Money is a measure of value and medium of exchange: coinage is the art of fabricating money.

So soon as nations emerge from a state of barbarism, when simple barter no longer suffices to meet their wants, they will invent some common or conventional measure of value by which to exchange their products and carry on their commerce. In the rude ages of society, cattle are said to have been the common medium of commerce; and among the patriarchs of old they were the measure of man's wealth and greatness. The armour of Diomede, says Homer, cost only nine oxen; but that of Glaucus cost a hundred oxen. In some countries, in former times, salt was the measure of value and instrument of exchange; and in others shells formed the circulating medium. But as the necessities of nations multiply, and their commercial transactions extend, they soon discover the inadequacy of these means, and will search for something of a more steady and durable character, which shall serve both as a circulating medium, as well as a medium of exchange with other countries trading with them. From a very early period metals, as possessing that character in a high degree, were chosen to perform these important functions. They are not only less perishable than other articles, but they can, without loss, be divided into any number of parts, and be united again by fusion: they can be hammered or rolled into plates, and moulded into any shape; and occupying less bulk than other articles, they are easily transported from place to place.

"Different metals," says Adam Smith, "have been made use of by different nations for this purpose. Iron was the common instrument of commerce among the ancient Spartans, copper among the ancient Romans, and gold and silver among all rich and commercial nations. Those metals seem originally to have been made use of for this purpose in rude bars, without any stamp or coining. Thus we are told by Pliny, upon the authority of Timaeus, an ancient historian, that till the time of Servius Tullius, the Romans had no coined money, but made use of unmarked bars of copper, to purchase whatever they had occasion for. These rude bars, therefore, performed at this time the function of money."

Before the invention of coined money, the precious metals were exchanged by weight only; but as many obvious inconveniences attended that custom, as an initiatory step pieces of metal rudely shaped were stamped with their weight; and then by degrees the art of coining money was introduced, intended not only to indicate by the stamp of the sovereign authority the weight, but also the fineness of the coin. So long as copper and iron performed the functions of money and measure of value, probably the weight only was the test of value; but with regard to gold and silver, another element enters into their appreciation of as much consequence as the weight itself. The quality or fineness of these metals, by which the value is determined, can only be discovered by the laborious process of assay; and therefore (as Adam Smith remarks), before the institution of coined money, unless this tedious and difficult operation were undertaken, people must always have been liable to the grossest frauds and impositions; and instead of a pound weight of pure silver, might receive, in exchange for their goods, an adulterated composition of the coarsest and cheapest materials. To guard the public against such frauds, to facilitate exchanges, and thereby encourage industry and commerce, mints were established, in which pieces of metal of determinate weight and fineness were stamped by public authority, in order to declare the quantity and uniform goodness of the money so stamped, that it should pass from hand to hand without doubt or suspicion.

In early times these coins, or pieces of metal, constituted or denoted weights of different denominations; or, in other words, they expressed the weight or quantity of metal contained in them, as in the Roman as or pondo, which, when money was first coined at Rome, signified a pound weight of good copper, consisting of twelve ounces, as in our troy pound. So the English pound sterling originally expressed not a coin exchangeable into 20 shillings, but simply a pound weight of silver of sterling fineness. The French liere likewise contained, in the reign of Charlemagne, a pound weight of silver of a determinate quality. And on the authority of Adam Smith, the Scots money-pound contained, from the time of Alexander I. to that of Robert Bruce, a pound of silver of the same weight and fineness with the English pound sterling. English, French, and Scots pennies, too, contained all of them originally a real pennyweight of silver, or \( \frac{1}{24} \)th of a pound. The shilling also seems originally to have been the denomination of a weight, and not of a coin of conventional value.

As the transition from mere barter (by which one product of labour is exchanged for another), to the use of metals as instruments of commerce, indicates an advance in civilization; so the transition from the latter to the fabrication of coined money, however rude and inartificial at first, marks another progressive step in culture and refinement; while the various designs impressed on the coin, and the mode of manufacture testify in nice degrees the slow advancement of society in art, taste, and ingenuity.

An inquiry, therefore, into the coinage of a country like Great Britain, from the earliest times, possesses an interest apart from the subject itself as a mere antiquarian research, because it throws an indirect ray of light on the social condition of the people from age to age, and enables us to note the progressive steps of their improvement in taste, refinement, and mechanical invention, as well as to ascertain their comparative wealth and social comfort, indicated by the value of the necessary articles of life. The subject partakes not, indeed, of the true dignity and importance of history; but, in a less ambitious channel of research, it is not without utility and instruction.

In order to illustrate the necessary connection that exists between the social and political condition of a nation and its coinage, we need only to refer to the rude ill-fashioned coins of our semi-barbarous ancestors, and contrast them with the elegant and highly-finished specimens of the present day. The forge and hammer, and other manual appliances, are now superseded by mechanical contrivances of the highest order, which, with artistic design and beauty, co-operate to embellish and impart elegance to the coin of the realm. If this description be true of the external features of our currency, it is equally true with respect to the uniformity of its fineness; of more importance than even taste and beauty. The somewhat mysterious and alchemical ordeal of trying "by fire, by water, by touch, by weight, or by all or any of them," has found a less empirical and more certain substitute in the scientific art of assaying the precious metals.

Another pre-eminent advantage we have acquired by means of those mechanical contrivances referred to, is the vast rapidity with which money can now be coined and issued to the public—an element in the comparison of ancient and modern times of great significance to a commercial country, like great Britain, in which the currency is liable to be disturbed by external causes, and in which the public exigencies are as uncertain as they are urgent and imperious.

It is not too much to assert, therefore, that in a view of the coinage of Great Britain we possess within certain limits a faithful record of the progress of its civilization. The view is of necessity a contracted one, but not the less true and authentic. Like the history of the customs, habits, and modes of life of a nation, it fills but a subordinate part, and aims no higher; nevertheless a knowledge of it is not only useful but indispensable. The coinage of a country speaks with unerring accuracy and truth; and so long as coins are extant to bear witness to barbarity or refinement, rudeness or taste, ugliness or beauty, clumsiness or elegance, we cannot, as in some other historical researches, be perverted by prejudice or deceived by ignorance. It is truthful, because it bears the impress of truth, and stands as a kind of living memorial of past generations. A rude, shapeless coin, with an effigy resembling the unformed scrawl of a child, is as certain a proof of the low state of civilization in art and mechanism as analogous imperfections would be in painting or sculpture; while a beautiful and elegant and well-finished coin speaks convincingly of corresponding ideas and tastes in the nation. And when such evidences of refinement prevail among the people, the state and excellence of the coinage will always afford a subject of pleasure and congratulation. In Great Britain our coins have not certainly attained the highest degree of excellence, though for some time they appeared gradually approaching it; and we would fain hope that in future the step may be progressive rather than retrograde; though as a commercial nation we are too apt to be indifferent to such claims on our admiration as objects of taste call forth, however jealous we may be of the fineness of the coinage. It is indeed too frequently the tendency of modern ideas of economy, applied to public works, to give little encouragement to whatever concerns art and enterprise.

Though we have in this cursory manner pointed out some of the uses to which a history of the coinage may be made subservient, our design is to give only a brief outline of the subject, accompanied by a detailed description of the various operations and processes concerned in the fabrication of money, as well as some account of the recent changes introduced into the constitution and management of the Royal Mint.

On the first landing of Julius Caesar on the shores of Britain, he describes the inhabitants as a race just emerging from barbarism, and their money could not therefore be of a high order. Their use of money was circumscribed by their simple wants and limited commerce; and, according to him, it consisted of rude pieces of brass and iron rings, regulated to a certain weight, which probably were in use strung together, as the Chinese do at this day with their inferior money. He makes no allusion to coins or money of gold or silver, and it may be inferred none existed; for although foreign coins at one period circulated freely in Britain, it is improbable amongst such a people as the ancient Britons that such should have been the case. Both Strabo and Tacitus, indeed, speak of the gold and silver of Britain, as if indigenous to the soil; but as gold has not been discovered in any considerable quantity since that period, and as silver is not found except in combination with lead, we may conclude these writers received their information from mere hearsay or tradition. It is not probable that a people emerging from barbarism, without art or science, should have imported gold for the purpose of coinage; nor can we give them credit for that degree of skill and ingenuity necessary to separate the silver from the lead in their mines. So far from this being probable, we are informed that even the brass of which their chief money consisted was imported from abroad, though the soil was rich in copper; and that of iron they produced but a small quantity, being devoid of skill and enterprise.

Tacitus says, "Britain produces gold, silver, and other metals to reward its conquerors;" but in refutation of this, Dr Henry, as well as others, remark, that if the Britons had any gold or silver amongst them, either coined or uncoined, when they were first invaded by the Romans, it was certainly unknown to their invaders, which it is not likely to have been if they came in quest of treasure, as Suetonius avers, who says that not the gold but the pearls of Britain, famous then, were the chief incitement to Caesar's invasion. Writers on such subjects often deal in hyperbole, attributable to want of accurate information with regard to the countries they described. Thus, according to Diodorus Siculus, even Gaul was famous for the abundance of its gold, and the Gauls for their skill and dexterity in discovering, refining, and working that metal. We cannot believe the gold to have been the produce of their own mines, though it may have been common among them. Their coins are represented to be of pure gold, without any alloy of baser metals; and not only their coins, but their rings, chains, and other trinkets, were made of gold equally fine.

The first attempt of the ancient Britons to coin money, though not accurately ascertained, may be referred to a period subsequent to Caesar's second invasion; and we may suppose the appearance of Roman coins amongst them prompted them to imitation, however rude and unlike. As their coins consisted of gold and silver, as well as inferior metals, indicating, therefore, a rapid stride in refinement and civilization, some have, not without plausibility, conjectured them to be of foreign origin, imported in the way of commerce; because the initial letters stamped on them appear to have some reference to the names of certain Gaulish princes, mentioned by Caesar or Tacitus. Dr Henry observes on this curious subject—"It is not unreasonable to suppose that some of the Gauls, retiring from their country to avoid the Roman yoke, and settling in Britain, which was still free after the retreat of Caesar, brought with them the art of coining money, in the same taste in which it was practised in Gaul, immediately before the conquest of that country by the Romans; when a new and more beautiful manner was introduced. This conjecture is confirmed by the remarkable resemblance of these coins to those of the ancient Gauls." But Rudling, who is always a truthful and generally an accurate guide in such curious researches, takes exception to this, and remarks, that "if we proceed to examine the coins themselves, they furnish no proofs to justify their appropriation to any country. The far greater part of them are without any legend; and on the rest are to be found only initial letters, or at most single syllables, which, by the ingenuity of antiquarians, have been compelled to express any meaning they have thought fit to adopt." It is singular, however, that a nation without any known mines of gold or silver, and without any commerce worthy of the name, whose inhabitants were exceedingly poor, and with whom the value of money was great, should have indulged in such a token of refinement as a gold currency. Yet certain it is, that a considerable number of the coins of Cunobeline have been preserved, containing his name, sometimes in full, sometimes abbreviated, with the name of the capital of his kingdom—Camalodunum (Colchester),—and so far we cannot question their appropriation to an ancient British king. The dominions of this petty monarch extended from the coasts of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex, westward across the island to the banks of the Severn; and he is supposed to have reigned during the times of Augustus, Tiberius, and Caligula. Possessing the wisdom to appreciate the refinement and civility of the Romans, this monarch seems to have introduced considerable improvement into his coins, forming them in a measure on the model of the Roman money. "On some of these coins," says Ruding, "the name of the monarch is given with a Latin termination, and the devices which are impressed upon others are evident imitations of the coins of Augustus Caesar. All the letters are plainly Roman. But it is in outward appearance alone that these coins agree with the Roman money of that period in which Cunobeline is generally supposed to have reigned, for in weight they are widely different. The cause of this variation from the prototype in so important a point cannot now be ascertained; but it seems to justify a suspicion that the weights were regulated in conformity with other British money then current; and in confirmation of this suspicion, it may be observed that some of the coins which bear Cunobeline and Camalodunum resemble in type those which are usually attributed to earlier British kings."

But the improvements introduced by this monarch were destined to be of short duration; because a few years after his death, Britain having again been subjected to the Roman dominion under Claudius, and by his severity reduced to a mere province of the Roman empire, the native mints ceased to coin British money; and, agreeably to the Roman policy, an edict was issued to the effect that all money current should bear the imperial stamp.

Though the Roman money, which must have been abundant, continued to circulate in Britain after the inroad of the Saxons, about the middle of the fifth century, mints were subsequently established in various places, regulated by laws which the Saxon conquerors brought from the Continent, and which differed in many particulars from those of the Romans. Some have indeed doubted whether these people, at their invasion of Britain, possessed any knowledge of the art of coining money—supporting their opinions on the authority of Tacitus; but the best authorities on the history of our coinage controvert this hypothesis by the better testimony of the coins themselves. "Sceattæ," says Ruding of the Saxon coins so called, "are known of the early kings of Kent, some of which must have been struck within the sixth century; and there are others so similar to them in type, as to justify their appropriation to the same people, but which, from their symbols, were evidently coined before their conversion to Christianity, and were, therefore, probably brought with them from the Continent." This distinguishing mark—the cross—is also wanting on the sceattæ of Ethelbert I., king of Kent, in whose reign the conversion of the Saxons from paganism by the monk St Augustin commenced.

Of the internal constitution of the heptarchic mints no records remain; but if we may judge by specimens of coins extant, the taste and mechanical skill of the Saxons were scarcely superior, if at all, to those of the ancient Britons. Unlike these, they disdained to follow the Roman models (of which many beautiful specimens must have been preserved), but pursued a rude and barbarous method of their own; and hence their coins are found to differ in form, type, and weight, from those current amongst them at the same time. They are of equal weight and fineness with the later Anglo-Saxon pennies. The coiners, or moneyers, as they are called, stamped their names upon the money; but the custom of adding the place of mintage was of rare occurrence, and almost solely confined to the ecclesiastical coins of Canterbury.

When the heptarchy was dissolved, and its different petty kingdoms united under one rule, the mints were regulated by laws framed in the Wittenagemote, or great council of the nation; and besides the royal establishments, the mints of York and Canterbury enjoyed the privilege of coining money; but it is conjectured, with much probability, that the dies were supplied by the crown, and that the sovereign participated to a certain extent in the profit.

The most ancient coins known to have existed amongst the Anglo-Saxons were the sceattæ, supposed to be the first coined by them in Britain. They are of very rude and clumsy workmanship, while their weights vary from 7½ to 20 grains and upwards. By the laws of Athelstan (924-940), the value of this coin is stated to be such, that 30,000 of them equal L.120, and it was therefore less valuable than a penny by a 25th part. Besides these, there appears to have been also another coin of inferior denomination, worth a quarter of a penny, but of what metal it was composed we are ignorant.

The penny was the next coin made of which we have any knowledge. The word appears, says Ruding, in the laws of Ina, king of the West Saxons, about the year 688, and is in a manner, therefore, consecrated by its antiquity. Its probable origin is derived from pendo, to weigh; and if that etymology be admitted, it will appear probable, observes the same authority, that "the penny was not known to the Saxons before their arrival in Britain, but was adopted, together with its name, at the same time that mînet, from moneta, was introduced." The penny may be considered, therefore, the ancient unit of our currency.

Of that coin, 240 are supposed to have been fabricated out of a pound weight of silver, giving thus 24 grains to each, and making the pound consist of 5760 grains, as at present. Hence the origin of our pennyweight, equal to 24 grains, and the 240th part of a pound. Twenty pennies to the ounce seem to have been also the weight of the Norman coins of that denomination. "The legal weight of the penny," Clarke observes, "continued through the whole period of the Saxon government. It was always the 240th part of the pound. Their laws, from the first mention of it to the last, give it this uniform valuation." Nevertheless, there is evidence to show that, at different periods, if not during the same period, there were two pound weights in use, one as above, and another consisting of only 5400 grains troy, called the Tower pound.

There was likewise a halfpenny coined in silver, and probably a farthing, or quarterpenny of the same metal; which will not appear surprising if we consider the great value of money in those ages, and consequent low price of the necessaries of life. Besides these subdivisions of the penny, there seems to have been also another piece equivalent to the third part of that coin, which continued in use as late as the reign of Henry I. "But," says Ruding, "even so small a coin as one-fourth of a penny could not be sufficiently minute to answer the common purposes of exchange, at a time when most of the necessary articles of life were to be purchased at prices so far beneath what is now considered to be their value; when, for instance, in the reign of Athelstan, an ox was sold for 30 pennies, and a sheep for one shilling." Accordingly, the Anglo-Saxons coined inferior money of brass, called styca, two of which were equal to one farthing. They had also other monies, or denominations of money, the exact nature of which cannot now be determined; but of the sceatæ, the penny, the halfpenny, farthing, and styca (all undoubted coins), specimens remain, except the farthing. The mancus, the mark, the thrisma, the ora, and other denominations in Saxon, Danish, and Norman times, were probably like talents and shekels, weights of current money, and not coins. In truth, the origin of all coin denominations in early times were weights; for originally the precious metals passed by weight in commerce; and when for convenience pieces of metal came to be stamped, these pieces were well known weights of the country where they were coined. The smaller coins were regular subdivisions of the greater, made into so many for each pound.

The Saxon shilling differed from the Norman shilling of 12 pence in value, six of them making only 30 Saxon pennies, or a mancus.

| The Pound | Was a denomination of money only, and not a coin, and signified as many coins as were made out of a pound of metal = 5400 grams Troy. | |-----------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | The Mark | The same; an Anglo-Danish denomination, ½ds of a pound = 8 oz. = 3600 grs. | | The Mancus| The same; a weight equal to 30 pennies = 6 shillings. | | The Ora | The same; Danish subdivision of the mark, ½th or one ounce = 450 grs. | | The Thrisma| Three Saxon pennies; not a coin. | | The Shilling| Five pennies = 112½ grs.; do. | | The Sceatæ, Penny, Halfing, Forthing, Real coins. |

We can discover no satisfactory evidence of the Saxons having coined money in gold; and if coins of that metal circulated amongst them (as appears to have been the case), the inference is, they came from abroad; as, for example, bezants, which sometimes occur in Anglo-Saxon transactions, deriving their appellation from Byzantium or Constantinople, and so of others. "During the existence of the Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Danish government," says Ruding, "there is reason to believe no other metals besides silver and brass were coined in their mints." The use of the latter metal seems to have been rejected by the Anglo-Norman monarchs, and silver became the sole material of coinage for a long established period, until gold was introduced by Henry III.

Our knowledge of the mode of coining money in early times is extremely imperfect; but all agree that it was rude and unartificial, and so appears to have continued for many centuries. Neither the Anglo-Saxons nor Anglo-Normans were famous for their skill or inventive powers. To both we are beholding for many excellent laws, but not for those mechanical arts and contrivances which so much now contribute to the wealth and glory of England. And, therefore, it cannot but be esteemed a remarkable fact, that a nation which, above all others on the face of the earth, is distinguished for mechanical invention, and preeminent for those arts which elevate a kingdom in the scale of civilization,—remarkable for its restless activity, enterprise, and adaptation of natural laws to useful purposes in almost every branch of science,—should, in its infancy and even for ages after, have displayed none of these national characteristics. On the contrary, it seems to have been wholly indebted to the Continent for those advantages. And when improved machines were introduced into England for the coining of money, the nation was slow in adopting them. Like our hand-loom weavers, the people opposed any invention that seemed to militate against the interests of manual labour, while at the same time they had little aptitude to turn the inventions of others to their own advantage.

The metal brought to the mints for coining was, after being tried, reduced to sterling or standard by alloy when too fine, and refined if too low in quality; but by what means the latter operation was performed we remain in ignorance. The metal so melted was cast into small bars, and these were flattened by a hammer; and out of these fillets or plates, square pieces were cut of nearly equal weight, and then rounded at the forge. These were stamped simply by fixing a die in a block of wood, while another was used as a punch, and repeatedly struck with a hammer till it received the required impression. Money fabricated in this rude manner was necessarily imperfect, from the difficulty of always placing the two dies exactly over each other when the blank piece was between them, as well as from the improbability of a man being able to strike a blow with such force and precision as to make all parts of the impression equally perfect.

Even in the reign of Edward I., it is recorded in the Red Book of the Exchequer, that the new money then coined was made in the following manner: first, the metal was cast from the melting-pot into long bars, which were cut with shears into square pieces of as exact a weight as possible, and these were with the tongs and hammer forged into a round shape; after which they were blanched, that is, made white by annealing and boiling, and afterwards stamped or impressed with a hammer to make them perfect money.

From this unskilful and imperfect process, scarcely any improvement seems to have found its way into England until the introduction of the machines called the mill and screw, applied first to the coining of France about the middle of the sixteenth century. The coining press or mill was of French origin, the invention of which is generally ascribed to one Antoine Brucher, an engraver, who in 1553 first tried it in the palace of Henry II., for the stamping of counters. It continued in use till 1585, when it was laid aside on account of its being found more expensive than the hammer coining, and so remained until the year 1623, when Briot, a French artist, unable to persuade the government to adopt it again, came over to England, where it was immediately put in practice at the mint, under the direction of Briot himself, who was appointed chief engraver. It was, however, abandoned for the reason assigned, until one Blondeau, forty years after, persuaded Charles II. to introduce it again into the mint, with some other mechanical improvements of his own invention; and eventually it created a revolution both in the manner of coining and in the appearance of the coins themselves. For the great change which then took place in the form and impression of the new money struck by this invention, gave it a decided superiority over the old coining.

The mill and screw are generally conceived to be synonymous with the coining-press as one machine; but it is not improbable that two distinct machines were comprehended in that expression; the screw or mechanical power employed in giving the impression to the coins, and the mill or mechanism driven by horse-power, by which the metal was rolled instead of being hammered into plates. The introduction of a mere coining machine would have been of little use without a corresponding improvement in other processes, and quite incompatible with the slow and clumsy mode of forging the metal formerly in use. The inference is in some degree corroborated by the reputed costliness of using the machine; for a coining-press will cost little more than the labour of working it. Before the introduction of steam-power, human labour was employed in driving the coining-presses; but probably animal labour was used in driving the rolling-mill, and hence the expense must have been considerable, if not compensated by the extent of the coining. Sterling.

In the fabrication of money from the precious metals, it &c. Coinage is a fundamental law that some particular standard should be adopted as regards the composition of the metal; and this was called by our Saxon ancestors sterling. The origin of the word, which has remained so many ages in familiar use, is involved in some obscurity; but it is generally understood to have expressed what we now call the standard of our silver currency, for it was never applied to coins made of the more precious metal, gold. While by custom and habitute we speak of pounds sterling, our Saxon and Norman ancestors signified by these words pounds in weight of coin of sterling silver. On this curious subject, it is remarked by Ruding, that in England, and all over the continent of Europe, it designated the standard quality of our silver money; and it is a striking circumstance in the history of our coinage, that the fineness of the silver coins, which was expressed by that word, has preserved its integrity unbroken from the reign of Henry II. (at the lowest calculation), down to the present time—a period of more than 600 years. This standard consists of 11 ounces 2 pennyweights of fine silver and 18 pennyweights alloy to the pound troy, or \( \frac{3}{4} \) dwt. Dr Henry, in his History of Great Britain, says that the standard of Anglo-Saxon money consisted at one time of 9 parts of silver and 1 of copper; but that must apply to a very early period, as there can be no doubt of the great antiquity of the sterling. If, to perfect the proposed decimal system of coinage, the standard were altered or reduced to \( \frac{3}{5} \) ths as respects silver, the coincidence would be singular.

Sterling silver remained in high repute all over the Continent, because it was superior to any other currency; and even in England the words conveyed for centuries the ideas of goodness and purity. And we may remark here that the gold coins of England, from the reign of Henry III., when they were generally introduced, to the reign of Henry VIII., who debased their purity, were made of fine gold. This is a remarkable circumstance, because as gold in its native state is rarely discovered so pure, the existence for a long period of a coinage fabricated of that metal in a state of purity necessarily implies the knowledge of the art of refining, which must have been practised at a very early period. Pliny, indeed, says that in his time gold was refined by mercury, which mingled with it, but rejected all alloy, and the gold was freed from the mercury by squeezing both in skins, in which operation the mercury ran through and left the gold in a pure state. Some of the Greek gold coins were also of great purity, as those of Philip of Macedon, and his son Alexander the Great, rivalled by those of the other princes and cities which immediately followed. Those of the successors of Alexander in Egypt were 23 carats 3 grains fine, and 1 carat grain alloy, which we give on the authority of Jacob in his book on the "Precious Metals." Pinkerton, on the authority of a French writer, informs us that the goldsmiths of Paris, in assaying some gold coins of Vespasian, found in them no more than a 788th part of alloy. But though the Greek and Roman coins attained so high a standard, their silver coins were not so pure. Those of the Greeks were inferior to ours; and also the Roman of the earliest period, though slightly.

During the reign of Henry VIII., the currency of both gold and silver was greatly debased and corrupted, as compared with that of former reigns. He fabricated coins of what was called crown gold, 22 carats fine, which was eventually adopted as the standard of our gold currency. Some of his silver money was so much depreciated as to contain no more than a third part of fine silver. But notwithstanding this nefarious and dishonourable proceeding on the part of the crown, the true, ancient, and venerable standard or sterling was always regarded by the people with a degree of affection and reverence somewhat similar to that which on great occasions they expressed in favour of their ancient laws and charters. So soon, therefore, as Queen Elizabeth was firmly fixed on her throne, she listened to the reasonable demands and just representations of the country, and restored the ancient standard of our silver coin, which happily has remained untouched to this day.

The following table will show the variations of the standard from Edward I. to the reign of Elizabeth. From the most authentic documents, it appears the standard remained uniformly the same through the long extended period from Edward I., and perhaps before, to the 34th year of Henry VIII., when the proportion fell to 10 ounces of fine silver, and 2 ounces of alloy to the pound weight troy.

| Fine Silver | Alloy | Fine Silver p.lb. | |------------|-------|------------------| | Oz. | Dwt. | Oz. | Dwt. | Oz. | Dwt. | | From Edward I. to Henry VIII. | 11 | 2 | ... | 18 | 222 | | 34th year Henry VIII. | 10 | ... | 2 | ... | 200 | | 36th | 6 | ... | 6 | ... | 120 | | 37th | 4 | ... | 8 | ... | 80 | | 1st Edward VI. | 4 | ... | 8 | ... | 80 | | 3d | 6 | ... | 6 | ... | 120 | | 4th | 3 | ... | 9 | ... | 60 | | 6th | 11 | 1 | ... | 19 | 221 | | Mary, and Philip and Mary | 11 | 1 | ... | 19 | 221 | | Elizabeth | 11 | 2 | ... | 18 | 222 | | Victoria | 11 | 2 | ... | 18 | 222 |

In the earliest times, the silver coins were equal in weight and in tale; that is, each penny was a pennyweight of silver, or 24 grains. Such was, indeed, the theory; for the coins in reality rarely reached to the counterpoise of a pennyweight. The intention was frustrated either by the great imperfection of manufacture, or, as Ruding maintains, from design—as the irregularity was too nearly general to be attributable to accident. But may this discrepancy not in part be explained by supposing that at one period the pound contained only 5400 grains, which would give only 22\(\frac{1}{2}\) grains to the penny instead of 24 grains? No doubt also the profit of the shire, or remedy on the coin for errors of fabrication, sometimes offered too strong a temptation to our monarchs who looked to the coinage of money as a considerable source of revenue; while, on the other hand, the dishonest propensities of the moneyers, and the evil habit of clipping the coin, increased the evil. In consequence of the diminution of weight, arising from one or all of these sources, any considerable payment in coin required to be made by weight, and the deficiency made good. Exchanges were also instituted to change light money for that of full weight; and it was no uncommon artifice of our kings of old to call in the coins, in order that they might have the profit of the shire; and at such times the coins were taken by weight and not by tale, inflicting, therefore, great loss on the possessor.

It is observed by Ruding, that the professed standard weight of 24 grains continued for more than 200 years from the Norman conquest, that is, until the 28th year of Edward I. From that time until the 43rd of Elizabeth, a period of full 300 years, the legal weight of the coins was progressively diminished; and yet notwithstanding the variations in the price of bullion which have taken place since the conclusion of her reign, the weight continued stationary for more than 200 years—that is, until the 55th year of the reign of Geo. III.

We have already incidentally remarked, that anciently what we now denominate a pound in currency was in reality a pound weight of sterling silver; and if that assertion be correct, then it follows that silver relatively to gold is three times cheaper than it was in former times. A pound of silver was worth then 240 pennies, or say 20 shillings; now the market value is about 60 shillings, or 720 pence, and the mint price 66 shillings. In researches of this nature it Coinage is difficult, laborious, and often impossible to obtain full and accurate information of such particulars from existing records; but evidence of the interesting fact may be deduced from inferential or collateral testimony. For example, we have on record, so late as the reign of Edward III., that the pound of silver was coined at the rate of 25 shillings; and a pound of gold at the rate of only L15; whereas in the reign of Charles II., silver was coined at 62 shillings, and gold at L44, 10s. If we assume the relative value of gold and silver to be as 15 to 1; then in the reign of Henry I. it was 9 to 1 only; and therefore nine pounds of silver should be esteemed the equivalent in exchange for one pound of gold. But in the calculation allowance ought to be made for the difference in the fineness of gold at the two periods.

The privilege of coining money has always been claimed as a prerogative of the executive power, which was guarded with extreme jealousy. "The legitimation of money," says Sir Matthew Hale, "and the giving it its denominated value, is justly reckoned in jura moestatis, and in England it is one special part of the king's prerogative." And Rüding observes, "As to the impression of the coins, the stamping thereof is the unquestionable prerogative of the crown, and it was in very few instances communicated to those persons on whom the privilege was conferred; for, in general, the dies were sent either from the Exchequer, or from the master of the mint in the Tower." The privilege implied that the authority of the crown was necessary to give legal currency to the coin; and although Blackstone thinks it did not extend to the debasement of the coin to the injury of the people, no one can doubt that the power was not always legitimately exercised. In truth, it is only in the case of a depreciated currency that the king's proclamation is necessary to give legal circulation to the coin of the realm; and as a protection to his subjects, the tender is limited within narrow bounds.

In early Saxon and Norman times, royal establishments existed in almost every town of any importance for the coining of the king's money. During the reign of Ethelred, who died in 1017, it is said that no less than 38 mints were in various places employed for this purpose. The reason is not difficult to perceive. The communication between different parts of the country was extremely imperfect and hazardous, and it became necessary to institute mints and exchanges in provincial towns for the purpose of supplying the neighbouring districts with money to carry on their commerce; but as communication was rendered easier, these subordinate mints and exchanges by degrees fell into disuse, till at length they all became concentrated in the metropolis, where one establishment has been found adequate for the supply of the whole kingdom.

After the Norman conquest, the number of mints was greatly reduced, so that in the reign of Henry VI., who died 1461, the only mints in England were at Bristol, Canterbury, Coventry, Durham, London, Norwich, Oxford, and York; but in the reign of Henry VII., they were further limited to Canterbury, Durham, York, and London. It is supposed by some, that in the time of Elizabeth, when the currency was purified and improved, all the coins of the realm were struck in London only, as no traces of other mints are to be found from that period; but it remains on record that in the reign of William III., when a great recoinage of silver took place, several local mints were employed along with the one in the metropolis in order speedily to complete that vast undertaking.

Athelstan is said to have been the first monarch who enacted any regulations for the government of the various mints. In his laws, promulgated about the year 928, it is provided that one sort of coin only should be current throughout the kingdom; and he granted to various towns by name a number of coiners or moneymakers proportionate to their size and consequence, and to all boroughs of inferior rank one moneymaker each. The provincial mints were under the control of that within the Tower of London, from which, as paramount, the dies were issued, and for which the moneymakers paid a regular fee upon every alteration of the coins. They seem also to have paid an annual rent (we presume for the use of the premises,) which in the city of London amounted to L75—a very considerable sum at that time. The rents of the other mints, however, were much lower than this.

The chief use of the exchanges appointed in various places was to increase the facility of distributing the coins made at the mints, to change new money for old, to receive the coins when called in by the monarch when light, clipped, or defective, and for the purpose of purchasing bullion for the supply of the mints; for it appears our monarchs claimed the exclusive right of purchasing bullion, and appointed officers (to whom they delegated that branch of the prerogative), called custodes cambi, and custodes monetarum. It was the duty of these functionaries not only to exchange the current coins, but also to receive wrought plate and foreign coins according to their fineness; and as the exportation of the coins of the realm was prohibited, they furnished persons going out of the kingdom with foreign money in exchange for English, and also supplied merchants and strangers coming into the kingdom with English coins in exchange for foreign.

From these sources, and from the coinage of money, the crown derived a considerable revenue, which from time to time it sought to augment by means not the most scrupulous or honourable.

The constitution of the mints in the earliest times of Ancient British history, and the regulations applied to the coinage, constitute questions of antiquarian research, which will be deemed of more curious than profitable. The materials for such an inquiry are extremely meagre and incomplete; for, according to Rüding, both the Anglo-Saxon and Domesday-Book are silent on the subject. They frequently mention the moneymakers, but make no allusion to any other officers of the mint; though it is reasonable to suppose that the crown, whose prerogative it was to coin money, must have had some jurisdiction over those who were employed in the practical operations. It may be inferred that each mint was supervised by a head or mint-master, whether of the mint-proper or the exchange, who, receiving a certain rate on the coinage, paid those under him; while the moneymakers, on the other hand, out of their allowance, paid the labourers under them. This may not have been the case at the earliest period of our history, but the custom may certainly be traced back to very remote times.

On the early Saxon coins are found, besides the names of the monarchs, those of other persons who are with great probability conjectured to be the moneymakers, and not the mint-masters; because, on the later Anglo-Saxon money the names of those officers frequently occur, with the addition of their title of officer; and this fact, coupled with the silence of ancient records, has led Rüding to conclude that they were the only persons employed in the Anglo-Saxon and early Anglo-Norman mints. He thinks, too, this opinion is corroborated by the circumstance, that in the reign of Henry I., when the money was so much corrupted as to call for a sentence of most exemplary severity on the offenders, the punishment is said to have been inflicted upon moneymakers only, without the least mention of any other officer. This was also the case on a similar occasion in the reign of Henry II. But if it be true that the moneymakers were required to stamp their names on the coins as a token of their responsibility, and as an attestation of the integrity of the coin, the punishment of any other persons might not have been necessary. Rüding remarks on this subject, that "It should seem that the receve had in the Anglo-Saxon times some kind of connection with the mint or jurisdiction over it; for in the laws of Cnut it is provided, that if any person ac..." caused of false coinage should plead that he did it by license of the reeve, that officer should clear himself by the triple ordeal. If he failed to do this, he was to suffer the same punishment as the falsifier himself; which, in the same chapter of the law, is said to be the loss of that hand by which the crime was committed—without any redemption either by gold or silver. As it would scarcely be possible for the reeve to prove the falsity of such an accusation, it seems probable that his situation with respect to the mint was such as to make it his duty to superintend the operations of it, and to prevent all clandestine practices. The same authority further observes, that after the Norman conquest the officers of the mint appear to have been in some degree under the jurisdiction of the court of exchequer, as they were admitted to their respective stations in that court, and took before the barons the customary oath of office.

Mr Ruding is unable to determine the exact period when it became necessary to place some superintending authority in the mint to prevent the bad practices of the moneys; but adds, it is probable such an officer, if the gerefa or reeve were not a presiding functionary, was appointed between the twenty-sixth year of Henry II., when the moneys alone were punished for the adulteration of the money, and the third year of Richard I., when Henry de Cornhill accounted for the profits of the cambium of all England, except Winchester. This, however, appears to be conjectural; for this the first warden of the mint was most probably appointed to collect the revenue arising from the seignorage charged upon the coinage of bullion, although the duties might also extend to the fabrication of the coins, with the view of preventing the master or the moneys from taking any undue advantage of the crown or the public by the debasement of the currency.

In the reign of Edward I., about 1279, it appears all the mints in England became consolidated under one master, Tournemire of Marseilles, who became personally responsible for the entire coinage. Between him and the king an agreement, somewhat analogous to the future mint indentures, was entered into, by which an allowance was secured to him to cover all the charges of coinage. In this we have the germ of that system of contracts or agreements by which the mint was afterwards carried on.

But, according to Ruding and others, the mint did not attain its full constitution of superior officers until the eighteenth year of Edward II., i.e., at the beginning of the fourteenth century; when an officer, under the title of comptroller first appears, who delivered in his account distinct from those of the warden and master, as theirs likewise were from each other. "Thus they operated as mutual checks, and no fraud could be practised without the criminal concurrence of all three persons." One of the peculiar duties required of the comptroller was, annually to make out a roll, called usually the comptrolment-roll, containing an account of all the gold and silver coined, and to deliver it on oath before one of the barons of the exchequer. It was always written on parchment, and formed a permanent record of the coinages of the mint.

The office of king's assayer constituted another check of even greater importance; for to this officer was confided the assaying of all the bullion, after it had been melted for coinage, as well as the coin itself, and hence he became responsible to the king for the purity of the whole coinage. Persons exercising those functions are found on record in the reign of Henry III.; but it is probable some such officer existed from the earliest period of the fabrication of money, although we are unable to define the precise date of his appointment. In after times the office, by degrees, acquired more consequence and authority, as no coin could be issued to the public without the sanction of the king's assayer-master; and therefore, as Ruding remarks, he became "the sole guardian of the purity of many millions of money."

And it may be added that, in modern times at least, the responsible duty has always been discharged with honour and fidelity, and to the great advantage of the public.

This ancient and honourable office was swept away, with the old constitution of the mint, in 1851.

Besides these, there was another officer of some importance in ancient times, who bore the title of cunctor, or keeper of the dies; and which still exists under the quaint name of "clerk of the irons." This office is supposed to have been hereditary; and the person executing its duties is said to have appointed the engravers of the dies, who were thus under his immediate cognizance and authority. He took charge of the dies as they were struck, accounted for them, and supplied the various local mints with dies. By right of office he claimed the broken dies as his perquisite.

The moneys were persons strictly employed in the fabrication of the coin; but in what manner they were paid, and what degree of rank they anciently held, are subjects open to dispute. It cannot be doubted, however, that as regards the operative branches of the mints, they were persons of some importance, though not necessarily of high rank. In times when mechanical knowledge was rare, and skill in any art deemed a mystery, such endowments were greatly valued, and gave importance to the possessor. After a careful analysis, Ruding is disposed neither to place them in the rank of superior officers nor of common workmen. They were probably employed under a superintending head, on the part of the crown; enjoying, at the same time, peculiar rights and privileges of their own. Without being exactly a corporate body, that is, having a charter of incorporation from the crown, as a company of mechanics they may have possessed some of that exclusive spirit which characterized the trades of London. Theirs was a craft and mystery, which would naturally assume some of the consequence of other crafts. On various occasions they appear to have acted as a recognized body, and their petitions and remonstrances were listened to by the monarch as if they had rank and power separate from the general officers of the mint. This will appear quite natural and consistent to those who are conversant with the customs and usages in ancient times. Nothing can be more absurd than to measure those simple and primitive ages by the standard of modern society; and to conclude that the moneys were only common workmen because they worked with their own hands, subjecting themselves to servile duties unbecoming officers of the mint, must only betray ignorance of history, and of the mode of life in former ages.

We have already observed, that they stamped their names on the coins as a mark of responsibility—a custom which prevailed at a very early period in this island; for, according to Ruding, they are found upon the money of Egbert, king of Kent, which is the second in point of antiquity in the Anglo-Saxon series, and must be dated about the middle of the seventh century. They were usually stamped on the reverse of the coin, but in some few instances they are found on the obverse, whilst the name of the monarch is removed to the other side. They amounted sometimes to 300 or 400; and it appears seven or eight moneys were attached to each mint, employing labourers under them, when the exigencies of the case required it. In ancient times, it is said, they were compelled to march with the Vicomes when he went with the army, and were severely fined on refusal; and whenever the king came to a place where a mint existed, they were obliged to coin as much money as he pleased out of his silver. Hence they were sometimes called king's moneys, and are so entitled in a writ of Henry III. And when one of them died, the king had a certain sum for a relief; and if he died intestate, his property devolved to the king. They paid a certain annual rent to the king, and also a kind of fine upon any renewal of the money for the dies, which were sent from the mint. in the Tower. In some cases they had houses allowed to them rent free. And amongst their peculiar privileges, they appear to have been exempt from local taxation; for Henry III., in the writ already alluded to, commands the mayor of London not to disturb them by exacting tallages contrary to their privileges. On the other hand, on pain of disfranchisement and imprisonment, they were required not to distribute any coin till delivered into the office of receipt and assayed; they were enjoined to work whenever required; they were punished for false coinage, &c. According to Sir Matthew Hale, it was deemed treason if they made the coins too light, or not of the legal fineness.

The moneymasters of modern times arrogated corporate rights and privileges, and a vested right therefore in the coinage of the country; but Ruding justly remarks, that they never were a corporate body exclusive of the other officers of the mint; for it seems in the reign of Edward I., the privileges which belonged to the moneymasters alone extended to all the officers of the mint; and after various confirmations of succeeding monarchs they were afterwards granted and secured to them as a corporate body in the first year of Queen Elizabeth. Nevertheless they were a very ancient body, as we have shown, and they enjoyed not corporate but prescriptive rights of a peculiar kind, which have now been abolished, along with other rights and privileges, by an act of the legislature.

It has been contended that the names marked on the coins were not those of the moneymaster, so called, but of the minter, monetarius, or mint-master, who with his journeyman under him conducted the whole operation; but such a conclusion is contrary to the truth, and directly opposed to the evidence of history as well as the authority of the best writers. The number of such names is sufficient of itself to disprove the assumption.

Connected with the subject of coinage is the seigniorage, or profits of coinage, which appear at one time to have formed no inconsiderable part of the revenues of the crown; and which were often levied without regard to principles of justice and equity, or the interests of the people. The seigniorage was not always a regular, much less a moderate rate, but depended on the caprice, the avarice, or the necessities of the sovereign. And accordingly, under one pretext or another, the coin was frequently called in and renewed, merely to augment this pecuniary advantage. "The profits of the seigniorage," says Lord Liverpool, in his Letter to the King, "was so much considered by our monarchs as a certain branch of their revenue, that they were occasionally granted, whole or in part, either to corporate bodies for their advantage, or for defraying certain charges expressed in the grant itself." They were sometimes granted to individuals by way of pension," &c.

The seigniorage was not properly a money charge for coining, but arose from a certain deduction made from the bullion coined, and comprehended—1st, the charge for defraying the expenses of coinage (included in a rate allowed to the master of the mint); and, 2dly, the sovereign's profit by virtue of his prerogative. Ruding supposes the former of these to have been almost coeval with the invention of coined money. But it is probable this deduction did not long remain limited to that simple charge, as the monarch by increasing it discovered a facile and profitable mode of enhancing his revenue. In the earliest mint account that is met with, says Ruding, namely one of the 6th year of Henry III., the profit on the coinage is stated to have been 6d. in the pound. This appears from the entries under that year of bullion coined in the mint at Canterbury, where the profit upon L3898 is stated to have been L97, 9s. 2d., which is exactly sixpence in the pound. Of that sum the king had L60, 18s. 3½d., and the archbishop L36, 10s. 10½d.; and the whole sum of L97, 9s. 2d. is stated to be the amount of exitus lucris, that is, we presume, the clear profit, after all the expenses were deducted. And this agrees with the seigniorage taken in the 28th year of Edward I., amounting to 1s. 2½d. upon every pound, out of which the master of the mint had 5½d. for all expenses, and there remained 9½d. clear profit to the king. But as this latter date is about 78 years subsequent to the former, it is not improbable that the seigniorage had been raised during that time in the proportion of nine to six.

The profit of the shire, or the remedy as now it is called, was also sometimes considerable. This was strictly an allowance made for unavoidable imperfections in the fabrication of the coin, as regards weight only, which from time to time was made instrumental to the illegal gain of the king and wardens of the mint. But as there is the same chance of an increase as of a decrease in the lawful weight, it is manifest no considerable profit could be derived from this source unless by a uniform and systematic coinage of the money under the weight, though perhaps within the remedy. Some idea of the extent of such profits may be formed from the confession of Sir William Sharington, who, in the reign of Edward VI., was vice-treasurer of the mint at Bristol. He says, "that in three years he profited by the shire more than L4000, answering to the king for the say and share 12d., and taking the profit of the rest to himself."

It is remarked, however, by Snelling in his Silver Coinage, that "it does not appear that our princes made any considerable advantage of this, until Queen Elizabeth, in her fourteenth year, allowed Lonison the master only eight-pence, instead of fourteenpence farthing, in every pound, to bear all expenses; which obliged him to avail himself of the remedy, amounting to sixpence farthing in the pound, as appeared by the report of the commissioners appointed to examine into this affair; after which the queen empowered him, by commission, dated Dec. 31st, in her twenty-first year, to coin silver at 11 oz. 1 dwt. in fineness, and 60s. 3d. in the pound weight, which were delivered by tale, taking thus half the remedy, which amounted to about 6½d. as before." It seems, however, that Lonison took a still further advantage, and shered the silver at sixty shillings and fivepence or sixpence, and the gold at L36, 3s. and after at L36, 3s. 6d., while he paid to the queen's subjects only 60s., or L36 by tale, by which means the public paid eleven shillings instead of four shillings for gold; and two shillings and sixpence instead of one shilling and sixpence for silver.

Towards the latter end of her reign, and during the first seventeen years of James I., the money was again paid out by tale, and therefore the profit of the shire came to the crown, which before belonged to the merchant. The latter monarch by a proclamation made a reduction on the seigniorage levied on the coin.

At the great re-coining of silver in the reign of William III., the money is said to have been shorn at something more than L3, 2s. 3d. per lb., and made current at L3, 2s.; thus allowing 3d. per lb. weight for the profit of the shire, or rather more than eight shillings in every hundred pounds of money.

With respect to times and usages more modern, Ruding observes, that "in the present mode of conducting the coinage, very nearly the whole advantage of the shire is given to him who brings bullion to the mint; for the coins are by the increased skill and attention of the moneymasters found greatly within the remedies allowed. Thus it will appear, from a reference to the account of a trial of the pyx in 1799, that when the remedy allowed has been 1 lb. 3 oz. 18 dwts., the actual deficiency has amounted to no more than 1 dwt. 15 grs. If the whole advantage of the shire had been taken, it would have produced from the coinage of about five years, which was then tried, nearly L80,000." As silver is coined exclusively by the crown, any profit of this kind goes to the benefit of the public; but with regard to gold, the importer receives the advantage, if Coinage.

any. For it should be observed that the remark of Rudling, on the increased skill and attention of the moneyers, is as applicable now as then to the coinage of the realm, while at the same time the remedies have suffered considerable diminution, so that the chances of gain and loss must be esteemed nearly equal.

There is, however, another more certain source of profit to the importer of gold into the mint for coinage, not alluded to by writers on the subject, and that is the increment on the assay, or on the fineness of the metal, which to that extent augments the standard weight, and consequently the value of his bullion. The assay report which accompanies the gold, and by which its market value is computed, does not according to usage come closer than one-eighth of a carat grain, or \( \frac{1}{8} \) grains per lb. troy; but when the importer carries his gold to be coined, another assay is made at the mint, much finer and more delicate than the trade-assay, in order to attain the exact standard, and he receives any benefit arising from fractional parts; in a word, he has delivered to him a greater weight of coined money than his bullion represented by the assay on which he purchased it. On an average, this profit is supposed to be equivalent to about one-sixteenth of a carat grain = \( \frac{1}{16} \) troy grs. or nearly 8d. per lb. weight. By a return made by the Bank of England this gain, or increase of bullion, is estimated to have amounted to the large sum of £59,262,16s. 6d. on L48,659,648 coined between 1816 and 1837.

By an act of Charles II., the seigniorage formerly levied on the coin of the realm was entirely abolished; and it was ordained that whoever brought sterling silver, or crown or standard gold to the mint should receive in exchange an equal weight of the current coin. And for the encouragement of coinage the king undertook to bear all the expenses, so that the importer received standard weight for standard, and sterling for sterling in coin, "without any defalcation, diminution, or charge for the assaying, coinage, or waste in coinage," and to defray these charges the monarch was authorized to raise certain duties upon wines, spirits, &c., as, in the words of the act, "it cannot be reasonably expected that the expense, waste, and charge of assaying, melting down, and coinage, be borne by your Majesty."

This important act was revived and continued by James II., as a great benefit to the country, lest "this kingdom be deprived for the future of so great a good as it hath thereby for these years last past enjoyed;" and also by William III., in whose reign several acts were passed to improve the coinage, and punish those guilty of clipping the coin. In the reign of George III., at the instance of Lord Liverpool, a seigniorage was again put upon silver, and so much of the act of Charles II., as related to coining silver brought to the mint without charge was repealed, as well as a former act of George III., which required sixty-two shillings to be coined out of every lb. troy of silver.

By the act 56th Geo. III., cap. 68, it was enacted that the 42nd pound of silver should be coined into 66 shillings, "of which 62 shillings per lb. shall be delivered to the importer, and 4 shillings retained for assaying, loss, and coinage;" and any surplus, after defraying these charges, was ordered to be carried to the consolidated fund. It was further enacted that old silver coin of the realm brought to the mint may be exchanged for its full nominal value in new silver coin; but in effect this act destroyed all temptation on the part of the public to coin silver, and consequently that branch of the coinage now devolves on the crown.

At the same time that the silver currency was depreciated (though coined of the legal standard of fineness), the legal tender was reduced from L25 to 40 shillings, and so remains to this day. Formerly, gold and silver respectively were tenders to any amount; but, as the act declares, "great inconvenience having arisen from both these precious metals being concurrently the standard measure of value, and equivalent of property," gold coin was declared to be hereafter the only legal tender and measure of value.

The amount realized by the seigniorage was formerly retained by the master of the mint to defray the expenses of coinage, agreeably to the act, and the surplus paid to the public account; but by a subsequent act of William IV., 7th Will., to regulate the financial arrangement of the mint, the seigniorage was required to be paid into the bank to the credit of the consolidated fund, and the charges of the mint to be brought annually before parliament.

When the market price of silver is 5s. per ounce, the seigniorage is equivalent to precisely ten per cent. (the cost of coinage being about 2 per cent.), and hence there is a very large apparent profit to the crown; but as the government is subject to the renewal of the silver currency, and to the great loss accruing from the wear of the coin, and consequent diminution of the weight, the gain from this source eventually cannot be considerable.

The following table will succinctly afford a view of the seigniorage on gold and silver from as early a period as can be obtained:

| Reign | One lb. of Gold coined into | Seigniorage of the Crown | Allowance to Master of Mint | One lb. of Silver coined into | Seigniorage of the Crown | Allowance to Master of Mint | |---------------|-----------------------------|-------------------------|----------------------------|-----------------------------|-------------------------|----------------------------| | Edward III | 15 0 0 | 0 6 8 | 0 1 2 | 1 5 0 | 0 0 9 | 0 0 6 | | Henry VI | 22 10 0 | 0 13 0 | 0 2 6 | 1 10 0 | 0 2 0 | 0 0 7 | | Henry VIII | 22 10 0 | 0 2 6 | 0 1 10 | 2 5 0 | 0 1 0 | 0 0 10 | | Edward VI | 34 0 0 | 1 4 0 | 0 3 4 | 2 8 0 | 0 8 0 | 0 2 4 | | Elizabeth | 36 0 0 | 2 7 0 | 0 1 6 | 3 0 0 | 0 1 6 | | | James I | 40 10 0 | 1 10 0 | 0 6 5 | 3 2 0 | 0 2 0 | | | Charles I | 44 10 0 | 1 1 5 | 0 6 5 | 3 2 0 | 0 2 0 | | | Charles II | 44 10 0 | Nil | 0 2 5 | 3 2 0 | 0 2 0 | | | Victoria | 46 14 6 | Do. | 3 6 0 | 0 4 0 | 3 6 0 | 0 4 0 | As a collateral branch of the subject, it is of some interest to inquire how bullion was supplied to the mint to be coined into money.

As we have seen, Strabo and Tacitus speak confidently of ancient Britons having produced abundantly gold, silver, and other precious metals, the reputation of which afforded an incitement to conquest; while Suetonius ascribes to the pearls of Britain the temptation as well as reward to Julius Caesar to visit the wild, barbarous, and inhospitable regions of the north. Probably both assertions are equally without foundation, originating in the fabulous character given to distant and unknown countries.

So far from the Britons being skilful in mining (who could not so much as clothe themselves with any art higher than barbarians), it is said that the brass or copper out of which their rude money was fabricated came from abroad, and that iron they produced an inconsiderable quantity, though both iron and copper abounded in England and Wales.

It appears that from an early period silver was found in Britain, which probably was extracted from the lead mines; for it is asserted that the art or process of separating silver from lead was discovered and practised in times very remote. But on this head our researches have not brought to light accurate information, and perhaps the inquiry would be deemed more curious than profitable.

In the reign of Edward I., silver was discovered in Devonshire, probably combined with lead; and as there existed a great scarcity of bullion, the laws enacted with regard to mines were exceedingly strict in requiring the silver to be brought to the mints for coinage; and of the produce of the mines, the king claimed £1, while the other £3s were granted to the owner of the soil. At this period a considerable amount of foreign bullion appears to have been purchased for the mint, according to the account of William de Wyvondham, warden of the mint. The scarcity of the precious metals seems to have induced all manner of fraud to be perpetrated by those who worked in metals; and accordingly an act of Edward I. commands that all vessels of gold shall be assayed, touched, and marked, and that "none shall from henceforth make or cause to be made any manner of vessel, jewel, or any other thing of gold or silver, except it be of good and true alloy, that is to say, gold of a certain touch, and silver of the sterling alloy, and that none work worse silver than money." And that no manner of vessel of silver depart out of the hands of the workers until it be assayed by the wardens of the craft; and further that it be marked with the leopard's head. And that they work no worse gold than the touch of Paris."

By the laws of Edward III., goldsmiths are forbidden to melt sterling farthings or halfpennies to make into vessels; none are permitted without the king's license to convey gold or silver forth of the realm; no false money or counterfeit sterling is allowed to be brought into the kingdom to defraud the people; and to encourage coinage, "all people of what realm or dominion they be, may safely bring to the exchanges, and to no place else, bullion, silver in plate, vessel of silver, and all manner of money of silver of what value soever it be; and there receive good and convenient exchange." By another act it is rendered unlawful to exchange money, or derive any profit therefrom, except the king's exchanges; and "it is accorded, that the money of gold and silver, which now runneth, shall not be impaired in weight nor in alloy; but as soon as a good way may be found, the same be put in the ancient state as in the sterling." And it is required, that the moneys and other wardens and ministers of the money shall receive plate of gold and silver by the weight, and in the same manner shall deliver the money when it shall be made.

In consequence of the great scarcity prevailing of halfpence and farthings of silver, it is enacted by a law of Henry IV., that a third part of the silver "brought to the bullion" be coined into these denominations, and goldsmiths and others are forbidden to melt them. And it is ordained by the same monarch, "that none from henceforth shall use to multiply gold or silver, nor use the craft of multiplication; and if any the same do, that he incur the pain of felony in this case."

A singular law of Henry V. ordains that every foreign merchant buying wool in England to carry it abroad, shall bring to the master of the mint for every sack one ounce of bullion of gold, and for every three pieces of tin an ounce of gold, or the value in bullion of silver, upon pain of forfeiture. And that no English gold shall be received in payment but by the king's weight; a great part of the gold current being of light weight, and of inferior quality; and to remedy this great evil, the king offers pardon to all his lieges who shall bring the same to the mint to be made into new money.

In the reign of Henry VI. it is enacted to the intent that more bullion be brought to the mint and coined, that the master of the mint "keep his alloy in the making of white money according to the form of his indenture." And he is required to strike, from time to time, half nobles, farthings of gold, groats, half groats, pence, halppence, and farthings, for the ease of the people, according to the tenure of the indenture betwixt the king and him."

These and other laws up to the time of Elizabeth were passed with the view of encouraging coinage, intimidating false coiners and clippers of coin, and securing bullion for the mint; but their operation must, to a great extent, have been ineffectual; for as respects coinage, the inducement was such that no merchant would have taken his bullion to the mint except by compulsion, as he was not only subjected to all the charges of coinage, but likewise had to pay the king's seigniorage—his gold or silver being returned to him in coined money, less these onerous exactions. The profit must, therefore, have been uncertain; but, probably from finding no ready market for his precious ware, and the laws being stringent against exportation of coin and bullion, he had no alternative but to take it to the mint. As the population and wealth of the country increased, there appears to have been difficulty in supplying the country with money, and hence the crown from time to time was induced to remit or diminish both the seigniorage and the mint charge.

In the reign of James I., the lead mines of Wales were discovered by Sir Hugh Middleton, and the silver from that source was coined into money.

With regard to gold, of which probably very little existed in England in former times, it is said that none was coined until the reign of Edward III., when the first entry of its being brought for coinage remains on record. But we may more strictly date the coinage of that metal from the reign of Henry III. As we previously observed, the gold of that period was coined at 24 carats fine, or pure gold, and so continued at that standard till the eighteenth year of Edward III., when it fell to 23 carats 3½ grs., and ½ carat grain of alloy; caused, no doubt, by the extreme difficulty, if not impossibility, of obtaining gold, by refining or otherwise, of a quality so superior; for it may be inferred that whatever may have been the process of refining pursued in those times, by fire or by water, there existed some method of purifying gold as well as silver, though no authentic knowledge of it has descended to us.

The high standard referred to, not exceeded by any other coins known, continued to prevail till the reign of Henry VIII., who, to augment his revenue, corrupted the whole currency, and reduced some of his gold coin as low as 22 carats fine. He likewise coined crowns of gold of the standard of 22 carats fine, which subsequently took the name of crown gold; and which, in the reign of Charles II., was made by law the sole standard of gold in England, and so continues to this day. We find that money of both qualities circulated in England till the reign of the latter monarch.

The difficulty referred to in supplying the mint with bullion now no longer exists, while the various expedients adopted to induce it to come to the mint are no longer necessary. When silver coin is required by the public the master of the mint orders a supply of bullion, in bars or foreign coin, to be purchased in the market, which he pays for by a draft on the Bank of England. When gold coin is called for, the bank, on the contrary, sends bullion to the mint for coining, and supplies the public exigencies; for it may be remarked that since the merchant was enabled by law to receive at the bank the fixed rate of £3, 17s. 9d. an ounce standard for his bullion, the temptation to employ the mint ceased; because, as the mint price for gold is £3, 17s. 10½d. an ounce, the difference was found scarcely sufficient to cover the loss of interest on capital.

In modern times the market value of gold and silver has remained almost stationary for some years, and consequently the relative proportion of one metal to the other has scarcely varied. This fact proves that the supply and demand have been uniform; but now we have some evidence of disturbing causes, in the recent marvellous discoveries of gold in California and Australia, which may eventually destroy the equilibrium; and as the discovery of America and its treasures of silver gradually altered the relative proportions of the precious metals, so may recent discoveries in course of time effect a similar change. Remarkable, indeed, would it be, if the causes referred to were eventually to reduce the proportion of 15 to 1, the average of modern times, to 9 to 1, the proportion calculated by good authorities to have existed in the reign of Henry I. The following table shows the approximate relative value from the reign of that monarch to that of Victoria; and it may be deduced from it, that the rise in the value of gold from the accession of James I. to Charles II. was equal to 32 per cent.; and from Charles II. to George III.—a period of 185 years—no less than 39¾ per cent.:—

Relative proportion of Silver to Gold, from the reign of Henry I. to the reign of Victoria.

| Reign | Proportion of Silver to Gold | Standard of Gold | |-------------|-----------------------------|------------------| | Henry I. | 9 to 1 | 24 carats | | Henry III. | 10 | 23 3½ | | Edward III. | 12 | | | Henry VI. | 10 | | | Edward IV. | 11½ | | | Henry VIII. | 11½ | 22 | | 34th Do. | 10½ | | | 36th Do. | 6½ | | | 37th Do. | 5 | | | 3rd Edward VI. | 5½ | | | 4th Do. | 4½ | | | 5th Do. | 3½ | | | 6th Do. | 11½ | 23 3½ | | Elizabeth | 11½ | | | 43rd Do. | 10 | | | James I. | 12 | | | Charles II. | 14½ | | | William and Mary | 14½ | | | George I. | 16 | | | 56th George III. | 14½ | | | Victoria | 15 | |

Among the Anglo-Saxons silver and brass formed the material of money coined by them, though foreign gold circulated to a limited extent; but, says Ruding, "the use of the latter appears to have been rejected by the Anglo-Norman monarchs, and silver became the sole material of coinage for a long extended period, until the more precious metal, gold, was introduced into the mint by Henry III."

The penny was consequently the lowest coin until the reign of Edward I.; and afterwards farthings were coined in silver, and so continued as long as the increased value of silver allowed, but at length their size of necessity so much diminished, that the making of them ceased in the reign of Edward VI. Gold and silver, therefore, formed the only coins during several centuries, to the great inconvenience of the people, who required for their ordinary purchases money of a lower denomination; and it has been conjectured that some kind of metallic tokens circulated, as a substitute; for it is not possible a nation could carry on the daily transactions of life without some medium of exchange proportionate to the low value of all the necessaries of life.

We find that James I., to remedy this evil, caused tokens of brass and copper to be struck as a substitute for the farthing, but at a value so much inferior to the rate at which they were issued, that they rapidly sunk into contempt.

Charles II., 1665–1672, amongst other great improvements, has the merit awarded to him of introducing a new coining of copper, which was issued under certain limitations. In the year 1684 it appears some coins were also fabricated of tin; and James II. coined others of gun-metal and pewter.

After the changes effected in the mint in the reign of Charles II. by the adoption of improved mechanical contrivances—which caused a revolution in the various processes of coining, and a change in the duties of the moneymasters and others engaged in the mint, as well as a great reduction in the rate per pound paid to the master of the mint, and to the moneymasters, by reason of the rapidity and economy resulting from the new machinery—we have no great event to record till the reign of William III., when a great recoinage of silver took place, and when some important laws were enacted for the improvement and regulation of the currency. Notwithstanding the recoinage of the money of the Commonwealth under Charles II., and the act for the encouragement of coining, the silver money at that period appears to have been greatly depreciated; partly by base money circulating with the silver, but chiefly by a great loss of weight caused by the dishonest practice of clipping and defacing the coin of the realm. The extent of the evil may be estimated by the fact, that no less a sum than £7,000,000 sterling was coined in silver, the expenses of which were defrayed out of certain duties levied for that purpose. This undertaking being beyond the capacity of the mint in London, other establishments were instituted or revived, so that the coining should keep pace with the money brought in to be exchanged. "The king," says Hume, "ordered mints to be erected in York, Bristol, Exeter, and Chester, for the purpose of the recoinage, which was executed with unexpected success; so that in less than a year, the currency of England, which had been the worst, became the best coin in Europe."

The state of the coin had previously become a national grievance, so intolerable, that it could not escape the attention of parliament; and accordingly a committee of the commons' house was appointed to deliberate on the state of the nation with respect to the currency. A recoinage was strenuously recommended by Mr Montague, who acted on this occasion by the advice of Sir Isaac Newton; but vehement opposition was made to that proposal by a large section of the house and of the people. "Another question arose," says Hume, "whether the new coin in its different denominations should retain the original weight and purity of the old, or the established standard be raised in value. The famous Locke engaged in this dispute, against Mr Lowndes, who proposed that the standard should be raised. The arguments of Mr Locke were so convincing, that the committee resolved the established standard should be preserved with respect to weight and fineness. They likewise resolved, that the loss accruing to the revenue from clipped money should be borne by the public." To meet this, a tax on glass windows was subsequently raised to the amount of £1,200,000.

In order to facilitate and hasten the exchange of coin, a reward of 5 per cent. was offered to all who should bring in either milled or broad unclipped money, to be applied in exchange of the clipped money throughout the kingdom. A reward of 3d an ounce was also offered to all persons who should bring wrought plate to the mint to be coined.

A bill was likewise brought in for taking off the obligation and encouragement for coining guineas for a certain period. "Upon which," says Hume, "the commons proceeded to lower the value of this coin; a task in which they met with great opposition from some members, who alleged that it would foment the popular disturbances. At length, however, the majority agreed that a guinea should be lowered from 30s. to 28s., and afterwards to 26s. Eventually a clause was inserted in the bill for encouraging people to bring plate to the mint, settling the price of a guinea at 22s.; and it naturally sunk to its original value of 20s. 6d."

In the great controversy on the restoration of the currency at that time, Mr Lowndes, who differed from Mr Locke, wished to execute the coining at a rate per ounce conformable to the market price of silver, so that the new currency, we apprehend, should form the standard of value; overlooking the fact, that the market price exceeding the mint price arose from the deficiency in the weight of those coins by which silver was bought and sold. "Mr Locke," says a writer on the subject, "with that acuteness for which he was so justly esteemed, contended that if 5s. 2d. of the coin weighed an ounce, that would necessarily be the market price of silver; and that its high price arose from 6s. 4d. of the then currency containing no more than an ounce of standard silver. Consequently, if the coining were executed at a higher rate than the standard of the 46th of Elizabeth, or 5s. 2d. an ounce, it would be done at the expense of that justice and integrity between the government and the people which no government would sanction that regarded the rights of personal property. Mr Locke's arguments were so decidedly just, and so convincing, that the government carried the whole nation with them in the measure, though it was heavily felt, owing to the exhausted state of the country, after the long and expensive war it had been involved in."

Despite Locke's arguments, and the policy founded upon them, soon after the great coining was completed the market price exceeded the mint price of silver; the consequence of which was the rapid disappearance of the new coins, which found their way to the melting-pot, and were sold in bars in the market. Hence before the year 1717 the greater portion of the recoining had disappeared from circulation, to the detriment of the realm.

Sir Isaac Newton, in September 1717, delivered in his report on the subject to the Lords of the Treasury, in which he gives it as his opinion that gold was considerably overrated in the mint with respect to silver; and in consequence of this report, the guinea was by proclamation declared current at 21s. This reduction helped the relative proportion of gold to silver to approximate nearer to those of the market prices; and as the avowed intention of Newton's report was to give that rise in value to the silver coin which would protect it from being melted down, it appears to have answered its purpose, but only in degree. For "though the recommendation in Sir Isaac Newton's report," says the above authority, "was carried into effect by making the guinea current at 21s., yet it did not restore silver to its function as the standard of our money, and this because the current value was not made lower. Sir Isaac Newton seemed aware of this himself, and recommended that 10d. or 12d. should be taken from the guineas, instead of 6d. This, however, was not done; and as the rate of 21s. to the guinea, the proportion of standard gold to silver at the mint, was as 15:07 to 1, the proportion of the market (as we find by the prices of gold and silver) was about 14:50 to 1—which constitutes a difference of about 3 per cent., gold being still thus much rated above its value to silver; and consequently not only was no silver coined, but the good and heavy coins were still melted for the higher price they brought in the state of bullion."

No other legislative measure having been taken than the one referred to, and the market proportion of gold to silver having seldom afforded any encouragement to the public to coin silver, we can have no difficulty in assigning a satisfactory reason for the degraded state of our silver currency during the last century, and up to 1815.

In the year 1774, and onwards, there was a general re-coining of the gold currency, which forms another prominent feature in the history of the mint. The professed object of this undertaking was the reformation of the currency, by withdrawing the light and defective coins then in circulation; but the real motive was to prevent, if possible, the new and heavy coins issued from the mint being melted down and sold as bullion. For, by reference to the prices paid by the Bank of England for gold, it appears that 80s. an ounce was the market value, while, at the same time, L4 of the gold coin then circulating would not weigh more than one ounce. The holders of bank-notes demanded in payment new and heavy coins, which were immediately turned into bullion, and sold at the rate of 80s. an ounce; and this being done on an extensive scale, the bank was compelled to have annually a large coining of gold to meet the demand. To remedy this inconvenience, the recoining was undertaken and completed, and it had the effect anticipated; for the price of gold since that period has rarely ever exceeded, but has generally been under the mint price. In truth, as the price at which the bank purchases gold is fixed by act of parliament, and as the bank is compelled to buy all gold tendered to it at the price of 77s. 9d. an ounce standard, some naturally enough question the fact that we have any market price for gold bullion in England. There cannot be a doubt, however, but for that law the price of gold would have fluctuated as other things, according to the supply and demand; and it cannot but be deemed a great benefit to commercial interests to have, by means so simple, a ready and constant market for their bullion, at a price regular and certain.

Political economists disagree as to the cause of the high price of gold previously to the recoining referred to. That eminent authority, Adam Smith, offers the following solution:—By issuing too great a quantity of paper, of which the excess was continually returning, in order to be exchanged for gold and silver, the Bank of England was for many years together obliged to coin gold to the extent of between eight hundred thousand and a million a-year, or at an average about eight hundred and fifty thousand pounds. For this great coining, the bank, in consequence of the worn and degraded state into which the gold coin had fallen a few years ago, was obliged frequently to purchase bullion at the high price of L4 an ounce, which it soon after issued in coin at L3, 17s. 10½d. an ounce, losing in this manner between 2½ and 3 per cent. upon the coining of so very large a sum. Though the bank, therefore, paid no seigniorage, though the government was properly at the expense of the coining, this liberality of government did not prevent altogether the expense of the bank." Upon this passage Ricardo justly remarks, "On the principle above stated it appears most clear, that by not re-issuing the paper thus brought in, the value of the whole currency, of the degraded as well as the new gold coin, would have been raised, when all demands on the bank would have ceased," or in other words, the price of gold would have fallen to its mint price.

During the period of these important transactions the constitution of the mint remained unaltered. The various mints throughout the country appear to have fallen into disuse in the reign of Elizabeth, but some of them were revived and reorganized by William III. in order speedily to accomplish the great recoinage of silver during his reign. Subsequently to that period the provincial mints were abolished or consolidated with that in the Tower of London.

In the year 1670, the crown, while it continued his salary to the master of the mint, restored to him further the contract for melting. On the other hand, an agreement was entered into between the master and company of moneyers, according to ancient custom, by which a rate per pound, graduated to each denomination of money coined, was allowed to the latter.

In 1702 the public appear to have assumed the expense of melting the bullion into bars in order to bring the metal to standard, provided it was near to the standard when imported into the mint; whereas previously, it is thought, this preliminary expense was borne by the individual merchant or importer.

In 1799 the government withdrew altogether from the master of the mint the lucrative contract for melting; and wisely vested it in a subordinate and responsible officer, who, assuming all risk and waste, on consideration of certain provisos allowances, relieved the crown, the master, and the public, from all responsibility whatsoever; an arrangement obviously founded on the dictates of experience, as it is also consonant with the principles of common sense.

In the course of this century, the master, who had previously been a permanent officer supervising the coinage, and possessing therefore a practical knowledge of the business, gradually became a ministerial officer, and quitted office on any change of government. The duties of the office were in this manner circumscribed, and more nominal than real; the de facto government of the mint devolving on a deputy whose office was permanent.

On the 7th February 1798, his majesty Geo. III., by an order in council, appointed a committee of his privy-council "to take into consideration the state of the coins of this kingdom, and the present establishment and constitution of his Majesty's mint;" and the result of their inquiries and deliberation was to advise the erection of a new mint, with improved machinery. This was carried into effect in or about the year 1810.

The old mint, which had existed in the Tower for centuries, was removed to a more spacious building on Tower Hill; and the celebrated engineers, Messrs Boulton and Watt, of Soho, furnished it with engines and machinery of a character superior to anything known at that time in connection with the fabrication of money. The steam-engine was substituted for horse-power, and most of the operations carried on slowly by manual labour were with greater speed and perfection effected by the agency of those ingenious contrivances, nice adaptations, and superior power, called forth by mechanical skill and invention.

Almost simultaneous with the erection of a new and more powerful mint, a new constitution and indenture were given to it in 1815, founded on a report drawn up and presented to the committee of the privy-council by Mr W. Wellesley Pole (afterwards Lord Maryborough), who had been appointed master of the mint in the preceding year. These changes were rendered in some degree necessary by the circumstances of the case; by the enlarged establishment; the increased duties of the officers; and the necessity of a recoinage of the silver currency, as well as the introduction of new denominations of gold coin. The new organization of the mint consisted principally of an adaptation and enlargement of the old constitution, which, like that of the state, had grown up by degrees, and expanded with the wants of the public; and like the constitution of the state, it exhibited, on minute examination, some anomalies and contradictions incidental to its origin. To the same cause may be attributed its apparent want of simplicity, and clear definition of duties; but as it was found by experience adequate to encounter the greatest undertakings, and fully supply the public demands—in times, too, of great difficulty and danger—we may justly infer that if it were found wanting in latter times, the fault should rather be attributed to the management than to the constitution.

During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, we have it on record that a mint-board was constituted with legislative and executive functions, composed of the three heads of offices, the warden, the master, and comptroller. This governing body was enlarged by Lord Maryborough, and consisted of the master ex officio, his deputy virtually the president, the comptroller, the king's assay-master, the superintendent of machinery and clerk of the irons, and, finally, the king's clerk and clerk of the papers, who acted as secretary to the board.

In the operative departments, new agreements or contracts were entered into between the master on the one part, and the moneyers, and the melter and refiner, on the other; the latter office being judiciously separated from that of the deputy-master and his duties, with which it had been previously conjoined. These agreements, besides specifying the performance of duties and other obligations, secured certain fixed rates of payment to the moneyers and melter, for each denomination of coin delivered into the office of receipt, and in which rates were comprehended the repairs of machinery, the supply of labour and materials, as well as the waste or loss accruing in the various processes of coining and melting. And for the safety of the crown and master of the mint, large securities were required from the persons holding those responsible offices.

The fundamental principles had in view by Lord Maryborough, in thus remodelling the constitution and management of the mint in 1815, were a system of checks so perfect and complete, as to render fraud impossible; an arrangement with the moneyers and melter, which fully secured the public against all risk; responsibility in each distinct office; and greater efficiency and despatch as regards the coinage. These important changes having been satisfactorily accomplished, the great recoinage of silver commenced in 1816. An act was passed to call in the debased coin then in circulation; and it was enacted that the full nominal value in new money should be exchanged for the old silver brought to the mint, and the treasury was authorized to appoint receivers at various places throughout the kingdom.

The act of Charles II. as to coining silver brought to the mint without charge—the 7th and 8th of Will. III., relative to the weight and fineness of silver coin, under the mint indenture—and so much of the 14th of Geo. III., cap. 42, as requires 62 shillings to be made out of the pound troy of silver—were repealed; and it was enacted, that the pound troy of standard silver should henceforth be coined into 66 shillings, of which 62 shillings shall be delivered to the importer, and 4 shillings retained for assaying, loss, and charges of coining; the surplus, if any, to be carried to the consolidated fund. The act, making silver a tender to L.25, and afterwards by weight, was also repealed, and the tender of this depreciated currency was limited to 40s.

The effect of these acts was, first, to withdraw any inducement to the public to coin silver; and secondly, to circumscribe the circulation of the currency in silver to the country, where it became a mere token exchangeable for a limited amount of gold. Formerly, gold and silver respectively were legal tenders to any amount; but by the 56th of Geo. III., cap. 68, gold coin is declared to be hereafter the only legal tender; and so it continues. In the year 1817 the first sovereigns were struck at the new mint, and in process of time entirely superseded the old guinea coinage. The mint price of gold being £3, 17s. 10½d. an ounce, sovereigns were coined at the rate of £46, 14s. 6d. to the pound troy.

Concurrently with the erection of the new mint, and the powerful machinery which enabled the government to prosecute with rapidity and success large coings of both silver and gold, a refinery was established, as a necessary appendage to supply the mint with both metals in a fine state, to counterbalance the baseness of the gold and silver then brought to the mint, so as to bring them up to standard purity. This branch of business proved to be a great undertaking of itself, and for some years was extensively carried on at great cost to the public. Coarse silver was refined on the test by means of lead, and gold by the agency of nitric acid. But circumstances of a peculiar character were secretly operating to destroy the necessity for refining, for the special purpose referred to; because these tended to diminish the amount of coarse metal in the market, or rather to supply steadily large amounts of fine gold and silver.

In France a new and far cheaper process had been discovered and carried on clandestinely for many years, for refining both gold and silver by means of sulphuric acid, in large vessels of platinum; and a lucrative return for capital was found in simply extracting small portions of gold from silver, and silver from gold, which would not have yielded any profit under the old and expensive system. In consequence of this our sovereigns, alloyed partly with silver, were conveyed to Paris and refined for the sake of the silver they contained, while all silver supposed to hold gold in combination was bought up in the English market. To counteract in degree the exportation of gold coin, a refinery on the French system was established in the royal mint in 1829, as an experiment, in the first instance, at the sole expense of Mr G. F. Mathison, then melter and refiner; but subsequently he was indemnified for his outlay, and the refinery was adopted by the government under certain conditions. Mr Mathison was induced to undertake this meritorious work by the urgent persuasion of Mr Herries, the then master of the mint, who properly conceived that no public establishment in this country should, on mere economical grounds, be so incomplete as to be unable to meet all requirements of a public nature, or lag behind in the general progress of science and art. By such undertakings, when liberally supported, enterprise is encouraged, skill called forth, and science promoted. But the government, influenced by an injudicious economy, which tends to destroy all public spirit, have judged differently; and the refinery, along with the engraving department in the mint, has been abolished as a public establishment.

In the year 1837, a committee of the House of Commons was appointed, at the instance of Mr Joseph Hume, to inquire into the management and expenses of the mint, with the view of reforming the alleged abuses and corruption of that establishment; but although very voluminous evidence was taken, no report was presented, in consequence of the abrupt termination of the session of parliament. The desire of reform was then most urgent; the abuses of the mint so great as to demand instant remedy; the expenses so extravagant as to require immediate attention—yet so fitful was this zeal for reform, that ten long years were allowed quietly to elapse before the inquiry was resumed.

In 1842 commenced a large recoinage of light gold coin, which fully employed the machinery of the mint for a considerable period of time. This expensive undertaking was forced upon the government in consequence of the complaints and representations of the public, a great part of the gold currency having by wear fallen below its legal current weight. As the standard of value, and medium of exchange, the defective character of the gold coin influenced the foreign exchanges to the extent of its depreciation, and to the prejudice, therefore, of the foreign merchant. Moreover, the law making coin under the current weight no longer a legal tender, the embarrassment of the public would have been great if a speedy remedy had not been applied to meet the evil. The law of the case, therefore, was proclaimed and put in force; but the government on this occasion, instead of throwing the onus or loss on the individual holders of the light and defective coin, undertook to receive it from the Bank of England within a definite period, and recoin it at the public expense, returning new sovereigns weight for weight. The amount so withdrawn from circulation exceeded £11,000,000; and the treasury not only bore the ordinary charges of coining on this large amount, but the loss of weight, the waste in melting, the depreciation of standard, and the cost of assays. Notwithstanding this extensive purification of the currency, the evil was found to be only mitigated, not remedied; and the bank was authorized for the future to receive all light gold coin tendered at a fixed price per ounce (instead of sending it to the mint), which being thus withdrawn from circulation, is periodically melted down into bars, and treated simply as bullion. This process going on from time to time, if strictly adhered to, must eventually purify the currency, maintain the standard value of our coin, and therefore efface the reproach affixed to it here and abroad. The renovation of the silver currency is also proceeding, though by slow degrees; but, as its circulation is limited to the country, and the tender fixed by law to 40s., the evil arising from its depreciation is of secondary importance.

We have now arrived at a period in the history of the New mint and of the coining of considerable importance to the situation of the country, which comprehends a fundamental change in the constitution of the mint, and a new organization of its management. The thirst for change, which distinguishes this era, and marks all public measures, is not appeased by a simple reform; a revolution, radical and complete, can alone satisfy this restless, if not dangerous, desire. It is easy to destroy what is ancient, reared by the wisdom and sagacity of our forefathers; but it needs wise men to construct and build up again. In the zeal for change, conformable to what are called progressive ideas, and the haste and imperfection incidental to modern legislation, we lose sight of those precautions and prudential checks deemed by our ancestors necessary to such an establishment as a mint. What fate was to the ancients, economy is to the moderns; it overrules all by an iron despotism, and subjects every principle to its sway. Before it the appeal of reason is unheard, the dictates of judgment disregarded, and the teaching of experience despised. But it is not a wise economy that is aimed at, or sought for, that implies security, efficiency, and just principles; but cheapness, which is so little consistent with true economy, that eventually it proves to be its greatest enemy. The so-called principle of economy, now predominant in public measures, before which everything good, sound, and stable is made to yield, will sometimes overreach itself; and experience may teach us that if a saving be made in one direction, a loss tenfold greater will accrue in another. It may be predicted safely, that with regard to the new management of the mint, those principles will hereafter be found peculiarly applicable.

On the 15th February 1848, a commission was appointed by the Queen to inquire into the constitution and management of the mint; and, after collecting farther evidence of an unimportant character, the royal commissioners presented their report to parliament in the session of 1849.

Appended to the report, they published several papers or disquisitions on mints and mint affairs of unequal merit: an admirable analysis of the constitution of the mint, by Sir Edward Pine Collin; a treatise by Colonel Forbes, of the Calcutta mint, more commendable for its theory than its practical utility; and a very long, elaborate, and antiquarian paper by the secretary, the principal object and purpose of which was to disprove the claim of the company of moneys to the title and distinction of a corporation. The report itself, brief, clear, and explicit, proposes a thorough reform of the mint in all its branches; recommends a revision of the constitution of the mint and government, and at the same time a termination to the system of contracts, or more properly agreements, under which the operative departments of coining and melting had been carried on safely and efficiently for centuries. The only substantial charge brought against these departments was the great profits which had from time to time been derived from the coining; but instead of diminishing the rates of charge, it was deemed expedient to place these departments on an entirely different footing.

The leading principles being laid down in the report of the commissioners, it was left to the treasury to devise the best means of giving them effect; and as a preliminary step the deputy-master, Sir James Morrison, who had served the public above half a century, was superseded by Captain Harness, of the engineers, on whose opinions and recommendations it is supposed the reform of the mint was finally accomplished. The responsibility, however, of the changes devolved on Sir John Herschel, who was subsequently appointed to fill the office of first permanent master of the mint, on the retirement of Mr Shiel, president of the commission.

An order in council, dated the 7th March 1851, empowered the master of the mint, subject to the approval of the lords of the treasury, to alter the constitution and establishment of the mint.

One of the first acts consequent on this was the dissolution of the board, as constructed by Lord Maryborough in 1815; which seems to have exercised its functions without much influence or authority, and in a manner neither to inspire sentiments of dignity nor respect; and to the weakness and irresolution of its government may be attributed many of those abuses and anomalies which had by degrees grown up in the establishment.

Under the above order in council, power was taken to give legal notice, according to their agreements, for the termination of the contracts of the company of moneys and the melter and refiner; and ultimately these officers vacated their offices, having compensation granted to them by the treasury for the loss of their privileges and emoluments; but it appears to us not in a manner to meet the justice of the case, as regards the company of moneys, who had claims superior to all others.

Their claim to be considered a body corporate, if illusory or erroneous, did not necessarily invalidate the vested right which they had in their offices from time immemorial; and even assuming that an order in council had authority to dissolve the company in the summary way in which it was effected (which may be doubted), it appears somewhat unreasonable to regulate the retiring allowances of such functionaries by the law applicable to the superannuation of government clerks, &c.

As we have said, the main charge made against the moneys and melter was the largeness of their emoluments; but no attempt was made to reduce them, and the fault therefore, if any, must rest with the government. No man or body of men are expected voluntarily to propose a reduction of emolument. And, moreover, as economy was supposed to be the ruling principle in the reform, it is a grave question whether the public interests would not have been better served by retaining the services of these officers for life, who had the advantage of long-tried experience, especially as by prematurely placing them on the pension list to the annual amount of £3000, they have involuntarily become, as all pensioners must be, burdens to their country.

The office of the Queen's assay master, one of the most ancient and most important in the mint, was also abolished, along with that of the master's assay master. The Queen's clerk and clerk of the papers (formerly a board officer), and the weigher and teller, were converted into senior clerks.

Previously to Mr Shiel's retirement from office he was required by the treasury to report as to what measures he would recommend to carry out the reform of the mint; and in this document it appears he differed in opinion from the rest of the commissioners with regard to the abolition of all contracts in carrying on the practical operations of coining; and suggested that while the melter should be a salaried officer, the coining department might advantageously be farmed out, under certain conditions, to a respectable contractor, who would be required to give sureties to the amount of £30,000. One of those conditions was that the government should supply the steam power, and the contractor labour, materials, &c., taking upon himself all risk and responsibility, and paying over to the government the waste of metal accruing in the various operations; and as an indemnity for this risk, loss and expenses of manufacture, it was stipulated that certain rates should be allowed on each denomination of money coined.

It was likewise suggested in the report, that a contract might advantageously be made with persons out of the mint for the supply of standard silver bars fit for coining; and that the scissell, broken coin, and cuttings, arising from the manufacture, should be sold or exchanged.

With regard to the assay department, which in every other mint is deemed a necessary appendage, it is said, "It would be a better arrangement if several competent persons were appointed to act as assayers to the mint, on a fixed scale of fees, the master of the mint being empowered to call upon any of them to make, within separate laboratories, such independent assays as he may require, and the original reports of those assays being preserved as public records." These assayers, without any recognised official connection with the mint otherwise than their employment in that capacity, and, therefore, without any responsibility whatever beyond their characters as chemists, are in this manner intrusted with those important functions formerly discharged by the Queen's assay master; and consequently the standard of the coin of the realm is in a great measure, if not altogether, made to depend on their fidelity.

The report referred to cannot but be deemed somewhat visionary and inconsistent with all ideas of a well-managed and efficient establishment; nevertheless it received the acquiescence of Sir John Herschel, and the approval of the lords of the treasury. Its principal feature is obviously one antagonistic to the very idea of perfection, and the reverse of the practice prevalent in other well-regulated mints,—namely, the dependence of the mint on operations performed external to it. Formerly, the principle advocated by Lord Maryborough, and acted upon, was, that the mint should be capable of carrying on all the functions necessary to it; now, according to this report, it is made to rely on the skill and ingenuity of persons employed elsewhere. Economy, or rather saving of money, seems to have been the actuating motive in these preliminary arrangements; but time alone can prove whether the results of such policy are consistent with true economical principles, as well as with practical efficiency.

The project of a conditional contract for the coining, as might have been anticipated, proved a failure; not because enterprising individuals were wanting to undertake such a business, but because the rates were fixed at a price so inadequate to the duties and responsibilities, that ruin to the contractor was a contingency far from improbable. In the report of Sir John Herschel, made to the treasury, it is said,

"Before the contract with the moneyers had ceased, a schedule for a contract for three years for the execution of the principal part of the work performed by them, was prepared, and advertisements issued to invite competition."

But though offers were made by respectable firms, the rates exceeded those fixed by the government, except in one instance; and the tenders were consequently rejected, the latter firm being unable to provide the necessary security.

The other proposed contract for the supply of silver bars was abandoned, *ab initio*, probably because, on mature reflection, it was found impracticable, if not extremely hazardous.

Viewing these measures in a practical light, we have no doubt whatever that the operations of melting and coining should be carried on by contract, as safer, more efficient, and economical; and the arguments employed by Mr Shiel in favour of such a system as regards the coining are equally applicable to the operation of melting. The chief thing to be guarded against in the working of a mint, is not so much the general expenses, such as labour, materials, and salaries, as the loss of the precious metals for whatever saving be made by cutting down salaries and wages, even to the point of injustice, this will eventually be swallowed up by the waste of gold and silver in the fabrication of the coin.

Salaried officers, unlike contractors, have no personal interest in the conduct of the business, and when inadequately remunerated at the same time, it would be folly and weakness to look for that vigilance and carefulness prompted by the dictates of self-interest; and without such checks patiently and constantly applied, we may reasonably infer that the waste of the precious metals will increase from year to year. If in such matters as coining and other collateral operations, we act agreeably to common sense, we should apply to them precisely the same principles as we apply to manufactories. The sense of duty in public officers is no doubt an element in the calculation; as also a conscientious regard for the public purse; but as these are not wholly or implicitly relied on in private matters, neither should they be in public. To the waste of gold and silver may also be added the increase of all other expenses; for it is contrary to all experience to suppose that government, by means of subordinate agents, can carry on a business like that of coining money with the economy of contractors, whose profits depend on studious attention to this principle.

These principles, however simple and obvious, have been disregarded in the reform of the mint; and we have reason to believe that already the consequences are apparent, however disguised from public inspection.

The system of contract best adapted to a mint appears to be that which combines the public officer and contractor, and which therefore differs in some respects from the system pursued in the French and United States mints. In the former, one man contracts for the whole coining, at a specified rate, and not only pays those under him, but supplies, out of his own capital, bullion for coining. In the latter, the coiners and melters are remunerated by fixed salaries, and allowances are made for the waste of the precious metals, not exceeding a fixed rate.

As an improvement upon these plans, we propose that officers engaged in the operative departments should be paid moderate salaries; that the government should supply the steam-power, machinery, and everything in the nature of plant, and keep the same in repair; and that a rate should be allowed, determined by experience and actual results, to the head of each department, out of which he should defray the cost of labour, materials, &c., and make good all waste arising from manufacture and other sources. By this simple process the crown, or master of the mint, would be relieved from all risk and responsibility. Officers acting under authority, and guarded by proper checks in the performance of their duties, are as likely to give general satisfaction, and may be as much confided in, as those employed on fixed salaries, while they would have every incitement to keep the waste and expenses within the limit allowed by government.

This practical suggestion is founded on the impression that waste of gold and silver is not only a very important element in the expenses of a mint, but that it is an indefinite expense, varying according to circumstances, yet coming on the average within certain limits. But the same circumstances which make it vary so as to baffle nice calculations, and render control over it helpless, may, and do actually, make it gradually increase; such, for example, as ignorance, carelessness, and want of vigilance. For the question is not about large amounts, obvious and tangible, arising from robbery and such like causes, which may be traced—but to minute portions, which, however apparently small and insignificant in ordinary manufacture, swell like arithmetical progression to great value on extensive coinages. For example, a loss of only 2 grains troy per pound of gold, or $\frac{1}{36}$th of the whole weight, over and above what is certified to be the usual waste, will, on the value of a million, amount to about L400.

The constitution of the mint being abolished on the 26th July 1851, orders were issued for the new constitution and establishment; amongst which it is said, "The peculiar distinction recognised by the indentures of the mint between the check and executive branches of the mint is abolished. All persons employed in the mint are equally the servants of the sovereign, and all will perform their duties under the immediate orders of the master of the mint." And it is further added, that every person so employed is to consider himself available for all its duties; an order quite inconsistent with the regulations prevailing in other public offices.

The moneyers having vacated their lucrative offices, and the tenders of independent contractors being rejected, measures were immediately taken to carry on the public service in the coining department by the appointment of officers on fixed salaries. Ultimately the office of clerk of the irons and superintendent of machinery was consolidated with that of the chief coiner, who has under him several assistants and clerks.

The melter and refiner having likewise retired on a pension, the same provision was made for the service in the melting department by the appointment of an officer called "senior clerk and melter," with assistants.

The offices of Queen's assay master, and master's assay master, having been abolished, a new office was created called the "resident assayer's office," the principal duty of which is the assay of the bullion imported for coining. At the same time other parties carrying on the art of assaying out of the mint were appointed "assayers to the mint," paid by a fee on each assay, whose employment it is, in connection with the mint, to try the assays of the gold and silver bars melted for coining, of the presumed standard, as well as the coin itself when fabricated.

The die department is an exception to the rule, for it remains unreformed—the only change made in it being the amalgamation of the head with the coining department, the duties being supervised by a subordinate.

Circumstances of a peculiar kind for some time retarded the change contemplated in the engraving department; but the death of the chief engraver, suddenly and unexpectedly, precipitated the reform. Love of art and modern economical principles being at variance, the office of chief engraver was abolished, and a new one created, called the "resident engraver," whose duty is of a very circumscribed character. At the same time, the former assistant engraver and medalist, being dismissed from their offices, were appointed "non-resident engravers to the mint," with fixed salaries, and payments conditional on actual work executed. We shall now proceed to give a practical outline of the various ingenious processes comprehended in the term coinage of money. For as it is said ten men are required to make a pin, so as many different operations are concerned in the manufacture of a single coin; such as, for example, weighing, assaying, melting, rolling, annealing, drawing, cutting-out, milling, blanching, and coining or stamping.

Although any person has by law the right or privilege to coin gold at the mint, the Bank of England is now the only importer of gold bullion; for, as by a recent act the bank is compelled to purchase all gold tendered to it at the fixed price of L3, 17s. 9d. an ounce standard, the merchant or dealer has ceased to obtain any profit or advantage by taking his bullion to the mint. As before remarked, the difference between the mint and market price of gold, and any contingent profit obtained by the advanced value given to the importer's bullion by the assay, are neutralized by the loss of interest on his capital; while the bank, on the other hand, lessens the temptation to coin by making an immediate advance on the bullion tendered for sale. The bank may, therefore, be said to have the entire monopoly of the gold coinage of Great Britain; and, as coiners, they have virtually become the sole issuers of gold coin, being enabled thereby (as is asserted) to control and regulate more effectually the whole currency.

England, with regard to its coinage, differs from other countries in this,—that while they throw the burden of the coinage on the public, and charge a rate to defray the expense, she (by an act of Charles II., subsequently confirmed by one of George III.) pays the whole expense of the gold coinage out of the public treasury, charging nothing for the cost of manufacture. Consequently, gold bullion is coined by the mint at the rate of L3, 17s. 10½d. an ounce, or 1½d. an ounce above the bank price; and the importer has returned to him in coin the exact equivalent of his bullion, standard weight for standard, having credit given to him, at the same time, for the enhanced value of his bullion computed by the mint assay,—arising from the difference paid to the merchant and the increased fineness allowed by the mint.

With regard to the silver and copper coinages, these are undertaken by the crown as its peculiar prerogatives; because, as a considerable seigniorage is charged on both, it is manifest the public cannot be permitted to participate in this profit or advantage. Silver is coined at the rate of 5s. 6d. an ounce, or 66s. per pound troy, which would be a seigniorage of precisely 10 per cent. when the market price of bullion is 5s. an ounce. Copper is coined at the rate of L2.24 a ton weight—more than 100 per cent. profit on the average price of copper. These coins, therefore, must be esteemed in the light of tokens rather than money; and by reason of their depreciation they are restricted in circulation necessarily to the country in which they are made, and are by law a legal tender only to a limited amount.

As the crown, or the government as representative of the crown, can alone coin silver and receive the seigniorage, the bullion from which it is coined is purchased in the ordinary way in the market, and paid for out of the public treasury; and the crown becomes liable for the expense of recoining the silver currency when worn out by wear and tear. Hence, when the bank "garbles" the silver coin, as it is technically called, and sends it to the mint to be melted and recoined, the bank receives the value by tale, that is piece for piece, the cost of wear falling wholly on the public. Formerly the seigniorage on the coinage was retained by the master of the mint to defray the expenses of the establishment; but by a recent act it is required to be paid in full to the consolidated fund, and the whole expenses of the mint are now voted annually by parliament.

When the Bank of England require a coinage of gold, due notice is conveyed to the mint authorities, and the bullion is brought in by the bank in parcels of 100 ingots or bars, weighing about 200 ounces each, or in all about L70,000 sterling. These deliveries of bullion are officially denominated importations; and their frequency depends entirely on the public exigencies. They ordinarily amount to four each week; but in 1852-53, when the bank treasures were drained by an unprecedented demand for gold coin consequent on the discovery of auriferous deposits in Australia, the amount received by the mint each week for several consecutive months was 900 ingots—value about L550,000; and about the same amount was returned in coined sovereigns. This was by far the largest coinage ever undertaken by the mint as respects gold, and exhibits in one remarkable instance the enormous resources and wealth of Great Britain.

The bullion sent by the bank is weighed at the scale the same day, in presence of the bank clerk; and assay-pieces being cut from each bar of gold, they are sent to be tried by the mint assayer, along with the assay reports on which the bank purchased the bullion; and thus he is enabled to verify the reports, or note any important errors or deviations. In the meantime the bullion is taken charge of, and locked up under the keys of the master, deputy-master, and one of the senior clerks of the mint; the weight and number of each bar being first recorded in the official books. So soon as the assayer has completed the assays, he sends his reports written on a sheet of paper, side by side with the trade or bank reports, to the master of the mint, who, after inspection, refers them to the comptroller; and upon these the bullion is rated for coinage. It should, however, be remarked that the mint assayer, with the view of reducing the bullion to the standard of our currency—namely, 22 carats fine and 2 carats alloy—is required to report the whole contents of fine gold, as far as so delicate an operation will allow; while, on the other hand, the trade assay takes no cognizance of fractional parts lower than one-eighth of a carat grain = 7½ grains troy. Thus, for example, a bar of gold reported by the trade assay B. 12½, will, by the mint assayer, be called B. 12½ + 6 grs.; that is to say, he finds six troy grains more per pound of fine gold than is indicated by the trade report; and it follows, if the bar were so much worse than it is better than standard, or W.o. 12½, the 6 grains, if discovered, would diminish the worseness, as it is called, to that extent.

Formerly, under the old system, these fractional differences were treated in a somewhat different manner, though the result was exactly the same. The master's assay master, whose province it was to examine the bullion at this stage, while he gave the benefit to the importer of the enhanced value of his bullion, carried off these fractions, in computing the standard, by combining the ingots or bars together and ordering them so to be melted; for example, two grains per pound plus would compensate for two grains minus.

The reports having been properly recorded in the journals against the number and weight of the ingots to which they belong, the computation is made of what is technically called the bettleness or worseness of each ingot, as indicated by the assay; the former being placed in a column on the left, and the latter on the right of the journal, along with the excess grains or fractions beyond the ordinary report. This arithmetical process is called rating, and is more easily effected by constructing tables for the purpose, out of which the parts are taken and added together. The tables now in use are calculated decimally, though the complex notation of carats and carat grains is still retained in making the assay reports. If the importation of 100 ingots should consist of mixed gold, some of which are above, some under the standard, the columns are added separately, the excess grains added to the fineness, and then the worseness deducted from the bettleness, or vice versa, and the Coinage difference either added to or deducted from the gross weight, which gives the standard weight, to be computed at the mint price of L3, 17s. 10½d. an ounce.

A copy of this being sent to the bank and signed (called the mint-bill) shows the amount of standard bullion standing to the debit of the bank in the mint books; and it will appear that in the total sum the value of the bullion is in excess of their own account by the surplus grains on each pound, and by any increase of weight gained at the mint scale.

These preliminary processes completed in the manner described, the ingots are then clasped in pots for melting, in a book called the pot-book, which affords an authenticated record of future proceedings. The importation of 100 ingots is generally divided into 16 pots, containing six or seven ingots each; and each pot is numbered accordingly. The pot-book, therefore, is an exact transcript of the journal broken up into 16 parts or sections; and the total of the one should agree with that of the other. Each pot shows the number and mark of the ingots, the gross weight of each; the betterness and worseness and excess grains; and the quantity of alloy authorized to be added to bring the whole to standard.

The following table will suffice, as an example, to illustrate the previous description of a pot, as well as convey some idea of an importation (which consists generally of 100 ingots) showing the total gross weight, the rating, the excess grains, and the standard weight.

In the first table, the numbers are of course continued to the end in the journal, and the gross and standard weights are those of the whole importation of 100 ingots.

In the second table, the middle column represents the gross weight; the figures under, the alloy by computation; and the total, 1185-927, the standard weight.

**Gold Importation—January 10, 1854.**

*From the Governor and Company of the Bank of England, 100 Gold Ingots, viz.:*

| No. | Betterness | Assay Report | Weight | Excess grains | Total grains | Worseness | Remarks | |-----|------------|--------------|--------|---------------|-------------|-----------|---------| | A.C. 101 | 9 | -250 | B.1-01 | 197 | .35 | 4 | 788 | | | 102 | 3 | -899 | 3 | 112 | .35 | 4 | 448 | | | 103 | 3 | -667 | 2 | 112 | .25 | 4 | 448 | | | 104 | 5 | -893 | 3 | 133 | .35 | 7 | 933 | | | 123 &c. | Wo. 0-1 | 127 | .15 | 3 | 381 | -1 | .445 | | | 124 | 0-04 | 127 | .90 | 1 | 128 | 1 | .272 | |

860-933

10-071 Gross Weight, 16781-75

12)53181 2 .717

11)4431

403

870-564

2-717 Standard Wt. 17649-598

480)4834(10-071

Add 867-847

---

**Example of a Pot.**

*First Pot.*

| No. | Betterness | Gross weight | Excess grains | Worseness | |-----|------------|--------------|---------------|-----------| | LGK 61 | ... | ... | ... | ... | | 62 | ... | ... | ... | ... | | 63 | ... | ... | ... | ... | | D 362 | 8 | -801 | 187 | .75 | 188 | ... | ... | | 363 | 8 | -516 | 187 | .35 | 748 | ... | ... | | 364 | 8 | -681 | 185 | .20 | 185 | ... | ... | | 25 | -998 | 1159 | .70 | 12)1921 | 1 | -135 | | 364 | -364 | 25 | .227 | 160-083 | 14-553 | | 26 | -362 | 1 | -135 | 480)174-636 | | Standard weight | 1184 | .927 | 363-112 |

The pot-book having been verified and signed by the appointed officers, and the weight debited to the melting department in the books of the mint office, the gold bullion is then delivered over to the melter and arranged in trucks or boxes with square partitions, so that each pot is kept separate, and placed in order of its number—the marks and number of the ingots at the same time being compared with the pot-book.

The bullion thus consigned to the melting department, if not melted the same day, is locked up under the keys of the deputy-master or comptroller, the melter, and a junior clerk or assistant.

Previously to the bullion being charged into the pots, the furnaces are lighted by the workmen at an early hour, melting, and the pots gradually annealed, as they are liable to crack by too sudden an application of heat. This is done in the following manner:—black-lead pots calculated to contain rather more than 100 lbs. weight of gold, are placed in a series of furnaces 14 inches square, and 20 inches deep from the grate. On the grate, formed of six moveable... Coinage iron bars, supported by cross bars let into the brick-work, a stand is placed for the pot, usually cut from the bottom of an old pot, and the concavity being upwards it is filled with common coke dust, to prevent the adhesion of the pot to the stand. To give depth to the pot in the furnace, and allow of as much fuel as the furnace will hold, a muffle formed of baked clay is placed on the pot in such a manner that the rim of each will exactly fit, and the mouth of the muffle is covered with a flat cover made generally of black-lead. The object of this contrivance is to give an additional depth of four inches of fuel above the pot, by which a more equal degree of heat is given to the melted gold (an object of great importance); otherwise there might not be a uniform mixture of the alloy and fine gold, which is easily effected at a proper degree of temperature.

The pot being thus placed upright in the furnace, coke to the depth of a few inches is sprinkled round the pot, and a layer of ignited charcoal, previously prepared in another furnace, is thrown upon the coke, and the furnace then filled up with fuel. To prevent too rapid combustion the door of the furnace is left open, and the damper communicating with the flue is nearly shut; but when the pot is supposed to be properly annealed the furnace door is then closed, and the damper drawn out about half its length. When the pot is heated to a bright red the gold may then be charged, which is done simply by removing the cover from the top of the muffle, and with a pair of tongs carefully placing the ingots on the bottom of the pot. The gold being charged, the copper alloy, weighed by the comptroller or his representative, and checked by the melter, is added to it before being melted; some pulverized charcoal is thrown in to neutralize oxidation; and the furnace having more fuel applied is then shut up, and the damper drawn out. When the metal is thoroughly melted and the temperature deemed adequate, it is well mixed or stirred with a rod of black lead, fixed in tongs, heated to a bright red before putting it into the metal. The pot is then withdrawn from the furnace by first drawing a bar from the grate on each side of the pot, and forcing all the fuel into the ash-pit; a pair of tongs is then made to encircle the pot, to which is attached a lever, by which the pot is lifted upon the top of the furnace. By another pair of tongs, encircling the pot nearly round the middle, it is carried by a man balancing the weight in his hand, and the metal cast into four moulds—a sling from the roof running over a pulley being attached to the side of the tongs, so as to relieve the man who pours, and add a greater degree of steadiness to the operation. The man who holds the sling in one hand, with the other removes the charcoal from the spout of the pot by means of a stick, so as to give a clear stream to the metal. The pot, emptied of its contents, is returned to the furnace, the bars that were withdrawn replaced, and the ignited fuel taken from the ash-pit, thrown into the furnace round the pot, which is again charged with more gold. Such a pot, if carefully treated, may be safely used eight or ten times in the course of the day.

The weight of each pot of gold is from 90 lbs. to 105 lbs. troy, and in this manner it is melted properly in one hour, making four long bars of about 25 lbs. each, measuring 27 inches in length, 1\(\frac{1}{2}\) inch in breadth, and nearly one inch in thickness. Formerly four furnaces were found adequate to supply a large coinage of gold, turning out 40 pots, or 4000 lbs. weight a-day, which was accomplished in 11 or 12 hours. More could have been done, by an addition of furnaces and men, but the material could not be supplied beyond the power of the assay office; it being a rule that all assays concerning the coinage should be made within the mint, and on the sole responsibility of one officer. But, under the new system, that restriction has been abolished, in degree at least; and during the late great pressure for coin, assays were sent to private parties out of the mint, which enabled that establishment greatly to extend the gold coinage beyond what was ever experienced; and, consequently, additional furnaces became necessary to keep pace with it, which augmented the amount of gold melted on each day to 5000 lbs., or nearly one-quarter of a million sterling. During several months the amount of coined money delivered to the bank was L630,000, or 13,500 lbs. weight; and assuming that the bars melted produced 50 per cent. of coin, it would be necessary, to meet this extraordinary demand, to melt at least 27,000 lbs. a-week, or 4500 lbs. a-day; but we believe it exceeded this considerably, as a change in the remedy of the coin greatly increased the number of spoiled pieces, while, on the other hand, the questionable alteration of the assay department caused an immense increase of damaged work in the melting department, from errors and irregularities in the assays.

From each gold pot melted in the way described, two samples are cut for the assay, one from the first and another from the fourth bar cast. These are taken in the presence of an authorized officer, weighed carefully, and put up in slips of paper marked with the number of the pot, and then delivered to the master of the mint. The bars of gold being trimmed and cleaned are marked with consecutive numbers and a distinguishing letter, so that if any error should appear the pot can be identified and its composition traced. They are then weighed, two at a time, and the weight is registered in the day-book; and at the end of the day the assays and clippings are added to the account, so as to show the apparent waste that has taken place. The bullion after this is locked up in the melting-house stronghold, under three keys, and remains there till such time as the assay trials have been made, and an order for delivery transmitted by the master of the mint. This being done, the bars are carried to the office of receipt, and weighed in presence of an officer or clerk, who gives a receipt to the melter on the part of the coining department. On the other hand, when the melter receives what is commonly called scissell, spoiled blanks, and other pieces of metal which cannot be made into money, from the coining department, he likewise gives in the same book a receipt for the amount, distinguishing what is scissell, ends, blanks, and brokages. This specification of these returns was at one time a record of great importance, and constituted a check on the proceedings of the moneyers, who were required by the mint indenture to coin of good money seven-twelfths out of the bars delivered to them, minus the ends cut off, and hollow, brittle, or badly melted bars. Consequently the amount of scissell returned to melt should not exceed five-twelfths, and any amount beyond that was obviously to the prejudice of the melter. But now that the contract system no longer exists to cavil with carelessness and indifference, and no one's interest is affected by damaged work, the amount of scissell, by scrupulous nicety in the uniformity of the coin, has greatly increased, and consequently the expense of coinage, which is now defrayed out of the public treasury.

When silver bullion is imported into the mint for coinage, it passes through the same preliminary stages as gold; but as the crown actually purchases the silver, it also claims the right of the importer of bullion to any benefit derived from the enhanced value given by the mint assay; and this, along with the seigniorage, is carried to the public account. The average weight of silver ingots is about 1000 oz. troy; and they are marked, numbered, assayed, rated and potted for melting, nearly in the same way as described of gold bullion. The weight of a silver pot is as near 420 lbs. as can practically be attained; and, generally, five such ingots constitute a pot, with the proper proportion of alloy. Silver ingots are reported in ounces and pennyweights, with excess grains over the half pennyweight, and the standard computed to that of 11 oz. 2 dwt. fine silver, and 18 dwt. al- Coinage. loy. And, when it is found the silver ingots so imported are mixed of fine and coarse, in whatever proportions, it is the practice to combine some of each together in the same pot, adding the necessary alloy, so as to facilitate the fusion of the metal, and diffuse the alloy more uniformly.

The silver hitherto has been melted in cast-iron pots of a strong fabric, weighing about 1½ cwt. each; but these have recently been superseded by wrought-iron pots of about the same shape and dimensions, which possess some advantages over the others. The cast-iron pots referred to, and lifting and pouring machinery were introduced into the mint in 1811, and were deemed a prodigious improvement on the old, clumsy, and wasteful process of melting silver in small pots, while at the same time they enabled the mint with ease to cast 10,000 lbs. weight of silver daily into bars. At the same time iron moulds were brought into use, instead of those formerly used, which were made of sand.

The cast-iron pots, for many years after they were adopted, were found perfectly successful, and by means of them a great amount of bullion was melted safely, expeditiously, and economically, the waste of silver being much less than the usual allowance for loss by melting; but afterwards various circumstances, not originally foreseen, conspired to detract from the merit if not the utility of this alteration. In the first place, the quality of iron seems everywhere to have deteriorated, consequent, as some would infer, on the introduction of the hot-blast in reducing the ore; but more probably from the haste and rapidity with which it is manufactured. Whether from the original quality of the iron, the ignorance or carelessness of the founder, or both conjoined, it is certain that in subsequent years the cast-iron pots lost by degrees all the great advantages ascribed to them. In the second place, concurrent with the falling off in the castings themselves, the silver ingot, originally of 60 lbs. weight, in process of time augmented to 80 lbs. and above; and this, coupled with an excess of fine silver in the market, caused by a cheap process of refinance, rendered the fusion far more difficult and hazardous in cast-iron pots, because the degree of temperature necessary to melt fine silver bars of 1000 ows. each, is considerably higher than can safely be used with such a material; and in such cases the pot was found disabled before it had done a fourth part of the work required of it. Moreover, the iron melting and running from the bottom of the pot left large interior fissures partly filled with silver, difficult to extract, while, at the same time, the porous character of the iron caused a great absorption of the precious metal, which was recovered only in a small degree. The great care and attention, too, during the operation of melting under such circumstances, caused an excessive consumption of fuel, and a great loss of time.

In consequence of these defects and disadvantages, the subject was taken into consideration by Sir John Herschel, master of the mint; and ultimately forged iron pots (manufactured by Messrs Horton of the works at Smithwick near Birmingham) were tried first experimentally, and then adopted, having, by the severest trial, proved eminently successful. The prime cost of such pots is of course four or five times greater than those of cast iron; but it is conceived that is amply repaid in the end by a considerable saving of fuel, by greater safety, by economy of time and labour, and less waste of silver by accidents and absorption—to which may be added the greater amount of work of which they are capable. If we suppose the melting power of a cast-iron pot to be $10 \times 400 = 4000$ lbs. weight, which on the average is not much underrated; by actual experiment, it has been found that the melting power of a forged or wrought iron pot is, on a large average, $40 \times 400 = 16,000$ lbs., or four times as great; which, if maintained with regularity, would nearly compensate for the superior prime cost. It may, therefore, be assumed, that the latter pots will eventually supersede the former. The reason why they were not sooner introduced, or rather, why in former times they were tried and abandoned, is solely to be attributed to modern improvements, to skill, and perhaps science, applied to the manufacture of such articles.

We shall now proceed to a description of the machinery silver and furnaces of the silver melting department, together with melting, the mode of conducting the process.

The upper part of Plate CLXXXIII. is a perspective view of the machine for pouring the melted silver into the moulds to form the bars for coinage.

Fig. 1. A.A are the furnaces in which the metal is melted. They are air-furnaces, built of fire-brick, in the usual manner of melting furnaces; but to render them more durable the brick-work is cased in cast-iron plates, which are put together with screws. B.B are the covers to the furnaces, which are held down to the top plate of the furnaces by a single screw-pin for each; and on the opposite side of the cover a handle a is fixed. By pushing this handle, the cover is moved sidewise upon its centre pin, so as to remove it from the furnace mouth. A roller is fitted to the cover, to run upon the top plate, and render the motion easy.

The interior figure of each furnace is circular, 30 inches deep and 21 inches in diameter; the bottom is a grate of cast-iron bars, each bar being moveable to admit the air. Upon the grate, in the middle, is placed a pedestal or stand, also of cast-iron, of a concave shape, covered an inch thick with coke or charcoal dust, and upon which the pot is placed. The pedestal is nearly two inches thick, and is made fully two inches broader in its diameter than the pot, the object of which is to protect the lip of the pot from the action of the air ascending through the grate when the furnace is at work. As a higher temperature and quicker draught are used with the wrought-iron pots, than was formerly the case, the pedestal is found to melt; and as a substitute it is proposed to employ similar stands of baked fire-clay moulded to the shape. On the top or mouth of the pot a muffle is fitted, consisting of a ring of iron, six inches deep, the use of which is, as in the case of melting gold, to allow of a greater depth of fuel in the furnace than the mere length of the pot, and which also gives a greater degree of perfection to the process. The top of the ring or muffle is covered with a plate of cast-iron, to prevent the fuel from falling into the pot, and secure the metal against the action of the atmospheric air whilst in fusion. Each furnace has a flue 9 inches wide and 6 inches deep. The flue is 4 inches from the top of the furnace, and proceeding in a horizontal direction, extends to the flue C, which is 9 inches square, and is carried up in a sloping direction to the stack or chimney, 45 feet high from the grate of the furnace.

When the furnace doors BB are closed, the current of air which enters at the grate ascends through the body of the furnace, and causes the fuel, which is coke, to burn very intensely. The degree of heat required may be nicely regulated by a damper, fixed in the flue of each furnace, by the opening or shutting of which the necessary degree of heat may readily be obtained. The damper is a plate of wrought iron, fixed in a frame, and by it the space in the flue is increased or diminished at will. It is fixed in the brickwork of the sloping flue C, about 18 inches above the top of the furnace. The furnace doors B are furnished with small apertures to look into the furnace, which are closed by stoppers or moveable plugs of cast iron.

When the furnace is put to work, it is lighted by some ignited charcoal thrown into it, and around the pot, which is always in its place before the fire is lighted; and upon the charcoal coke is put so as nearly to fill up the furnace. It is customary also to sprinkle some coke previously on the bars of the grate to the depth of 2 or 3 inches, as the charcoal so placed is acted upon too quickly by the air. This being done, the door B may be shut, and the damper pulled out about 2 inches; but the same precautions required in the case of cast-iron pots are unnecessary with regard to those of wrought iron. In an hour or an hour and a half, the pot will have gradually attained a red heat, and then it is ready to receive the charge of silver. Soon after the silver is placed in the pot, the alloy necessary by computation to bring the whole mass to standard is added, and at the same time a quantity of coarsely pulverized charcoal is put in, sufficient to cover the surface of the metal when in a state of fusion, so that it should be protected from the action of the air, and thereby obviate any unnecessary refinement by oxidation of the alloy. When the silver is completely and properly melted, it is thoroughly stirred with an iron stirrer, so that the whole may be of a uniform mixture; and the degree of casting heat is ascertained by the surface of the metal being clear and bright; for, as the heat escapes rapidly through the pot when taken from the furnace, and as some time elapses before the whole contents can be poured off, the metal would set in the pot, or be cast too cold, if the required temperature were not previously attained. The pot is then taken out of the furnace by the crane (the fuel having been first forced into the ash-pit, by removing some bars from either side of the grate), and conveyed to the pouring machine, by which its contents are cast into the moulds.

Fig. 3 is the crane, supported by a strong column of cast-iron X, which is firmly fixed in masonry beneath the floor. The gibbet of the crane, marked WY, is cast in one piece; it has a collar at e, which fits upon a pivot formed at the upper end of the column X. At the lower part of the gib is a collar, which embraces the column near its base. On these two supports the gib turns freely round, so that its extremity W may be placed over either of the furnaces BB. The wheel work of the crane is supported in two frames zz, which are fixed to the gib by three bolts; it consists of a cog-wheel c upon the end of the barrel on which the chain winds, and a pinion b, which gives motion to the cog-wheel. The axis of the pinion has a winch or handle a at each end, to turn it round. The chain d from the barrel is carried up over the pulley at e, which is fitted in a part of the gib immediately over the pivot at the top of the column X. The chain then passes over the pulley W at the end of the gib, and has the tongs VT suspended to it. These are adapted to take up the pot between the hooks or claws T at the lower ends. The two limbs are united by a joint (like shears), and the upper ends V are connected with the great chain by a few links. The pot has a projecting rim round the edge, and an ear on each side into which the tongs fit, by which the pot is lifted out of the furnace. The pot being wound up to the required height by turning the handle a, the gib of the crane is swung round to bring the pot over the pouring machine, and it is lowered down into it for the convenience of swinging the crane round a worm fixed upon the column X at O; and a worm or endless screw is mounted in the frame z to work in the teeth of the wheel. When the screw is turned by a winch on the end of the spindle, it will cause the gib to move round on the column.

Fig. 2 represents that part of the pouring machine in which the pot is placed. M is an axis which is mounted in the frame of fig. 1, by the pivots at its ends. To this axis is fixed a cradle which receives the pot. The cradle is jointed together so as to open and shut, and the screw m draws the parts together until they closely embrace the pot. L is an arched rack, forming a continuation of the principal bars of the cradle. When the cradle is in its place, as in fig. 1, the rack L is engaged by a pinion K, and can therefore be elevated, so as to pour out the metal at a lip or spout which is made in the edge of the pot for that purpose. The axis of the pinion K is turned by means of a winch D, with a train of wheels DE, FG, and HI. The man who turns this winch stands before the pot, so as to see what he is doing. The frame of the pouring machine is sufficiently evident from the figure. It is so made as to leave an open space beneath for the carriage containing the moulds.

Fig. 4 is a separate view of a pair of ingot moulds. The two parts R and S put together form a complete mould, as shown in fig. 5. The upper edge or mouth is a little enlarged to facilitate the pouring of the metal. The part R has the bottom and one side formed on it, and the other half S has one side formed on it. The moulds are of cast iron, nicely planed and fitted together.

Since these drawings were made at the instance of the late Mr Robert Mushet, first clerk, melter, and refiner to the mint, great changes and improvements have been introduced with regard to the moulds for casting silver bars for coinage. Originally one kind of bar only was cast, as represented by the mould fig. 4; and this, being rolled, was subsequently cut into fillets by a circular pair of shears. Bars are now cast, for almost every denomination of coin of about an inch in thickness, 22 inches long, and of width just sufficient to allow of two pieces, after rolling, to be cut out diagonally from the width. By this means a great saving of metal is secured in the manufacture, and at the same time there is less variation in the weight of the pieces cut out, as there exists greater uniformity in the fillets or plates.

Though the bars are required to be of dimensions exactly proportionate to the coins to be made, it is not in all cases necessary to have separate and distinct moulds for that purpose; because a mould of a larger size may be reduced to a smaller by gauges inserted at the side of the moulds, or, as is now more perfectly done, by notches on the moulds themselves, equivalent to the diminution required, which throw forward one part of the mould when it comes in contact with the side bars, running from one end of the carriage to the other, as at p and q. In this manner a half-crown mould may be converted into a shilling; and a sixpenny mould into a fourpenny, &c.

Plate CLXXXIII., fig. 1, exhibits the carriage into which a row of these moulds is placed vertically, as shown at fig. 4; and after being arranged they are screwed closely together by screws at the sides of the carriage. The carriage, or frame itself, is supported on four wheels QQ, which run upon a railway. PP is a rack fixed on the carriage; in this rack a cog-wheel N acts; the cog-wheel is turned by a pinion, which has a handle O fixed upon it. By turning this handle the carriage is moved along the railway; and in this manner any one of the moulds (4) can be brought under the spout of the pot (2); then by turning the handle D the pot can be raised up and inclined, so as to pour the metal into the mould until it be full. Before the moulds are set up in the carriages, they are previously heated simply by sprinkling ignited charcoal over them; and before the metal is poured in they are well oiled with a sponge of tow fixed on an iron rod.

By the agency of this pouring machine, the whole contents of the pot, exceeding 400 lbs. of silver, can be poured off in a few minutes; and it is found by experience that the bars cast by it are as smooth, regular, and compact, as if they had been cast by the hand. But there is necessarily more spillage, prevented now in a great degree by side pinions fixed at the bottom of the carriages, which enable the moulds to be exactly adjusted to the varying curve of the metal as it flows from the spout of the pot. There are generally three or four carriages of moulds in daily use, so as to carry off the contents of four pots = 1600 lbs.; and when these are filled and the pots returned to their respective furnaces, the carriages are unscrewed, the silver bars taken out, quenched in water, and laid regularly upon a bench, where they are marked and numbered in their order: they are then trimmed, i.e. the rough edges cut off, and from each pot of 25 to 30 bars three specimens are Coinage, cut, one from the beginning, the middle, and end of the casting, which serve for assay trials, and which are put up in slips of paper and delivered to the master of the mint. The bars are then weighed in piles of about 100 lbs. each and registered in a book; and are locked up until an order is received to deliver them to the coining department.

In the silver melting-house there are eight melting furnaces, two cranes, and two pouring machines. Each crane stands in the centre of four furnaces, freely commanding the centre of each, and conveys the pots to the pouring machine. The eight furnaces may be worked three or four times daily, with an adequate supply of moulds and workmen; but generally four are found ample to keep pace with an ordinary coinage. If the eight furnaces were put in work, and the pots charged only three times a-day, then about 10,000 lbs. weight of silver could easily be melted in eight or nine hours, and with greater economy of labour and fuel, and far less waste of silver, than by any other process. When the operation is performed skilfully, and the metal not retained too long in the fire, it has been found that the oxidation of the alloy is less than it would be if melted in a black-lead pot, or in a larger pot of iron, and the silver dipped out, as in the Paris mint, where copper is added from time to time to the fused metal in such proportions as shall compensate for the destruction of the alloy.

When the melting department was carried on under a contract, with fixed rates of payment, the melter bore all the waste arising from the various operations, and at the end of each year made up his account with the master of the mint, and made good all deficiency from that source. His situation was, therefore, one of considerable risk and responsibility; and as his profit or income depended on the proceeds of his office, deducting the various expenses, as well as losses, it was obviously his interest to conduct the business in the most economical manner. But the contract system having terminated, at the instance of modern ideas of improvement, the whole charges and expenses of this department are now borne by the government, and at the end of each quarter the account is made up and the loss of precious metal written off.

The assays of the gold and silver bars, referred to before, upon which the standard coin is manufactured, were formerly made or tried in the mint by the Queen's assayer-master, who became responsible for the quality of the whole coinage; but under the new system the assays are sent by the master of the mint to persons out of the mint for examination, who are nominally attached to the establishment, but without any responsibility whatever. For this work they are paid a fee of 2s. 6d. for each assay; and when the coinage is considerable, very large emoluments are paid to these assayers, which has increased the expense of this branch beyond what it formerly was.

The master of the mint, on receiving the reports of the assays, orders the bullion which is represented by them to be delivered over for coining, condemning such pots or bars as he finds may deviate from the standard beyond a certain amount; and these are either remelted with some addition of alloy or fine gold, or simply combined and mixed together. From some cause not ascertained, the amount of work so condemned exceeds that under the old system, and thereby enhances the cost of the coinage.

The first process to which the bars of gold and silver are subjected is that of flattening, rolling, or laminating, in the rolling-mill. Both descriptions are rolled cold; but as the operation hardens the metal, making it liable to crack at the edges, at a certain stage the bars are cut into shorter pieces, and are annealed in a reverberatory furnace, quenched suddenly in water, and cleaned with dilute acid. They are then passed repeatedly through the rollers, and gradually reduced to the thickness of the coin required.

Fig. 6. is an elevation of one pair of rollers, and the wheel-work for giving motion to them. A is the upper, and B the lower roller; CC are the standards of the cast-iron frame which supports them. Each of these standards has an opening in it to receive the bearing-brasses for the pivots of the rollers. The upper roller is suspended in brasses regulated by the large screws FF, which admit of the rollers being placed at a greater or less distance asunder. This is shown by the separate figure of one of the screws; h h are the brasses, and k the hole to receive the pivot of the roller. On the upper part of the screw a collar f is fitted; and from this two bolts g g descend, and are fastened to the brasses h h with nuts beneath. By these the roller is suspended; but by turning the screw round, the brasses rise or fall. The brasses h h are fitted very accurately into the grooves or openings in the standards CC.

For the convenience of turning both screws round together, each has a cog-wheel F fixed on the upper end of it. These are turned by two worms HH, fixed on a common axis, having a handle G in front. See the plan, fig. 8. By turning this handle the upper roller is either raised or lowered as required, but will always remain parallel to the lower one. The two standards CC are firmly bolted down to the ground-sills DD, which are of cast iron, and are imbedded in the masonry EE. These standards are moreover united by bolts a. At the upper part S is a cross bar fixed between the standards to support a small table or platform, on which the metal is placed when it is to be presented to the rollers.

The rollers are put in motion by a steam-engine. The crank of the engine has a cog-wheel upon it, which turns a pinion. Upon the axis of this is a very heavy fly-wheel, which turns with great velocity. On the end of the same axis there is a pinion which turns a large wheel M, and this gives motion to a long shaft NN, which extends beneath the rollers, and is continued a sufficient distance in the same direction to turn other rollers which are omitted in the drawing. At L a wheel is fixed on this shaft to turn the upper roller A, by means of a wheel K, supported in the standards h h, and its axis is connected with a short shaft r r, with the square or the end of the roller A: r r are the sockets by which the shafts are joined, admitting of a little yielding when the roller is raised.

The wheel O is fixed on the shaft N, to turn the lower roller B, by means of the wheel P; but the wheels P and O do not touch, being of smaller diameters, and an intermediate wheel is applied on one side, so that its teeth engage with both the wheels O and P. In this manner the two rollers A and B are made to turn round in opposite directions, and then their adjacent surfaces will move together. The wheel P is supported in standards p p, and its axis R is connected by a shaft Q with the lower roller B.

In the rolling-room there are two long shafts connected with the fly-wheel of the steam engine, running parallel to each other at a convenient distance, which drive various smaller rollers, and shears to cut the bars.

Fig. 7 is a gauge to ascertain the thickness of the plates, which are reduced by the operation of the rollers. It consists of two steel rulers fixed fast together at one end, and at the other end a certain distance asunder, forming an opening between them which gradually diminishes to nothing. The sides of the rulers are graduated; and in using this gauge to ascertain the thickness of a piece of plate, the edge of the plate is applied to the opening between the rulers, and the divisions of the rulers show the distance it will go into the mouth or opening before it fits tight, and the thickness is ascertained by the number of the divisions.

Plate CLXXXV., figs. 3 and 4, represent a machine, or pair of circular shears used in cutting copper into plates or slips of a convenient width; formerly used in much the same manner to cut the plates of silver from the rolling mill; but this is now superseded by improvements introduced into the mode of casting bars of various dimensions, as before described.

LL is a strong iron frame screwed down to the ground-sills of the mill, so that the cog-wheel D will be immediately over the shaft which turns the rolling-mill, and can be turned by a cog-wheel upon that shaft. The cog-wheel D is fixed upon a horizontal axis BB, supported in the frame LL. AA is a similar axis placed at the top of the frame, and turned round by a cog-wheel C, which engages with the wheel D. On the extreme end of each axis A and B a wheel or circular cutter E and F is fixed. The edges of these cutters lie in close contact laterally, and overlap each other a little. Whilst they are turning round, if the edge of a plate of metal is presented to them it will be cut or divided just in the same manner as by a pair of shears. H is a narrow shelf upon which the plate is supported when pushed forwards to be cut, and G is a guide fixed upon the shelf: the edge of the plate of metal is applied against this guide when about to be cut. The guide is moveable, and the distance at which it stands back from the cutting edges or line of contact of the two cutters EF, determines the breadth of the slip of metal to be cut off.

Fig. 7, Plate CLXXXV., represents a pair of finishing rollers, viewed at the end of the frame, in order to show the manner of adjusting them; for it is only in those parts that they differ from the great rollers. The letter a shows one of the pivots or centres of one of the upper rollers, which is accurately fitted in a collar of brasses; which collar is held down in a cell at the top of the standard by a cap d, with two bolts and nuts. These are not intended for the adjustment of the rollers, as in the former instance—the lower roller being moved for this purpose. The pivot b of the lower roller is received in a brass bearing, which is moveable in the opening in the standard frame. The brass rests upon a wedge e, fitted in a cross mortice through the standard. By forcing the wedge farther in the brass of the lower roller, it will be moved nearer to the upper roller. The standard at the other end of the rollers is made in the same manner, and the wedges of both must be moved at the same time. To give them motion, a screw f is fitted into each wedge, and upon these screws are worm-wheels g, which are both moved by worms cut upon a horizontal axis that extends across from one side of the frame to the other, having a handle at the end by which to turn it round, and give motion to the screws and wedges both in an equal degree: l is the table on which the metal is laid to present it to the rollers.

Plate CLXXXIV., contains drawings of an ingenious and beautiful machine, invented by the late Sir John Barton, comptroller of the mint,—the object and purpose of which was to give a greater degree of accuracy to the thickness of the plates of metal. It is a draw-bench for drawing the slips of metal between dies, or steel cylinders, so as to destroy the inequalities of the plates after they have left the rolling-room. The operation is similar to wire-drawing.

Figs. 1, 2, and 3 represent a small machine for thinning the ends of the slips of metal, in order to enable them to enter between the dies through which the whole plate is to be drawn. It is a small pair of rollers, which are shown on a large scale in fig. 1; A is the upper roller, and B the lower, which has three flat sides as represented; C shows the slip of metal put between the rollers; D is a stop adjustable in the line of motion of the slip of metal C. Fig. 2 is an end view, and fig. 3 a side view, of the frame or machine in which the rollers are mounted. AB are the rollers, which are made to turn round together by pinions ab. F is a large cog-wheel, fixed on the end of the axis of the lower roller. This cog-wheel is turned by a pinion G, fixed on an axis extended across the machine, and having a fly-wheel fixed on one end, and at the other a drum H, to receive an endless strap, by which the machine is put in motion: a crank is formed on the middle of this axis, and a rod d is joined to the crank to connect it with the moving blade K of a pair of shears, of which the other blade L is fixed to the frame. The distance of the rollers is regulated by a screw ee at the top of each standard. These screws have pinions at the top of them, and are turned round by another pinion placed between them, and engaging the teeth of both pinions, so as to give motion to the two screws at the same time, when the middle wheel is turned round by a cross handle fixed to the top of it. If the slips of metal to be put into this machine are not exactly square at the ends, they are cut off smooth and even by the shears, which keep constantly moving; and at the same time slices of metal are cut from each side diagonally, so as to narrow the point of intrusion. The end of the slip is then presented between the rollers, not on that side which would draw it in between the rollers, as in common rolling, but on the opposite side; and when one of the flat sides of the lower roller comes opposite to the upper roller, then the piece of metal can be pushed forward between the two until the end stops against the stop D, as in fig. 1; and as both rollers turn round, and the flat side of the lower one passes by, the cylindrical parts of the roller will take the plate between, and roll or press it thinner at that end which is between the stops and the point of contact of the rollers.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the drawing machine at work.

Figs. 7 and 8 represent a section, to show how the plate of metal C is drawn between the dies by the tongs, fig. 7.

Fig. 4 is a section of the steel dies. They are two cylinders AB of steel, very hard, and turned with extreme smoothness and exactness. These are fitted into two sliders DD, and are held fast by clamp-pieces EE screwed against them. The cylinders are very accurately fitted into their beds in the slides, so that the steel shall be firmly supported, and prevented from bending or turning round, and presenting but a small portion of their circumference against the slip of metal. The sliders D are fitted into a box, figs. 8 and 9; they fit flat on the bottom of the box, and two clamps FF are screwed against the sliders to confine them to the box. The lower slider is supported by two screws ff, and the upper slider is forced down by a large screw G, having a cog-wheel fixed on the top of it, with a pinion and lever to turn the screws round very slowly, and regulate the distance between the dies. H is a clamping nut, fitted upon the screw, to avoid any tendency to shaking. The sliders are also bound fast sidewise, by screws tapped through the sides of the box, the points of which press upon steel plates between them and the sliders. In order to render the contact between the points of the screws supporting the under slider, and the point of the adjusting screw forcing the upper slider, still more complete—two extending screws are introduced at the ends of the dies between the sliders, by which a sufficient degree of contact to overcome the spring of the materials may be secured before the dies come into action on the slip of metal.

The box with the dies is fixed at one end of a long frame, as shown in fig. 5. This frame supports two axes AA, one at each end. Upon these axes wheels are fixed to receive the endless chains BB, moving along a sort of trough or railway formed on the top of the frame. The chains are kept in motion by a cog-wheel C, fixed upon the axis most remote from the box of dies. This cog-wheel is turned by a pinion D, on the axis of which is a wheel E; and this wheel is turned by a pinion F, on the axis of the drum G, moved by an endless band proceeding from some of the wheels in the mill, and which is thrown in and out of gear at pleasure by the tightening roller. The plate of metal is drawn through the dies by the chain, with a pair of tongs, Coinage.

Figs. 6 and 7; and ab are the two jaws of the tongs, united to each other by the pin c. This has a small roller or wheel fitted on each end to run upon the railway on the top of the frame: dd are a similar pair of wheels, the axle of which is connected with two links ee; this axle passes between the tails of the tongs, but is not fixed to them. The ends of the links have a double hook formed on them, as shown at fig. 7. The tongs run upon their wheels immediately over the endless chain, so that, when the end of the links ee is pressed down, one of the hooks catches on a cross pin of the chain, as in fig. 7. The axle of the wheels dd, acting between the inclined parts of the tails of the tongs, tends to throw them asunder, and, at the same time, the jaws of the tongs bite with very great force, while the links ee draw the tongs along with the chain BB. The links are carried a long way beyond the axle of the wheels, and have a sufficient weight h fastened to them, which will lift up the hooked end f, and disengage it from the chain, except when there is a considerable strain on the tongs.

To use this machine, let us suppose a man to take hold of the tongs by the handle r, when disengaged from the chain, and push the tongs forward towards the box of dies. The tongs run freely upon their wheels, and the jaws open when moved in that direction, because two small pins ii are fixed across between the links, and acting on the outside of the tails of the tongs close them together, and thus open the jaws at the same time. The tongs are pushed up close to the box with the dies, and the jaws enter a recess N, fig. 8, formed for that purpose. Then with the other hand a plate or slip of metal is taken, previously made thin by the rollers, fig. 1, and introduced between the dies (on the opposite side), and also between the jaws of the tongs, which are open. The man who holds the tongs now takes the handle s, fixed on the back of them, and holds it fast, whilst with the other hand he draws the handle r, at the end of the links, away from the tongs. This has the effect of closing the mouth of the tongs upon the slip of metal. At the same time that he depresses the handle r, the hook at the end of the links ee will be caught by the first cross pin of the chain which comes beneath them. This puts the tongs in motion; but the first action is to close the jaws and bite the plate of metal with great force, in consequence of the axle-tree of the wheels being placed between the inclined planes of the tongs. When the tongs have thus closed on the metal, they move along with the chain, and draw the plate through the dies, which, operating upon the thicker parts of the plate with greater effect than upon the thin, reduce the whole to an equal thickness. When the whole length is drawn through, the strain upon the tongs is instantly released, and the weight lifting up the hook at the other end of the links, they are ready to be again advanced to the dies to draw another plate. The frame, fig. 5, contains two pairs of dies, and the same wheel serves for both.

The plates so drawn are cut up into shorter lengths, and out of each piece a blank is cut by a hand-cutter and weighed, and if on this trial the plate is found accurate, it is sent to the cutting-out machine; but if the blank indicates too much weight, the slip of metal is passed through a pair of rollers to reduce it.

The slips of metal produced from this machine are considerably more uniform in thickness than when finished at the adjusting rollers, consequently the individual pieces are made more nearly to the standard weight, which was the chief object contemplated by the inventor. There must be also a great saving of damaged blanks, or spoiled pieces, accruing from the use of this ingenious machine.

The plates of metal thus prepared by the draw-bench are cut out into circular pieces nearly the size of the intended coins; two pieces being cut out of the width of the plate, diagonally. This is done by the cutting-out press, fig. 1, Plate CLXXXV. CCCC is a cast-iron frame fitted on a stone basement. E is the screw, fitted through the top of the frame, which moves the slider F. At the lower end of the slider a steel punch a is fixed, having a diameter exactly equal to that of the pieces to be cut out. C is the steel die, which has a hole in it of a proper size to fit the steel punch; d is a box with screws for adjusting the die, so that the hole in it be exactly beneath the punch.

The slider F is fitted into a socket G, which so guides it that it shall descend correctly into the hole in the die: b is a piece of iron fixed at a small distance above the die c, which has a hole through it to admit the punch. The use of it is to hold down the piece of metal when the punch rises, otherwise the piece would stick to the punch.

On the upper end of the screw a piece Q is fixed, and an arm projects from it with a weight P at the end; and it is this weight that gives the necessary momentum to punch out the blank. D is a spindle fixed upon the piece Q in the line of the screw, supported in a collar A at the upper end, and above the collar a lever DGF is fixed; at one extremity of this lever there is a roller F acted upon by projecting teeth, which are fixed in the rim of a large horizontal wheel turned round by a steam-engine. This action is explained by fig. 2, which is a horizontal plan of the upper part of the axis. SS is a part of the rim of the large wheel, and T one of the projecting cogs, which, when the wheel turns in the direction of the arrow, will take the roller F at the end of the lever FD, and turn the lever round in that direction, winding up the screw and elevating the punch at the same time. This action also draws a rod H, connected with the lever by a joint, while the other end of this rod is connected with a bented lever, from the other arm of which a rod descends having a piston fixed to it. This piston is fitted into a close cylinder, and hence when it is elevated it makes a vacuum in the cylinder, and the pressure of the atmosphere on the piston causes a reaction. The instant that the roller F escapes or slips off from the tooth I, the reaction of the piston draws the joint H back, and makes the screw turn round in that direction, causing the punch to descend into the die; and in this manner it will pierce out a blank from a plate of silver or gold, laid upon the die, exactly of the same size as the punch. When the machine requires to be stopped, a catch K is allowed to rise up and hook the lever G, so that it cannot return by the action of the exhausted cylinder and pierce the plate. This catch is shown in fig. 8. At K it is moveable on a joint l, and is thrown upwards by a spring k. To this spring a cord O is fastened, and the lower end of the cord has a treadle attached to it. The boy who applies the plates of metal to the machine places his foot upon the treadle, and draws down the spring and the catch K, and then the machine will make a cut every time that a cog T of the great wheel S passes by; but if he relieves the treadle, then the spring k lifts up the catch K, as in fig. 8; and when the end of the lever G comes over the catch, it will be caught by it and held fast from returning by the action of the exhausted cylinder. The joint l of the catch is made at the top of a long lever IN, of which m is the centre pin, when the lever G is detained by the catch K: if the end N of the lever is drawn towards fig. 1, it draws the lever G still farther, so that the roller F will be raised quite clear of the tooth T of the great wheel; and thus prevents any unnecessary wear of the machinery when the process is stopped.

Twelve of the cutting-out presses, fig. 1, are arranged in a circle round the great wheel SS, which is turned by a steam-engine, and has a large fly-wheel fixed upon the same axis, just above the wheel S, to regulate the motion. The air-cylinders are concealed within hollow pilasters, which ornament the walls of the room: the rod H is jointed to a piece h, fitted to slide upon the lever FG, and moved by the screw I, so as to allow it to be fixed at any required distance from the centre, and give a greater or less effect to Coinage.

The reaction of the exhausted cylinder. R, fig. 1, is a strong wooden spring, against which the balance-weight P strikes to stop its motion, when it has made its required stroke to pierce the plate of metal.

This machine was invented by Boulton of Soho, but in mechanical contrivance it is esteemed to be far behind the age.

The blanks, after being cut out by this machine, are carried to what is technically called the sizing-room, where each piece of gold is accurately weighed in a small pair of scales, and rung on a sounding iron, while the silver blanks are tested by taking the average weight of a certain number of pieces. In this operation a remedy or allowance is taken on each piece of gold, and if the blanks exceed that weight or fall short of it, they are rejected for melting, no rasp or file being, as formerly, allowed to adjust them to the standard weight. This remedy having been recently reduced by one half, the amount of spoiled pieces has greatly increased, to the prejudice of the public expenses, and, as far as we can see, without any counterbalancing advantage. Extreme accuracy, like gold, may be purchased too dear.

Nothing could be more clumsy, inartificial, or unscientific, than the mode pursued for so many years in sizing or weighing the blank pieces; but now we have the satisfaction to note, amongst other minor improvements in the mint (so far behind the age in mechanical invention), the introduction recently of a series of beautiful and highly-finished weighing machines, which reject both heavy and light pieces with great precision; but as these do not properly come under the subject of coinage, we shall refrain from wearying the reader with a minute description of them, or the principles on which they are constructed.

The next operation is that of milling or raising the edge of the blanks after they have left the sizing-room, to prevent the coins being clipped or filed—a fraud commonly practised upon the ancient money made before the introduction of milling and lettering round the edge. The construction of the milling-machine will be easily understood upon the inspection of figs. 5 and 6, Plate CLXXXV., the former being an elevation, and the latter a plan of the same. The parts which operate upon the blank-piece consist of two steel bars or rulers, dd and ee, the adjacent edges of which are cut or fluted. The bar ee is immovable, being fastened down by two clamps kk to a cast-iron plate DD, forming the base of the whole machine; the other bar dd is prevented from rising by the pieces gg, but has the liberty of moving backwards and forwards in the direction of its length, and is guided in such movement by laying half its thickness in a groove formed in the plate DD. A rack CC is fixed to the moving ruler which engages the teeth of the wheel B, mounted on an axis lying across at right angles to the ruler, and supported at its ends by two standards rising up from the plate DD. On one end of this axis a handle is fixed to give motion to the machine. The ruler ee can be made to approach nearer to or recede farther from the ruler dd by the two screws ff, so as to be taken in different sized pieces between them. The operation of the machine is very simple. Two blanks being placed between the edges of the rulers, the handle A is turned round half a turn, which moves the ruler dd endwise sufficient to mark the blank all round the edge. The two milled pieces being then taken out, and two others inserted between the rulers, the handle is turned round in an opposite direction, which carries the ruler dd back again to the position in which it first stood, and thus two more pieces are marked. This description may suffice to illustrate the principle of the marking-machine. But by gradual improvement several practical alterations of great importance have been introduced; and the machines have been multiplied in number, and increased in efficiency, to keep pace with the great coiningages of modern times. They are now worked by steam, and many pieces are marked at the same time with great rapidity, while one man suffices for attendance on each machine. By means of a hopper fixed above the machine the blanks are supplied, and the machine feeds itself, the marked pieces falling into a vessel placed beneath.

By the various operations described, the blanks are found Annealing to have acquired a great degree of hardness, overcome in the following manner, so as to prepare them to receive the impression of the die. The blanks are placed regularly in rows in a case of iron which contains 2804 gold pieces, and a wrought-iron cover is placed over them, and carefully fitted round the edges with soft clay, to exclude the action of the outward air: the case is then hoisted by a pulley and tongs and placed on a small carriage running in grooves, which is consigned to a reverberatory furnace, where it is allowed to remain till the blanks have attained a dull-red heat. It is then taken out by the same apparatus, and the contents are emptied into copper cullenders, which are placed over a fire in a boiler containing a very weak solution of sulphuric acid; and the blanks are then well washed or rinsed in cold water. On the action of the hot acid, the pieces are not only relieved from all oil and stains on the surface, but as regards gold, it assumes the bright colour of fine gold, while it gives to silver a dull or frosted appearance, supposed to add to the beauty of the coins when stamped. In the process a minute portion of the alloy is dissolved from the surface by the acid. As copper is more easily acted upon by acids, the blanks of that metal are allowed to remain for some time in a very weak mixture of cold acid and water, which gradually removes the stains and restores the colour. The blanks having been thoroughly dried, first by riddling them in warm saw-dust, and then by turning them over a slow fire, they are prepared for the next process, which constitutes them coins of the realm.

Plate CLXXXVI. is a coining or stamping press, of which eight exist in the mint. Fig. 1 is an elevation of the press; of stamping CCB is a strong cast-iron frame, firmly screwed down upon a stone basement by the screws cc; the upper part B is perforated perpendicularly to receive the screw DD. One of the steel dies which strike the coin is fixed to the lower end of this screw by a box 4, and the other die is fixed in a box 6, fastened down upon the base of the press. The heavy balance-weights RR are fixed on the top of the screw, which, being turned round, presses the upper die down upon the blank piece of coin which is laid upon the lower die, and gives the impression—a sufficient force being obtained from the momentum of the loaded arms RR. The motion is communicated to the screw by a piece A, which ascends to the ceiling of the coining-room, and is worked by an engine, with machinery placed in the apartment over the coining-room. A steam-engine of 10-horse power exhausts a large air-chamber, and forming a vacuum, gives motion to an air-engine which works a series of air-pumps communicating with the machinery of the stamping-presses; and it is found that the movement communicated in this manner is more equable and regular than by a common condensing engine, necessary in machinery where the different movements, as in the stamping-presses, require to be extremely regular and exact both in time and motion.

Eight presses, similar to fig. 1, are placed in a row upon the stone basement, and strong oak pillars are erected at intervals upon the basement which reach to and support the ceiling. Each press is contained between four such pillars, and iron braces are fixed horizontally from one pillar to another on the opposite side. These braces support blocks of wood, against which the ends RR strike, to stop them from moving farther than necessary, as, without such precaution, the hard steel dies would sometimes come in contact and be broken. The piece of blank coin is contained within a steel ring or collar whilst it is stamped, and this preserves its circular figure. Being a little larger in diameter than the collar, it is by the blow forced into the col- Coinage, lar, and spreading, receives the impression on the edge from the collar. The ring or collar is shown of a large size at W in fig. 5. V is a three-pronged spring, which always bears the ring upwards; the opening through the ring W is made to fit upon the neck of the lower die, fig. 6. When the ring is dropped upon the neck of the die, the upper surface of the ring and of the die will be in one plane. The ring admits of being raised up upon the neck, and will then form a recess or cell just adapted to receive a piece of money. The collar W is made to rise and fall upon the neck of the die by means of the levers GG, fig. 5; these are fitted upon centre pins or joints in a large ring gg placed on the outside of the box, fig. 6, containing the lower die, and is fixed fast upon it, as shown at 5 and 6, fig. 1, by damping the screws gg. The levers GG are forked at the outer ends to admit studs at the lower ends of iron rods EE, which rise up through holes in the solid metal of the press, and are united to a collar G fitted on the upper part of the screw D. When the screw of the press is turned back, and the upper die raised up, the rods elevate the outside ends of the short levers G, while the inside ends depress the ring. A blank piece of money being laid upon the die, and the screw turned to bring the upper die upon it ready to stamp the impression, the levers G are released, and the triple spring V lifts the collar up, so that it surrounds the blank, and in this state the blow is struck. Immediately after, the press returns by its recoil, and then the levers G force the collars down upon the neck of the die and leave the piece free. The lower die is fixed in a box, fig. 6, by force screws tt, which admit of adjusting it with precision beneath the upper die. The box, fig. 6, is screwed down upon the base of the press by four screws. The upper die is shown at S, fig. 3, which explains how it is fastened to the screws; vv are four screws by which the die is held in the box, fig. 3. The box is fitted into a ring or collar, as shown by the dotted lines F; see also fig. 1. The arms of the collar F are attached to the rods EE by two nuts at each end, and this makes the collar F and the box 3 always follow the screw, and keep a close contact with the end of the screw which enters into a cell in the top of the box, fig. 3, but leaves the screw at liberty to turn round independently of the box.

Fig. 2 is a ring fastened by its screws vv, to the screws of the press; a claw V descends from the ring and enters the cavity o, in the edge of the box, fig. 3, which cavity is near three times as wide as the claw V, and therefore allows the screw to turn round for a certain distance without turning the box, fig. 3; but beyond the limits of this motion the screw and die will turn together. The intention of this is to press the upper die down upon the coin with a twisting or screwing motion; but if the die should rise up with a similar motion, it would abrade and destroy the fine impression; for this reason the notch o is so wide as to allow the screw to return and raise the die from immediate contact with the coin before it begin to turn round with the same motion as the screw.

Fig. 4 is a box screwed over the box for the upper die, as shown in fig. 1, in order to keep the latter firm in its cell.

The great screw of the press is made cylindrical at the upper and lower ends, as may be seen at DD, fig. 1, and these ends are accurately fitted in collars, bound tight by the screws aa. The real screw or worm part concealed within the solid metal case B, has no other office than to force the die down, the guidance laterally being effected by the collars aa.

It now remains to show by what contrivance the press is made to remove the pieces when stamped, and to feed itself with fresh blanks, so as to maintain the operation continuously.

Fig. 1, HIK, is a lever, of which I is the fulcrum, supported on a bar Q, fixed vertically from the cheek of the press, and kept steady by a brace h. The upper end of the lever is actuated by a sector T (see fig. 7), fixed upon the screw D. When the screw turns round, the groove in the sector, being of a spiral curve, will move the end H of the lever to and from the screw; and the lower end K of the lever being longer, it moves a considerable distance to and from the centre of the press; b is a socket or groove in a piece of metal fixed to the perpendicular bar Q, and the upper end of the lever H is guided in this groove to prevent any lateral deviation.

The lever K gives motion to a slider L, fig. 8, supported in a socket O, screwed against the inside cheek of the press, and the slider 8 is directed exactly to the centre of the press, and on the level of the upper surface of the die.

Figs. 8, 9, and 10, represent three views of the slider and socket. NMO is a kind of trough in which the slider runs. This slider is formed of two pieces hollowed out on the sides, which are put together, and the two pieces are held together by screws. O is the part by which the socket is fastened to the press. The slider is a thin steel plate p (see also fig. 10); it is made in two pieces, P and p, united by the joint q. The extreme end is formed with a circular cavity; and when the two limbs shut together as represented, they will grasp a piece of money between them and hold it by the edge; but if the limbs be separated, the piece will drop out. The limb p of the slider is opened or shut by the same movement which moves the slider endwise in its socket. Thus a plate L is applied flat beneath the socket MN, having an edge turning up, and applying to the upright edge of the socket. A pin is fixed into this edge, and is embraced by the fork at the lower end of the lever K, fig. 1. By this means the sliding piece L is made to move on the outside of the socket N; and is kept in its place by a fillet k, fig. 9, screwed to the upright edge of L, while the fillet enters a groove formed along the upper surface of the socket N.

The sliding piece L is made to move the steel slider within the socket, by means of three studs which project upwards from the bottom plate of L, fig. 10, at r r s, and pass through grooves in the bottom plate of the slider, so as to act upon the steel slider P, in the manner shown at fig. 10. The left-hand piece r is received into an opening in the middle of the slider P, fig. 10. The other two studs r and s include the shank of the limb p between them, and these studs are cut inclined, so that when the piece L is moved to the right, the studs r s will close the limb p until they are shut, and then the studs will carry the slider forward; but if the sliding piece L is moved to the left, its studs will first close the limbs, and then draw back the slider. On the top of the socket N, a tube M is placed, intended to contain the blanks to be coined. The tube is open at the bottom of the slider, and the pieces rest upon it. When the screw of the press is screwed down, the slider P draws back to its farthest point, and the circle formed at the end between its limbs comes exactly beneath the tube M; the limbs being open, a blank piece of coin drops down into the circle of the slider, then the screw of the press, in returning, moves the lever HIK and the piece L; this again acts by its studs upon the moveable limb p, and closes it upon the blank piece. The studs, having now found a reaction, push the slider P forwards in its socket, and carry the piece of coin forward upon the die, as shown in fig. 1, while at the same time it will push off the piece that has been struck. The screw having now arrived at its highest position, begins to descend, and the slider L to return; but the first action of the studs of the sliding piece L is to open the limb p, and then the slider withdraws, leaving the piece of money placed upon the die. As the screw of the press descends, the ring W, fig. 5, rises up to inclose the piece as before mentioned, whilst it receives the stroke, and the slider P at the same time returns to take another piece from the tube M in the same manner as before described. By these ingenious and effective contrivances, each coin is perfectly stamped with one blow of the press; and the quickness and nice adjustment of the various movements are such, that each press can coin or stamp between 60 and 70 pieces a minute.

Fig. 11 is a section to show the manner of mounting the lower die for a coining press. V is a piece of metal or box as it is placed upon the base of the press, held down by a ring with screws t, which holds it fast, but admits of lateral adjustment. In the top of the box is a hemispherical cavity to receive the hemisphere W; the upper side of which is flat, and the die T is placed upon it to hold the die down; it has a small projecting rim at the lower edge, and a rim X is screwed upon the outer edge of the box V, which binds the die down. The object of this plan is, that the die may always bear fairly to the money which is to be struck.

Figs. 12 and 13 represent a divided collar for striking money with letters round the edge. X is a very strong piece of iron, having a circular opening through the centre. Into this six segments w w are fitted, and a circular space or opening W is left in the centre, the size of the piece of money to be impressed. The inner edges of these segments are engraved with the letters or device required to be impressed on the edge of the piece. The segments are fitted in the piece X, by centre pins y, fig. 12, upon one of which pins each segment can rise in the manner of a centre. The intention of this is to have a piece of money placed on the die within the space W; and when the pressure is made upon the piece, the die descends some space, and by this motion the segments close together around the edge of the coin, and leave the impression on it. When all the segments come into one plane, the die becomes firmly seated, and the metal receives the stroke which makes the impression on its surfaces. The die is suspended in a sort of cup, which rises and falls with the screw, nearly the same as the collar F in fig. 1.

During the process of coining, a man in attendance continually inspects specimens of the coins as they issue from the press, in order to detect any fault or blemish in the dies, while another is engaged in examining the money collected from the presses in wooden trays, who throws out for melting any pieces imperfectly stamped, &c. The coin so examined is weighed up in what are called journey-weights; the gold in 15 lbs. and the silver in 60 lbs. troy; and before delivery, the former are passed through the weighing machine to detect finally any pieces deviating too much from the standard weight.

On appointed days the coins, placed in bags of the weight before mentioned, are then delivered over to the office of receipt, in the mint office, where they again undergo inspection by the proper officers, and are pyxed.

By the process of pyxing, as it is technically called, the weight and fineness of the coined money is determined before it is delivered to the importer or to the public. It consists in taking from every journey-weight of gold and silver a pound in tale promiscuously, which is weighed in an accurate balance, the plus or minus over or under the standard weight being declared by the weigher, and recorded by the clerk. This determines within certain limits whether the money has been made within the remedy allowed by law. From the same pound weight of silver or gold, two pieces are taken, the one for the master of the mint, to be assayed, in order to test the fineness of the whole coin; the other for subsequent examination at the general trial of the pyx; and the coins so taken, one from each journey or bag, are sealed up in a packet, and put into a chest, called the pyx-box, locked up under the separate keys of the master and comptroller, there to remain until the general trial of the pyx referred to. When the assay-trial of the piece has been examined and proved to be of the legal standard, which, in this case, is taken as the average of the whole journey-weight, the master of the mint authorizes the money to be delivered to the importers of the bullion, who give a proper receipt for the same.

The general trial of the pyx takes place at irregular periods before a jury selected by the lord chancellor, and comprehends an examination by weight and assay of all the money coined during a given time; and the verdict delivered by the foreman of the jury to the chancellor relieves the master of the mint from further responsibility as regards the past. While the company of moneyers were intrusted with the coining of the money, the trial of the pyx was uniformly favourable to their skill and accuracy, as well as to the skill and vigilance of that important and responsible check officer, the Queen's assay-master; but as no trial has yet (1854) taken place under the new system, we are unable to draw any conclusion from it, either in point of skill or accuracy.

The company of moneyers, like the melter, carried on their business by a contract or agreement with the master of the mint for the time being, by which they were bound to make good all waste or loss accruing in their department, as well as to supply labour and materials. Now salaried officers conduct the various operations connected with coining, the government taking upon itself the general expenses, the risk, and responsibility; and all waste in manufacture or loss from other causes is borne by the public, and defrayed out of the treasury. Formerly, the moneyers and melter gave heavy bonds of security to the master of the mint, as a guarantee against loss. Now no security whatever is exacted from any officer acting under the master, except from the person employed in superintending the melting department.

Under these circumstances, it is a question which time alone can solve, whether the government can manage an establishment like a mint (which, after all, is only a factory), as safely and economically as if carried on by contracts or agreements at moderate rates of payment.

It remains for us briefly to describe the method pursued in making the dies for coining.

An original die is engraven upon a piece of soft cast steel of the size of the money to be coined. The device or design is, of course, cut into the steel, and its depth is proportionate to the relief ultimately wanted upon the coin. When the engraving is finished, the die, or matrix, as it is called, is hardened; a process requiring considerable care and attention. It frequently happens, that in this process, either from the steel being faulty or heated to excess, the die flies in pieces, and the whole labour of the artist is lost. When, however, the matrix proves to be perfect, it is placed in the multiplying die press, which works in every respect like a coining press, but is moved by men. An impression is taken from the matrix upon a blank die of cast steel, similar to the mode of impressing the money. The blank die is fixed as the lower die of the coining press, and by working the screw of the press, which has very long and heavily loaded arms, the matrix is made to strike the blank die with great force, and bring its impression in relief upon the surface. The hardness, by compression of the steel, is so great, that a perfect impression of the engraving cannot be obtained without annealing the die, perhaps twice or thrice in an iron pot with animal charcoal, allowing it to cool gradually. An impression taken in this way is called a punchen die. When the engraver has given all the delicate outlines of the original to it, it is hardened in the same manner as its original, and used to give the impression to blank dies by a similar process; but in this case the impression is sunk, instead of being in relief. These are the dies employed to stamp the money.

The punchen by which the die is stamped is therefore hard, and the blank die soft steel. The process of hardening is effected by immersing the punchen in cold water after being heated; that of softening, by placing the dies in a pot covered with animal charcoal in a furnace, and then allowing them to cool slowly and gradually in the pot. The blank dies are formed of cylindrical pieces of steel nicely turned and polished, having one end square and the other of a conical shape. By the first blow given by the press the cone has disappeared, and the impression becomes visible on the surface. Several blows of the press are required to perfect a die; and between each die is softened in the manner before described. After the first blow, the die is taken to a turning-lathe to shave off the rim of metal round the impression, so as to allow the second blow to deepen the impression without spreading the steel.

The amount of work done by the dies varies exceedingly; depending, first, on the quality of the steel, and, secondly, on the character of the metal to be stamped, which differs in hardness or softness according to the nature of the alloy contained in it.

By the officer presiding over the die department, an accurate register is kept of all dies manufactured, and he accounts also to the master of the mint for all matrixes, punch-crews, and dies destroyed, as well as made, in the mint; so that none be surreptitiously used or carried away. A very large collection of the various dies used in the coining of money, from an early period, is kept in the mint, affording to the connoisseur an interesting record of the progress of engraving in England.

As a record of the coining of the mint we append the following table, derived from authentic sources, which will be found useful:

An Account of all Gold and Silver coined at the Royal Mint from the 1st of January 1816 to the 31st December 1853.

| Year | Gold Coinage | Silver Coinage | |------|--------------|---------------| | | Ls. s. d. | Ls. s. d. | | 1816 | | 1,895,251 16 0 | | 1817 | 4,275,337 10 0 | 2,436,297 12 0 | | 1818 | 2,562,373 10 0 | 576,279 0 0 | | 1819 | 3,674 9 3 | 1,267,272 12 0 | | 1820 | 949,516 0 10+ | 847,717 4 0 | | 1821 | 9,520,758 13 94 | 433,686 0 0 | | 1822 | 5,365,120 12 6 | 31,340 7 1 | | 1823 | 759,748 10 0 | 285,271 0 0 | | 1824 | 4,065,075 9 0 | 29,670 16 0 | | 1825 | 4,580,919 0 0 | 417,535 16 0 | | 1826 | 5,896,461 7 6 | 608,605 16 0 | | 1827 | 2,512,636 17 6 | 33,019 16 0 | | 1828 | 1,608,559 2 6 | 16,288 3 1 | | 1829 | 2,446,754 12 6 | 108,259 16 0 | | 1830 | 2,387,881 2 6 | 151 16 0 | | 1831 | 598,547 5 0 | 33,696 5 8 | | 1832 | 3,737,065 10 0 | 145 4 0 | | 1833 | 1,225,269 13 6 | 145 4 0 | | 1834 | 66,949 12 5 | 432,775 4 0 |

Total Coinage, L121,246,628 7 9