State of the Mint when the grand Coynage began in 1696

<69r>

State of the Mint when the grand Coynage began in 1696.

The place of Master and Worker in the Mint had always been a station of great trust, for his office makes him a kind of Treasurer for the King, and the subject too, from both which he receives, and to whome respectively he is accountable for all silver and gold imported: and for this reason he ought to be a person of unexceptionable character and circumstances. Thomas Neale Esq^re. a Gentleman well known to the world, was in possession of this trust at the begining of the late \grand/ Coynage: and his thoughts bee|i|ng engaged in projecting ways and means for the Publick and himself; and it being likely that he would be, as he afterwards was for some months charg'd by Indentures with the King, with 6 or 7 hundred thousand pounds sterling, and for a time \with/ above one million; these considerations made it necessary to appoint him a sufficient and well qualifyed assistant.

The Gentleman pitcht upon by the The Treasury for this service was Thomas Hall Esq^re. now one of the Comiss.^rs of her Majesties Customs, who had acted as Kings chief Clerk for many years in the Mint. By the Kings Warrant dated the 26 February 1695 he had full power to inspect all the offices and officers Books and Accounts and to doe whatever <69v> he might think proper in that service.

Iust before the coynage began M^r. Neale employ'd one M^r. Iohn Fauquier to receive and issue all the silver and gold Cash at the Mint; who during the Recoynage gave good proofs of his diligence, for he received all the Ingots proceeding from the clip|'|t|d| and hammer'd monys, and from plate and Bullion: and about two Millions of hammerd monys in specie, and he issued all the new monys paid out at the Mint which amounted to about 5 Millions sterl^g.

Besides this Gentleman there were but 3 supernumaries employ'd in the accompting office viz^t. a Coppying Clerk and one M^r. Iohn Parsons, the most accurate accomptant in the Kingdom; and a 3^d. who was employd to instruct the officers and Clerks who acted in the 5 Country Mints, and to supervise all the accompts and books of the 6 Mints. So that there was the greatest frugallity at the Mint in carrying on this important work that could be contrived,|.| for the yearly allowance for all the settled sallarys and Incidents in the Mint is no more than 3000^£. by the Coynage Act; and the King was at no further expence on this occasion in any extraordinary sallarys in the Accompting office, than 600^L. p^r. an. payd M^r. Hall for himself and two Clerk{s}|s| |2 years.| all the other additionall salarys were advanc'd out of M^r <70r> Neal's poundage for coyning by a speciall warrant of the Treasury dated 18^th. March 169$\frac{5}{6}$ requiring him to pay dureing the Recoynage the following allowances

Thus the Accompting office was established at and soon after the begining of the Grand Coynage but the Mechanicall offices of the Mint, as the Melting House, and Mill and press rooms were out of repair, and too scanty for the businesse that was very great and required the utmost dispatch.

The Lords of the Treasury, who had before directed one M^r. Packer to provide a Melting roome and other conveniencies at the Exchequer for telling and melting down the clipd monys into Ingots, and for assaying the Ingots that proceeded there from, the charge wereof amounted to 719^L. 1^s. 1^d:$\frac{3}{4}$. They came afterwards so the Tower, and viewed the severall offices and work-houses in the Mint, and finding 'em not <70v> sufficient for the service, directed a new melting house and Mill Room to be erected, in a place called the Irish Mint, and other convenienc|t|ys repaird,|s,| and additions to be made in the old workhouses, the care and oversight whereof was chiefly left to M^r. Hall. At the begining we ehad no more than one Furnace in the silver Melting house; and 2 new one's were set up in the same melting house enlarg'd, and 2 more in a new melting house in the Irish Mint. In the Monnyers Quarter, there were only 2 Mills which were afterwards increased to ten. And more presses were provided in a convenient number, so that wee had 1 for the coyning of Crown pieces, 2 for $\frac{1}{2}$ Crowns, and 6 for shillings and six pences, besides others in an adjoyning roome for Copper Coins which ere us'd sometimes for dispatch of the silver.

Whilst these necessary preparations were making in the Mint, the Workmen and Artificers emply'd therein were in great streights for mony to answer their necessary occasions, {illeg}|&| satisfie their Creditors who had trusted 'em with all sorts of materialls to a good value, and began to press for mony: this was a s|h|ardship upon both, which the officers knew not how to remedy; for the Government at this time wanted it as much as any privat subject.   The Officers, that no stop might be putt to the work, which would <71r> have prov'd of very ill Consequence to the whole Kingdom, promis'd the workmen to take care of 'em, and gett 'em a supply and encourag'd 'em to dispatch their work, the new buildings, and necessary Reparations; which they did, \thô/ not without great Complaints of their want of mony & creditt too.

When the Coynage began, wee lookd forward, and saw a vast sum of the whole silver running Cash of England coming from all parts of the Nation, in every branch of y^e. Kings revenue and draining the Country of s|t|heir stock in trade and Exchange, which made the people very uneasy, and the Government too: the old clip'd mony in Ingots flow'd into the Mint from the Exchequer by 2 or 3 hundred thousand pounds per warrant, where it must have continued a long time uncoyn'd; and the people and y^e. Government must have been at a stand in all publick and privat business, unlesse wee could coyn with greater speed, than wee ever had don, or believ'd wee could doe. About 15000^£ in one week was formerly the greatest summ remembred to be coynd in that time: and when 30 or 40 thousand pounds was first mentioned by y^e. Lords of the Treasury as the least summ wee must propose to coyn weekly, it was look'd upon as a thing impossible, even or|by| some officers in the Mint.

<71v>

But the publick necessitys and the pressing & repeated orders of the Lords of the Treasury inspired us all with an extraordinary zeal and diligence. And the number of our Mills and presses \w.^th other necessarys/ being increasd, in a {illeg}|fe|w weeks wee found it no hard task to coyn 50000^L. in 6 days time, and by the begining of May the Mint was in so good a posture that the Lords of the Treasury thought fitt on y^e. 12 to order the Monnyers to employ more hands in their part of the coynage, and that the Melter s{illeg}|hould| cast so much silver into barrs as would produce 65000^L. a week in new monys; and that nothing might be wanting for the dispatch of business, they further directed more working tools us'd in the coyning, should be immediatly provided. All which was don accordingly.|.| \And besides/ The melter encreased the number of his servants and labourers to about 70. And the Monnyers theirs to above 200. Whereupon the Coynage advanc'd in a short time to between 80 and 100 thousand pounds a week.

From the distances in time between every single motion of the Flyes at the severall presses M^r. Newton made a Computation of the quantity that might be coyn'd in a day, and he found that each press might coyn in a minute between 50 and 55 pieces. When the motion was <72r> not interrupted by settling or exchanging the Dyes or other accidents which usually took up neer $\frac{1}{2}$ the time, and Consequently the Crown press might coyn in one day between 6 and 7000^L. Sterling; The half crown presse above 3000^L. The shilling press above 1200^L. and the 6 penny Press above 600^L. And the like observation was made of the Mills and working Engines whereby he could judge of the workmens diligence and compute what summs the presses might coin weekly. |For| T|W|here|e|by it appeard, that allowing for all accidents and hindrance, and supposing 8 hours in a day were spent in the work without intermission, the 9 Presses would coyn as follows

|1.| The Crown Presses. 6000^L+

|2.|Half a|=|Crown Presses 6000+

|3.|Shilling Presses . . 3600+

|4 3| Six penny Presses 1800+

which is 17400^£. in one day; and as a greater sum̄ was coynd when one or two of the shilling Presses were sett to coyn $\frac{1}{2}$ Crowns; and \y^e/ sixpence|ny||-|Presses employd in coyning shillings, which was often done.

Our Method in the begining in short was this, The officers and offices and Conveniencys being settled as before; The Exchequer furnished our Essay office with a Constant supply of Ingots, so that <72v> the Assay Master had a constant stock for some months of about 300 Ingots in his office at one time. He for his part took care to gett ready in the morning, and afternoon, between 80 and 100 Ingotts assay'd, except on such days as scissel hapned to be a great part of the melting of the day, one of the Masters Clerks was wholy employd in setting out those Ingotts in a convenient number for the melting potts which generally held between 9|8|00 and {10}|9|00^£wt. Troy, of silver, He pick'd and sorted the Ingotts as is usuall by the quantity of fineness and coarseness in the rateings of each of them. Two or 3 Potts of between 8|7| or|&| 9|8|00 weight each were constantly deliver'd to the melter at night, to be melted early the next morning; when four or 5 and sometimes more were deliverd to compleat the charge of that day, which usually amounted in Ingotts and Scissel to between {8}|9| or |10|9|0|00|.|{illeg}^Lwt every day, and sometimes to more in the height of the coynage. Such a melting produced, in clean barrs fitt for the Mill, neer the same weight; unless a pott hapned to run, or the Mettall was overheated: about 4500.^Lwt of those barrs were cutt into blan{e}|c|s for the severall species of our Coin: which being annealed, flattned, assiz'd, blanch'd, and stampt at the Presses by the Monneyers produc'd in mony passable by y^e. Indenture of the Mint, about 13500^L per diem: and a larger melting <73r> produced a greater summ in the like proportion.

To prevent any mistakes in the Assays, which were made in hast, whilst the silver came so fast upon the Mint Assay master from the Exchequer, and from privat Importers; the Lords of the Treasury had directed by a Letter dated 6.^th March –9$\frac{5}{6}$ that when Assays in the Mint differd from Assays made at the Exchequer 2^d.^wt in any Ingots, that they should be reassay'd by the King's assaymaster at the Mint before \one/ M^r. Bowles who made the first Assay at the Exchequer. This direction of the Lords was highly necessary in a crowd of business, dayly increasing upon our hands; for an errour of 2 or 3^d.^wt in the Assay amounts upon an Ingot of 74^Lwt; s most of the Ingots weighed, to between 40 & 50^s. sterling. Yet notwithstanding the great hurry in the business, The Assay Master at the Mint took such care that no mistake ha\p/pen'd.

Besides the care taken by the Lords of the Treasury to putt the Mint in a readinesse, and to hasten and encrease the weekly coynage, they took further care to make the Expences of rece|o|iv|n|i{rs}|n||g| as might be. On the 18^th. March their Lordships signed a warrant to allow the Melter of the Mint 3.^q p^r. L^wt. for his melting, and 12^d p^r. L.^wt for refineing to 15^{s}|{d}|.$\frac{1}{2}$^Lwt. better \than standard,/ any <73v> of the coarsest silver necessary to be refined, to reduce it self and the rest to standard. And on the 21 of the same month an Agreement was concluded between their Lordships and the said Melter to pay him 2^d$\frac{1}{2}$. up|f|on|r| the wast upon every L.^wt he being obliged to make it good if it exceeded that rate, and to be accomptable for the sweep of his melting to their Lordships. And a person was appointed by their Lordships to oversee the making \up/ of his sweep.

On the 18 March their Lordships signed another warrant for payeing the following Rates on the £.^wt standard for the coynage viz^t.

Which Allowances for making the mony amounts to 14^d. for paying whereof Provision was made✱^[1] they being the usuall rates to the Respective partys for their Expence and workmanship in the Coynage: but the Lords took care at the same time to order the Master and Worker to pay severall additionall sallarys out of his proffitts which were like and after proved to be very considerable in so great a Coynage. The sallarys they appointed and other he actually paid at the Tower amounted <74r> to about 1500^L p^r. an. besides what he allowd his severall Deputys and some Clerks at the 5 Country Mints, which in the 2 years of their Continuance cost him with other Contingencys not less than 3000^L. more.

The aforesaid Act for remedying the ill state of the Coin, did likewise allow the deduction of the charge of the 1^st melting and refineing out of the new monys that {w}|sh|ould proceed from the cly|i|p'd mony of the severall branches of the revenue recoyn'd by the Act. Accordingly the Expences of telling the said cly|i|p'd monys of the 1^st. melting, assaying and other Incidents at the Exchequer were order'd from time to time by speciall Warrants of the Lords of the Treasury, to be satisfyed out of the new monys arriseing from the particular branches in proportion to the \whole/ tale of each branch. But the charges of recoyning at the Mint, were paid by another proportion, viz^t the charge of 2^d.\y^e second/ melting of the Ingotts and allay, and the scissell in the proportion they held to the standard of the severall branches contained in the 12 Remains, hereafter mentioned in a Table. 2^d $\frac{1}{2}$ /p^r.\ L^wt for wast in melting was also proportiond in the like manner. The 14^d. for coynage, and the Mint Incidents as they hapned to arise were adjusted likewise and paid by the standard of the particular branches respectively. But the charge of Refining, which by an agreem^t. <74v> the Lords of the Treasury had made with the Melter was not to exceed 12^d. for every L^wt. of coarse silver refind to 15^dwt.$\frac{1}{2}$ better than standard was computed in a way different from all the other Expences. Our method was this, when a sufficient sum in new monys was coynd to cleer the standards of all particular branches containd in any one of the 12 Remains, the coarsest Ingotts of every individuall branch were singled out, and such a proportion of those Ingotts allowed for Refining, as would, when reduced to 15^dwt_{$\frac{1}{2}$} better than |standard not only reduce its own coursenesse but all y^e. remaining worsenesse of| the said parcell to the standard value of 222^d.^wt

In a few days after the Resolution of the house on y^e. 10^th. December 1695 was made publick viz^t to recoyn all the clipd mony according to the establish'd standard at the Mint both as to weight and fineness, silver Bullion w.^ch in the begining of that month was sold at 6^s. 6^d. p^r. oz was in Ianuary brought to the Mint to be coynd at 5^s. 2^d. ^[2] |by M^r.| |Hankey, M^r {Grammar} & other| Goldsmiths \& privat Importers/. This lookd like a Paradox to the Gentlemen who at that time us'd their uttmost endeavours to lighten the coins, or raise their demonimations. They did not expect the Goldsmiths would be the first who should bring silver to the Mint to be coynd, who could not be supposed not to know their true Interest, and the reall value of silver in Bullion; and they being the first Importers received <75r> accordingly the first new milld monys out of the Mint to the value of 7470^£s on y^e 8^th Febr^y. 9$\frac{5}{6}$ & 5553.^£s more on y^e 15^th following.

On the 22 Ianuary 1695 the Lords of the Treasury took an Account of all the clip'd monys then remaining in the Excheq^r. upon the severall branches of the Revenue according to their respective summs; which they caus'd to be melted down into Ingotts of about 74^L.^wt each: and to be all mark'd with the Letters of the Alphabet to distinguish 'em according to the severall aids and Branches from which they did proceed. Those Ingotts were assay'd likewise at the Exchequer, after which they did proceed were sent to the Mint with severall Indentures between the King and M^r. Neale the Master-Worker, expressing the number, weight and Assay of the Ingots and the respective Dutys whereunto they did belong.

Those Ingotts were receiv'd at the Mint into the Assay-office, and being assay'd were enterd into the MintBooks under the Title of their respective Funds (in the same manner as the Ingotts of privat Importers stood|and| enterd under their Names) with their Numbers, Assays, weights, worsnesses & standards respectively. And then sett out in convenient parcells for melting in order to coynage, according to the ordinary and received practice and method of the Mint: for wee had nothing new in the manner of our Accompts, but the computation of the coarse silver necessary to be refind to 15.^dwt $\frac{1}{2}$ better, to <75v> reduce the silver of every fund to the standard, and a small variation in the method of our Payments. The Care of which work was part of the business of two supernumeraries.

M^r Hall presented the Lords of the Treasury a Certifficate weekly of the whole Coynage, together with an Accom|u|pt of so much as had been coynd from the begining in clyp{d}t|pd| mony, Plate or Bullion: By this Acc^t. their Lordships allways know what was done at the Mint every week, and how the Silver Cash increased; and thereupon could give the necessary orders and directions.

Bullion continued to be imported by private Importers, and Plate too after y^e. 4.^th May 1696 'til the 4.^th November following; what Addition they made to the publick stock of our silver monys together with the clip'd mony recoyn'd will appear by the following Account.

<76-77>

Account Of the Clipt Silver Monys found Remaining in the Receipt of the Exchequer by the R^ht Hon^ble the Ld^s. Commiss^rs. of the Treasury & by their Order told out there and molten down into Ingotts, which were sent thence to the Tower, & Recoyn'd into New Milld Monys, pursuant to y^e first Act for Remedying the Ill State of the Coin &c

<77v>

Account
of the Clipt Mony Melted down at the Excheq^r., and recoynd into Milld Mony at the Tower, pursuant to the 1^st act for remeding the
Ill state of the Coine

<78r>

A Generall Accompt
of the new milld monys coyn'd at the 6 Mints pursuant to y^e. 1.^st Act of Parliam^t. for Remedying the ill state of the Coin, & for encouraging y^e. bringing Plate to y^e. Mint to be coyned.~

<78v>

Whilst these summs were coyning the Nation labourd under great difficultys for want of silver monys: as I have before hinted, and thô the new milld mony coyn'd at the Tower from Ianuary 1695 {illeg}|to Ianuary| 1696 amounted to two millions five hundred and eleven thousand eight hundred fifty three pounds, 3^s. 6^d. besides above two hundred thousand pounds more coynd at the five Country Mints of which I shall give give an Account hereafter: yet but little of this great summ appear'd in payments. The great endeavours that had been used in the \last/ session, to raise the Denominations of the mill'd & weighty h{illeg}|a|mmer'd mony, putt many people in hopes of som advantage by their new coyn'd monys, who thereupon laid by what they could spare till the next session of Parliament; The proceedings whereof relating to the coin are abstracted as follows.