealer, o{n} thre {sic} Blanchers, two Markers, two Presses with two feeders & fourteen labourers the {illeg} to pull at them & some Moneyers to weigh the silver & inspect the several parts of the work can coyn after the rate of 3000^℔ a thousand weight or 3000^℔ of money per diem And if for the horses & men\labourers/ one with another be allowed after y^e rates of 22^d per diem it comes to {illeg}about 6^℔ per diem & to Moneyers after the rate {of} 10^s per diem it comes to about 10^℔ per diem it comes to about 3^℔ per diem, that is {illeg} three farthings per diem lwt.

So that the whole charge of coynage besides the allowance to the moneyers for their hazzard & pains comes only to about 1^d$\frac{1}{2}$$\frac{1}{8}$.