334-5) with minor variations

Author: Isaac Newton

Source: MINT 19/1/354, National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, UK

Additional Information
- Notes on the Electronic Edition
  - You are currently reading the diplomatic version of this text. Diplomatic transcriptions offer a detailed representation of the document with minimal editorial intervention. All deletions and additions are rendered in the text and abbreviations have not been expanded. Switching to the normalized view of this text will hide 51 deletions, silently include 44 additions and apply 24 editorial regularizations.
- 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
  - 28 January 2017
    - Transcribed by Will Scott
- Download MINT01880.xml and schema (advanced users only)
Related Texts
- This document is a version of:
  Memorandum by Newton specifying the uses to which the money allocated to the Mint by Parliament can be put, breaking it down into specific sums for specific purposes, and stating which Mint officers are responsible for allocating which funds [MINT 19/1/334-5]

<354r>

The Act of 18 Car. II, chap. 5, saith that no moneys leviable by|&| payable by this Act shall be applied or converted to any use or uses whatsoever other then to the defraying the charge or expence of the Mint or Mints, & [that] of the Assaying melting down wast & coinage of Gold & Silver & the encouragement of bringing in of Gold & Silver into the said Mint or Mints there to be coyned &c. The first is the charge of supporting a standing Mint, the second is the further charge of carrying on y^e coynage in that Mint. And by the next Clause of the Act the first is limited to 3000^li f{illeg}|o||r| {illeg}|p|reventing extravagance, & the other is left unlimited for encouraging the coynage. The words are: And it is hereby further enacted, that there shall not be issued out of the Exchequer of the said moneys, in any one year, for the fees & salaries of the Officers of the Mint or Mints & towards the providing mainta\in/ing & repairing of the Houses Offices & Buildings & other [standing] necessaries for assaying melting down & coyning above the summ of three thousand pounds sterling money, & the overplus of the said moneys so kept or to be kept as aforesaid shall be employed for & towards the [contingent] expence wast & charges of assaying melting down & coynage & buying in of gold & silver to be coyned, & not otherwise Here the charge of salaries & buildings with their appurtenances necessary for constituting {illeg}|a| Mint (such as are convenient Hearths floors \benches blocks/ chimneys & places for furnaces \Anvils Anvills {illeg} Mills Presses Cutters/ & {illeg}|ot|her instruments) are limit|limit|ed to \& chimneys & {illeg}\convenient/ for furnaces, floors convenient for Mill {illeg}|room|s, blocks for \the/ presses & flatters benches for |y^e| cutters & for the Graver & smith, tables for weighing & te{illeg}|ll|ing & sizin{illeg}|g| stalls & Desks for the Clarks & {illeg} money chests & boxes for the Treasury, & Pix {illeg} limited{illeg}ells Pumps & Pipes for water doors & locks for the Offices, Gates for the Mint &c) are limited to/ 3000^li, & the overplus is for defraying the charges arising by the coynage such as are the charge of stationary ware for the clerk{s} \{illeg}/ ballances & weights for the several Offices, Furnaces Cuppels water-silver, Aqua fortis & charcoal for the Assay Office, refining & all{y}|a|y for bringing the gold & silver to standard, flasks furnaces melting {illeg}|&| wast in the melting houses Mills Dyes coyning & wast in the other offices. And in this \Carriages, water candles, fires, servants, hired servants, brooms,/ Indentures & Warrants for carrying on the coynage, & charges of making trial pieces & trying the Pix.

After the making of this Act the salaries upon the establishment of the Indenture amounted unto 2600^li & there remained only 400^li for the providing & repairing of buil{illeg}|d|ings w^ch {illeg}|c|harge in the old Accounts usually amounted unto two or three & sometimes almost 400^li per an And the Incidents in the Wardens Account came {illeg}|to| about 180^li per an or within 1|2|0 or 20|5|^li over or under. And there is an Article in the Indenture w^ch obliges the Master to pay unto y^e Warden such summ & summs as are payable by him for salaries & repairs & such other expences of the Mint as have been heretofore usually paid by |t|hi|e|m Warden.

The Act made in y^e 4^th & 5^t year of her Ma^ty reign for enlarging the summ of 3000^li to that of 3500^li was n{illeg}|o|t intended to charge the 3000^li w^th any sorts of payments w^ch had not been used to be put upon it but \on the contrary/ to make more room for bearing those sorts {illeg}|o|f payments w^ch used to be put upon it, as the words of the Preamble import. And accordingly a new salary of 400^l per an was settled upon the Moneyers presently after the passing of the Act. And the Salaries of the Clarks of the Mint being thought too small were intended to be augmented. But it was thought fit first to take care of the old buildings w^ch were ready to fall. And since that <354v> time there has been spent upon rebuilding old houses & offices & extraordi{illeg}|n|ary repairs \about/ 900 or 1000^li. And a part of the charges of rebuilding the Engineers shop comes into y^e Account of y^e year 1712.

In this|e| Account \of that year/ the salaries upon the Indenture payable by the Warden are 1435^li, those payable by the Master to the Officers 1080^li, to y^e Smith 40^li in lieu of 50^li, & to the Graver f{illeg}|or| an Apprentice. 35^li in lieu of 95^li. The new salary to the Moneyers is 400^li. And the charge of the buildings in the Wardens Account is in one article 389^li. 2^s in another 11. 13. 6. Total 32{illeg}|39|0^l. 15^s. 6^d. Besides 40^li extraordinary to y^e Wardens second Clerks.|,| |w^ch| A|a|bout eight years ago I ordered this salary of 1|2|0^li to be deducted from\placed within/ the 3000^li, but it is now ceased. The Incidents in the Wardens Acc^t|o|unts abot the {illeg}|P|aviers Scale-makes & Stationers Bills amount unto 153^li. 4^s. Which with the two former summs amount unto 3483^li. 19^s. 6^d.