'The state of the Mint & Coynage according to the best of my knowledge'

<4r>

The state of the Mint & Coynage according to the best of my knowledge has hitherto been as follows.

Vpon a contract between the Crown & the Master & Workr for ye time being some Officers of the mint act in behalf of the Crown as cheques upon the Master to see that he performs his contract duty & others act under the Master for performi{illeg}ng that contract. By the Indenture of the Mint The Warden pays the Salaries of the former to the {illeg}charges of repairing & rebuilding the Officers & Houses & providing necessaries therein for assayin melting {illeg}assaying & coyinging {sic} &of Bullion. & the charges of the {illeg} Diets of the Officers & other necessary charges to be imployed in & about the making of the said moneys, or repairing of the Offices & Houses necessary to be imployed in the said service & the general Incidents of the Mint, the Master directs the making & repairing of {illeg}histhe Instruments used by him by hi{illeg}m & defrays the charges thereof & {illeg}those of {illeg} reduceing the bullion to standard & of Assaying melting assaying & coyning & of the wast made in the operations, & as Treasurer of the Mint he pays also the fees at the Exchequer & Treasury of ye coynage money & those of ppassying the Accounts through the several Offices of the Excheqr. He pays allso the charges of ordinary fees upon {illeg}trying the Pix. & those {illeg}of making the trial pieces & of dinners for the Iuries a And by thsis & the Master are enabled to make up their Accts separately without depending upon one another.
    The charges of reducing the Bullion to standard (vizt by refining & allay) are by the Indenture of the Mint
    The salaries from the time of making the Coynage Act have amounted to 2600li & sometimes to more so that for defraing {sic} the charges of ye buildings & things other necessaries there has remained only 400li pr an, whereof the buildings have taken usually taken up two or three & some times almost 400li.
    The charges of reducing the Bullion to standard, vizt by refining & allay are {illeg} allowed to the Mr & Wr by a clause in the Indenture of the Mint: wch clause would have been needless had this clause charge been deemed within the 3000li.
    Charcoal, Aqua fortis, Water-silver, Lead & Cupels for the Assay Office & loss by the Assays are within the charges & wast of Assaying & so to be {illeg}bor{illeg}n out of the surplus above the 3000, by the coynage Act. And of the same kind is theare Assay {illeg} the charges of repair buy repairing Assay furnaecs & buying new ones, these being moveables made of copper plates & luted within with loom.
    Furnaces for the Melting houses are distinguished from the buildings these being under the Masters direction & within his Accoutns while the buildings are withing the Wardens. Th Hearths & Chyimneys conv{illeg} necessary for such Fur{illeg}naces are {illeg}withing the Wardens Account. the The Master {illeg} adds repairs removes & rebuilds the furnaces at discreti{illeg}on without medling with the buildings. The nealing & blanching furnaces are also under the Masters direction within his Acct.
    Mills-rooms wth such floors as are necessary for erecting & benches for cCutters {sic} are within the Wardens Accts: the Mills & Cutters are under being Engins for coyning are under the Masters direction & within his Accts. The Moneyers repair the Iron work of these Engins out of their allowance for coynage: the Mr repairs the wooden work & places the charge ther{illeg}eof in his Acct. the same is to be understood of the {illeg} Presses & Flatters & Cutters. The Moneyers out of their allowance for coynage repair the iron work of all the engins used by them & this by a clause in the Indenture of the Mint; & therefore the charge of repairing the coyning Engins have not hitherto bee reputed wthin the 3000li. Nor was it practicable to comprehend them within this {sic} charge <4v> the salaries amounting to 2600li & the repairs of ye Engins & furnaces frequently to above 500li besides the buildings.]

By ye Act of 18 Car II entituled An Act for encourageing of Coynage the Salaries of the Officers of the Mint {illeg}& the charges of providing maintaining & repairing the buildings of the houses Offices & buildings & [those of the providing maintaining & repairing] other necessaries for assaying melting down & coyning the {illeg} are limited to 3000li for preventing extravagance & the Overplus if it be employed f{illeg}or & towardsappropriated by(for encouraging the coinage) is appropriated to the expence wast & charge of assaying meltign down & coyning, {illeg}& byuying in of Bullion to coyn. And in the clause preceding, these necessaries are called the charge or expence of the Mint, & the overplus is called ye charge or expence of Assaying melting down & coyning & the encouragement of bringing in bullion. By the first I understand such necessaries for coining as may be limited without discouraging teh coynage by the such second such as arise cannot, that is such as arise from the being of a coynage & increase or decrease therewith. The Act of Parliamt reccons th{illeg}e {illeg} salaries & repairsHouses Offices & buildings among the necessaries & the Indentures of the Mint add the Diet of the Officers. made at that time, adds the Diet, & allows 2600li per an for the salaries & so leaves {illeg}only 343 400li for the buildings Diet & other necessarieys. provisions whereby the Master may be enabled to carry on the coinage.

Vpon a contract by Indenture between the Crown & the Master & Wr for ye time being, some Officers of ye Mint act in behalf of the Mint crown as ches upon the Master to see that he performs his covenants contract duly & others act under him for {illeg}performing that contract And by the Indenture the Warden pays the Salaries of the former & the charges of the repairs & of the repairs & Diet &of the Officers & other necessary charges to be {illeg}imployed in & about the making of the moneys & repai{illeg}ring of the Offices & Houses necessary to be imployed in the said service. There are the necessaries within the 3000li. And the Master pays the Moneyers

<5r>

By the Indenture of the Mint the Warden pays the Salaries of ye former, & the charges of the Diet of the Officers & other necessary charges to be imployed about in & about the making of the said moneys or repairing of ht e Offices & Houses necessary to be imployed in the said service. And the Master pays the Moneyers 9$\frac{\mathrm{1}}{\mathrm{2}}$ per lwt of silver & 3s 6d pr lwt of Gold for drawing cutting flatting & sizing the same marking & coyning the same & repairing the rollersfor all their labour wast & expence therein & for keeping in repair all other Tools Engins the Rollers & Instruments to cut flatten make round & size & mark ye pieces of m & mark them on the edges & all other tools Engins & instruments amongst wch are the weiMills & the scales & weights & vices & files for sizing. B But the wooden work of the said {illeg} Mills Presses & Cutters & the Nealing & blanching furnaces & the furnaces in the melting houses are repaired by the direction of the Master & the charges therof are placed in his Account according to the Laws of the Mint And so are all the charges of Assaying, {illeg} (vizt in charcoal, Aqua fortis, watersil{illeg}ver, lead, furnaces & Cuppels,)) & the charges of reducing the silver to standard by assa refineing & allay. A All these charges are paid by the Master out of the surplus above ye 3000li; vizt the charges of repairing the Mills Presses & other coynng {sic} tools & those of reducing the Bullion to standard {illeg} by vertue of certain clauses of the Indenture, & those of Assaying by vertue of a clause of the coynage actAct. & The wooden work of the Mills Presses & Cutter Flatters canmay be considered as belonging to the coyning Tools. The Assay furnace is a moveable engin made of copper plates. The other furnaces are distinguished from the buildings in being under the Masters direct. He erects repairs demolishes & rebuilds removes & rebuilds them without medling with the other buildings or asking te consent or leave of the other Officers & he places the charges of repairing them in his own Account according to the course of the Mint while the charges of repairing the buildings are placed in the Wardens Account. And the reason of this distinction seems to be that the W Master may be enabled to dispatch the coynage & make delivery wth all convenient speed wthout sto accodrding to his covenants without staying for the {illeg} consent or order of the other Officers or being retarded by the want of money, while the salaries of the Officers & the ch{illeg}arges of repairs & necessaries in the Wardens Account are limited to 3000li for preventing extravagance. And by this means the Warden & master are enabled to make up their Accounts severally without depending upon one another.

If any doubt ari{illeg}se about any standing any {illeg}custome or course of the Mint, the custome not being contrary to an Act of Parliamt is made a law by the following clause of the Indenture of the Mint. And that the said Master & Worker shall upon his Account yearly to be made of his Receipts payments charges & disbursments before the Auditors of the Mint or Mints for the time being have full allowance defalcation & discharge of & for all such summ & summs of money as he shall duly pay & disburse according to the true intent & meaning of the above recited Letters patents & according to ye directions hereafter in these presents expressed, & according to the course of the said Mint or Mints respectively, as by the same Acts of Parliament is directed & appointed

The Master & Worker also as Treasurer of the Mint pays the fees at ye Excheqr & Treasury upon received the Coynage money & those in for passing the Accts throug {sic} the {sic} ye several Offices upon the of the excheqr. upon {illeg} & upon trying the Pix.

He pays also the charges of trying the Pix & the fees for entring the Report of the Iury, & for summoning them. The Pix is tried by the Assay & the charges thereof belong to that head. Th But the charges of the Dinner for the Iury being too great to be come within the 3000li, have been hitherto paid out of the civil List.

<5v>

The Furnaces w{illeg}ere necessary to be repaired for carrying on the coynage & the charges thereof & those of the Assay Office & of reducing the money to standard {illeg}& the fees of the Exchequer & Treasury were necessary to be paid & the vouchers are vouchers are g are all placed in my Account according to the course of the Mint, & the Vouchers arge god &t herefore all these charges are, I think, to be allowed by the Article of the Indenture above {illeg} recited.] The particulars are of the Masters Account {illeg} for ye year 16712 are as follows

	The salaries	uponupon the Indenture	1080	}	1595
		upon warrants	515
	The coinage per lwt				1058
	Put into the Pix				203.	13.	6
	Lost by assays.				2.	2.	4
	Charge of rebuilding the making new Godld furnaces the old ones being worn out				64.	13.	0
	Charges of assaying & standarding		92. 15. 9	}	129.	19.	8
Charges of reducing the Bullion to standard			37. 3. 11
	Paid to the Moneyers by Act of Parliamt for their service in Scotland			}	2692.	15.	2$\frac{\mathrm{1}}{\mathrm{2}}$
①	Auditors Fee				84.	0.	0
①	Fees & Charges upon at the Exchequer & Tre Treasury in receiving the Coynage moneys & at severall Offices in passing ye Accts			}	37.	4.	6
	The rest to the Warden				2004	9.	0

The furnaces were necessary to be repaired for carrying on the coynage & the charges thereof & those of the Assay ffice & of reducing the moneymoneybullion t standard w{illeg} {illeg} & free from extravagance & {illeg} legal & necessarynecessary for encour{illeg}aging the coynagieng & the fees ofat the Exchequer Treasury & other Officers were necessary to be paid & could not be delivered & as allall these expences are placed in my Acct according to ye course of the Mint & all the V{illeg}ouchers are good & therefore all these charges are I think to be allowed by the Article of the Indenture above recited. And the Warden is to discharge himself of what has been imprest to him & in his next Acct to charge himself wth the surplus if any there be.

T{illeg}he salary of 40li to ye Wardens second Clerk is now ceased, but in its stead the charg{illeg}es of ye dinner of ye Iury at the last trial of the Pix will come to amounting to 9about 92li will come into the next years Acct