British COINAGE, both by the beauty of the engraving, and by the invention of the impressions on the edges, that admirable expedient for preventing the alteration of the species, is carried to the utmost perfection.
It was only in the reign of king William III. that the hammer-money ceased to be current in England, where till then it was struck in that manner, as in other nations. Before the hammer species was called in, the English money was in a wretched condition, having been filed and clipped by natives as well as foreigners, inasmuch that it was scarce left of half the value: the retrieving this distressed state of the English money is looked upon as one of the glories of king William's reign.
The British coinage is now wholly performed in the Tower of London, where there is a corporation for it, under the title of the mint. Formerly there were here, as there are still in other countries, the rights of seignorage and brassage: but since the eighteenth year of king Charles II. there is nothing taken either for the king or for the expenses of coining; so that weight is returned for weight, to any person who carries their gold and silver to the Tower.
The species coined in Great Britain are esteemed contraband goods, and not to be exported. All foreign species are allowed to be sent out of the realm, as well as gold and silver in bars, ingots, dust, &c.