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The State of the Royall Mint
in the Tower when the grand
Coynage began. ~169
.
This was the posture of affairs in the House In ye.the mean time the Lords of the Treasury prepar'd things at the Exchequer and the royall Mint in ye.the Tower for the approaching grand Coinage. That Board had long and maturely considerd this weighty matter, and (as is well known) advised with severall persons about it and taken all the steps towards ye.the amendment of the Coin that were necessary to putt things in readiness for a speedy performance of so important a work. By their direction convenient places were fitted up at the Exchequer for telling and melting down into Ingotts all the Clip'd and Hammerd mony that was afterwards receiv'd in the publick Revenue at that place, and the offices and workroomes at the Mint in the Tower were in a very good forwardnesse soon after the passing of the Act for remedying the ill state of the Coin.
And 'twas well for the Nation that early care was taken of the Mint; for had not timely provision been made there for the dispatch of the Coynage the publick distress for want of current monys had been much more intollerable than it actually was afterwards at Midsummer 1696.
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That Quarter of the Tower which by the Royall Charters of severall Kings and Queens had, for many ages, been appointed for ye.the Coynages of Gold and Silver monys, and the use of the Officers and others employd and dwelling in the Mint, had been much incroach'd upon, before and since the Restauration of K.King Charles ye.the 2d.. Indeed in 166 when yt.that Prince appointed the Mill'd Monys to be coyn'd He did at the same time by divers orders of Councill cleer the Mint Quarter of diverse Ppersons not employ'd in it; many such having gott into it in the Interregnum which were all putt out, according to those orders. But after the Fortifications of the Tower were repaird and a Garrison plac'd in it under the Command of the chief Governrs.Governors for the time being, they have notwithstanding the speciall Privileges of the Mint marchd their Troops, posted their Centinells, and erected Barracks for lodging soldiers within the Liberty of the Mint, just by the work houses wherein all the whole mystery of the Coynage was transacted; a thing of very dangerous Conseq.ceConsequence, and perhaps gave a very unlucky opportunity to diverse of the privat soldiers, who had been bred to any of the trades in smithery, to counterfeit and debase the monys. Whereas had the Mintquarter continued uninvaded, & the Privileges of the Mint been as inviolably maintain'd, as they were solemnly granted & confirm'd by the Crown 'tis highly probable the Corruption of the monys had not been carry'd on by so many hands, and in so surprising a manner as wee afterwards found it to be.
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The Romans took a particular care of the security and secrecy of their Mint: 'twas plac'd in the Temple of SaturnRosin Antiq. Rom. lib. 2. x. 4°. 'twas an inviolable sanctuary for the publick Treasure,Boizard Traitté des Monnoyes. and truly deserved the appellation of Ærarium SanctiusBodin Lib. 6. c. 13.. And Charles the Great was so very sensible of the importance of secureing and keeping secret the coynage, and so tender of the publick faith in issueing Standard Monys, that he erected a Mint within his own Palace, under his own inspection.
Which was the case of our Mint, whilst the Tower of London was the Royall Palace, but since the violation of ye.the franchises of the Mint; 'tis become a cCommon Thoroughfare. The garrison have taken possession of all its avenues; forreigners inhabit within the Liberty, and the old mint gates remain only to shew, how farr the bounds of the Mint extended in former times, and how jealous our Ancestors were of exposing the mystery of Coyning, and how tender they were of the publick faith.
At the begining of the Coynage some foreigners (I mean persons not belonging to the Mint) had not only got footing within ye.the Mint, but were in possession of a good part of it, before the grand Coynage: in so much that when it was at hand, and the Officers of the Mint foresaw they should have occasion to use some of the Mint houses in the service of the coynage, which were then in the occupation of strangers, Mr. Neale then Master of the
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Mint was obliged (to avoid disputes and delays) to promis ye.the Houses should be returnd when the service was ended. Whereupon the Chief Governour of the Tower and Master of the works consented they should be employ'd during the Coinage, but have since reclaim'd 'em. To that low degree are the Privileges of the Mint reduced, that leave must first be obtain'd of foreigners to the Mint, before the Officers of the Mint can make use of the Houses granted and confirmed to 'em by diverse Royall Charters for so publick and necessary a work, as making Mony! Which by the way, wee are never like to secure from being counterfeited whilst the Place and Offices where 'tis made are expos'd to all Commers, and the Mint lyes in Common with the rest of the Tower
The silver Coinage had been very inconsiderable for about half a dozen years, from 31 December 1689 excluded, to the 31 December 1695 included, there was coynd but 19383L: 16s.: 05d.: and in 1695 no other silver was coynd, besides what was bought by order of the Lord Almonner to make small mony for the Maundy.
The Goldsmiths and Marchants who were the usuall Importers at the Mint found very good marketts for the Silver in Bullion, for they sold their Spanish Silver and bullion at 6s:
d,,
72d,
8&d
93d,
and &c.
d
pr.per ozounce to the Government, East Ind.India Company
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and others, who besides that, stopd great summs which, as heretofore, would have come home from Cadiz in specie; upon which account, together with the interruption of Com̄mmerce by warr, wee expected very little from the Spanish Flota's; the Returns whereof were formerly brought to the Mint, and produc'd a constant Coynage, and a round summ of new mony, every 3d. or 4th. year especially.
For these Reasons the silver Coinage at the Mint, was in a manner at a stand for 7 years before the grand Coynage, 'till ye.the grandeat Coinage inof gold in 1695 which was occasion'd meerly by the excessive overvalue of Guineas, and that overvalue was oweing purely to the very ill state of the silver monys.
The Accompting Office in the Mint consists but of seven Patent officers, of which the Warden, Master Worker and Comptroller are chief, these 3 have ordinarily 5 Claerk's employ'd under 'em; yet no more than 4 were actually employ'd at the at the begining of the Coinage. The Wardens of ye.the Mint had been Courtiers for 3 or 4 successions, and had little leisure to execute an Important Office the Kings favour had confer'd upon 'em, their businesse lay more at the Court then at the Mint; and they could not be and act in both Places at the same time; whereupon one part of their businesse fell into the hands of ye.the Comptroller of
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the Mint and the other was by deputation allotted to another Gentleman who briskly prosecuted the Clippers and Counterfeiters, and brought 'em to a speedy judgement and Execution.
Thomas Neale Esqre. a Gentleman well known to the world, was Master Worker of the Mint; & being ComptrolGroom-Porter besides, and having engaged his Mind for a long time in forming Projects, and contriving ways and Means to raise Mony for the King and himself, he left the charge of his office for many years to the Comptroler and his own Clerks, 'til just at the begining of the grand Coynage.
The Comptrolers Office was fill'd by Mr. IJames Hoar who had acted in that station from the Restauration, and was well acquainted with the course of business at the Mint by an experience of neer 50 years, for a good part whereof he had acted as Warden, Master and Comptroler and so might have been fittly styld, Triumvir ære, argento, auro flando et feriundo.IIIVIR or IIIVIR AAAFF: triumvir or triumviri auro argento aere flando feriundo, meaning "three men responsible for casting and striking gold, silver and bronze", an inscription on Roman Republican coins. which was a Title given to the principal officers in the Roman Mints. But he being grown infirm and superannuated, 'twas impossible for him to act at a time that required great attendance. He had out liv'd every qualification but one which usually grows strong and vigourous as wee decline.
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Our Gravers were the most skillfull Artists in Europe, but unfortunatly engag'd in a forreign interest by their Education: and theirs was the only Station that could not be supplied with another competent Artist, 'til a little before the grand Coynage concluded.
But two of the 3 other principall stations in the Mint were very well supplyed. For 25 March 1696 Mr. Isaac Newton publick Professor of the Mathematicks in Cambridge, the greatest Philosopher, and one of the best men of this age, was by a great and wise statesman recommended to the favour of the late King for Warden of the Kings Mints and Exchanges, for which station he was peculiarly qualified, because of his extraordinary skill in numbers and his great integrity; he sett a standard to the conduct and behaviour by the 1st. of which he could judge perfectly well of the Mint Accounts: and transactions as soon as he enter'd upon his office; and by the later, I mean his Integrity, he sett a standard to the conduct and behaviour of every Officer and Clerk in the Mint. Well had it been for the Publick, had he acted a few years beforesooner in that station; it's more than probable a good part of the silver monys had been preserved by his vigilant and indefatigable prosecution, from the havock that was made upon 'em by clyipping and counterfeiting: And the assize of our gold
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monys had been brought to that exactness, as to have prevented a very ill, but a very ordinary practice of picking out and remelting the weighty pieces. This was a very beneficial trade to some persons, but fatall to the standard and increase of the publick Treasure. Since the assize of the Coin has been more immediatly a part of this Gentleman's care, wee have seen it brought to that extraordinary nicety, especially in ye.the gold monys, as was never known in any reign before this, and perhaps cannot be parallel'd in any other Nation. So that in time we may defy the cunning and artifice of all mankind to make any advantage by the inequality of the pieces coyn'd at the Tower. Of so great consequence to the state is the well executing ye.the office of the Warden of the Mint, and of so good consequence has the execution of it been under this admirable Gentleman that in time he will be no less valued at Home on this account, than he is admired by all the PPhilosophic world abroad for his wonderfull advancement of the MMathematicall Sciences; by the last he has benefi'tted Mankind, and by the first he has don justice to the English Nation, of which he is one of the chiefest Glorys.
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