The present state of the Coynage in relation to the fineness of the moneys.

Assaying & refining are operations of the same kind. The Assayer refines a small piece of any mass of gold or silver & by the decrease of its weight makes his report, & if there be no decrease, that is, if the mass be of the same fineness with the refined Assay piece, he reports it better two carats better than standard, or twenty & four carats fine; & this is fine gold in the sense of the Law. The Assay-piece therefore when the AssayTer works exactly becomes fine gold or fine silver in the sense of the law. And because the Assayer works more exactly to a rule then the Refiner, & makes better dispatch, the Assay is made the standing universal Rule of valuing gold & silver in all nations in point of fineness, & the Law in ordeining that standard Gold shall be 22 Carats fine & standard silver 11 ounces two penny weight fine, means by the Assay.

The standard Triall pieces are made by the Assay. First the Iury procures gold & silver refined by the Refiner, & then assays the same several times to see if they be of a just degree of fineness; that is, the gold just two carats better then standard & the silver just 18 penny weight better. And then the Trial-pieces are made the Iury assays them several times to see if they be standard. They must agree therefore wthwith the Assay as exactly as is possible least there be two standards.

The assays of gold ought to be made with two waters & no more, this being the constant practise of Assaying, & the water ought to be of the usual strength, & to work the usual time, & in the usual heat, & the Assay piece ought to be of the usuall strength hammered to the usual thicknessthinness that the assays may be uniform.

Refiners find it difficult to refine gold to the degree of 24 carats. They seldome make it above 23 Carats threthree three quarters of a grain finer, & by fine gold generally understand gold of this degree of fineness. And thence it comes to pass that the goldsmiths are generally of opinion that gold cannot be made above 24 carats fine. But if when they have watered their granulated gold once or twice wthwith Aqua fortis, they should dulcify it & grind it very fine with as painters do thir colours, & then dry it & water it once or twice more with double Aqua fortis in the same degree of heat as before, & keep it longer in the water then before, stirring it now & then with a wooden stick to make the gold mix wthwith fresh water, the gold will become finer then four & twenty carats. Chymists also tell us that Gold may be made finer by Antimony then by Aqua fortis and consequence then by the Assay.

If Refiners should work perfectly in the same manner with Assayers, that is, if they should mix gold with silver in the same proportion, & drive it off the Test wthwith yethe same proportion of lead & hammer it to yethe very same thinness & water it with waters of the same strength in the same degree of heat during the same length of time; their gold would become just 24 carats fine. But they work not with so much curiosity & stand eavenness. And In the fineness of gold made fine by the Refiners art there is much more uncertainty then in that of gold made fine by the Asaay.

The trial of the moneys in the Pix is to be performed after the296 the most just manner that can be made by fire by water by touch by or by weight or by all or by any of them. If the Triall pieces be made made exactly, the trial thereby is the most expedite & the least liable to errors. But a Trial piece may happen to be erroneous & then other ways of assaying may be also usefull. For the Assay by the assay-weights exactly made will discover the error of the tryall piece if there be any, & how great that error is., & the Assay by the touch is also lawfull tho it be less exact & not to be depended upon alone.

At the last trial of the Pix the Iury by the Assay found that the money was standard full & the Trial piece a quarter of a grain better then the money, & reported in their Veredict that the money was a quarter of a grain be worse then standard by the Trial piece. The Report implied that the Trial piece was standard & the money & quarter of a grain wors then standard, tho the Iury found by the triall that the money was standard & the trial piece a quarter of a grain better then standard.

When I came first to the Mint & for some years before, the Importers were allowed the advantage of almost all the Remedy & then the gold imported made about four pounds & two pence per ounce standard. The Goldsmiths now complain that their gold doth not make four pounds per ounce. It should make only three pounds nineteen sh.shillings & eight pence three farthings, & so much it hath made ever since the last trial of the Pix.

While the Importers were allowed the advantage of almost all the remedy, there wanted about thirty grains of fine gold in four & forty guineas & an half, & as much or more fine silver in sixty & two shillings. There is now the just quantity of gold & silver in the moneys, & there wants only about 15 grains of copper in 44$\frac{1}{2}$ Guineas, or the thirds part of a grain of copper in a Guinea, wchwhich want is of no value or consequence being less then the thousandth part of a penny, & is occasioned by the want of so much allay in the trial pieces.