Draft of MINT00287 (Mint 19/2/602-3)
Proposals for preserving & encreasing the Coyn of this Kingdome.
All gold & silver designed for exportation shall be examined & entred in the Mint. And for that end all Ingots of gold & silver imported \& all \old/ Plate \imported &/ designed for exportation/ & all sand gold & virgin gold or|&| \virgin/ silver shall upon its first coming up the River of Thames to the Custome house be brought to the Mint by the Master of the ship & other witnesses who shall be there \shew their Bill of lading & be/ examined about it |ye| importation & shew their Bill of lal|d|ing.\of ye |sd| Gold or Silver./ {illeg}|A|nd the said sand Gold & virgin gold & & silver \virgin Silver & plate/ & all forreign monies designed for exportation shall be there melted into Ingots. And these Ingots & all other Ingots of gold & silver above mentioned shall at the choise of the Merchant be either coyned into monies or marked with a stamp provided for that purpose,|.| a|A|nd at the request of the Merchant be either coyned into monies or marked with a stamp provided for that purpose. And the Master of the Mint if desired shall give the Merchant an indented Ticket certifying the weight of the monies coyned out of ye said forreign gold or silver & the time of the coynage thereof: wch Ticket shall be entred in\cut out of/ a book i{n}|o|f the Mint & cut out of\entred in/ the same book
Ingots not markt with the Mint stamp may not be exported nor bought or sold \nor carried into any ship or boat/ but may be brought to the Mint for encreasing the coyn of this kingdom. This law now obteins in France by an edict of last March for preventing the melting down of the monies.
The Merchant upon def{illeg}|ra|ying the delivering the Mint Tickets at the Custome house may wthin a year after the coynage of the monies mentioned therein, by Warrant of the Commrs of ye Customes upon a day appointed in the Warrant ship f{illeg}|o|r exportation the said monies or the same weight of like monies \or any part thereof/ & also any Ingots wch have the Mint stamp upon them & the Customer shall enter ye same & file the Tickets.
All silver monies before shipping for exportation shall pay 1d. ꝑ ounce Troy at ye Custome house for the charge of assaying standarding melting & coyning the same. And all gold monies shall pay 6 ꝑ ounce. Which Duties shall be kept apart wth the Duty already gran{illeg}|t|ed for encouragement of coynage & therewith paid into the Exchequer & thence imprest to the Master & Worker of the Mint for the same uses. And all Ingots stampt shall pay to the Master of the Mint before stamping a farthing per ounce of silver & 1d ꝑ ounce of gold for defraying the charges of the first meltings & stamping & towards the charges of assaying melting & coyining {sic} the monies & of providing \& repairing/ things necessary for the same. For wch Duty ye Master of ye Mint shall be answerable to the King.
No gold or silver (other then pocket money already allowed) shall be exported out of any other port of England then that of London nor out of Ireland except into England.
Felony without benefit of Clergy to counterfeit the Mint stamp or the Mint Tickets. And other penalties on them who ship silver not licensed or without paying the Duty or upon any other day then that appointed in the Warrant or buy or sell unmarkt Ingots or knowingly bring gold or silver to the Mint to be markt or coynd as forreign wch is not forreign.
Such a Law would enable the Officers of the Mint to understand the state of the Mi|o|nt|e||y| with respect to trade. It would render trade freer then at prsent. It would sa{illeg}|v|e the Merchant the trouble & charge of attending with his Bullion & witnesses at Goldsmiths Hall and Yeild Hall after he has melted it at ye Refiners or Goldsmiths. It would stop\che/ the melting down of or monies for exportation or for sale to Goldsmiths \much better then the laws do at present no ingots melted down in private being \any longer/ {v}endible or exportable./ & prevent the open or publick importation of more gold & silver then is e|i|mported. It would bring down the price of Bullion nearer to a par with money \& thereby make the money less liable to be melted down into Bullion/. It would increase the coynage by bringing all gold & silver through the Mint & laying on that wch is not coyned a small Duty to pay for ye first meltings: for wch Duty there is a precedent in Holland. It would decrease the Indian manufacture of coyning or Bullion in Ports where the Company have not a Mint of their own, for wch coynage ye Indians receive of us a large seigniorage. It would be profitable to ye Merchant by the use of his gold & silver when turned into money before\& circulating till/ exportation. I would encrease or coyn as well by the Merchants money {illeg}|r|unning amongst us till exportation as by what is not exported within the year. It would be of great credit to the nation by the Merchants exporting their Gold & Silver in the form of English money to be current in forreign nations.|,| The And \and thereby/ would make us appear abroad more rich & potent then we do at pre{illeg}|s|ent. And all this would be done without any new charge to the Government.
