Holograph draft of MINT00131 (Mint 19/1/334-5) with minor variations

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18 Car. II, chap. v. No moneys leviable & payable by this Act shall be converted to any other use or uses whatsoever other then t{illeg}o the defraying the charge or expence of the Mint or Mints, & [that] of the assaying melting down & wast & coynage {illeg}of gold & silver {illeg}& the encouragement of bringing in of gold & silver to be coyned &c. [The first I take to be the charge of supporting a standing Mint, the second to be the further charge of carrying on the coynage in that Mint. And by the next clause of the Act the first is limited to 3000li f{illeg}or preventing extravaganece, the other left unlimited & appropriated to ye coyn{illeg}age for encouraging the same. The words are] And it is hereby further enacted, That there shall not be issued out of the coynage Exchequer of the said coynage moneys in any one year for the fees & salaries of the Officers of the Mint or Mints & towards the providing maintaining & repairing of the houses Offices & Buildings & other [standing] necessaries for assaying melting down & coyn{illeg}age & buying in of gold & silver tcoyning above the summ of three thousand pounds sterling money, & the overplus of the said moneys so kept as aforesaid, shall be employed for & towards the [contingent] expence wast & charge of assaying melting down & coynage & buying in of gold & silver to be coyned & n{illeg}ot otherwise. [Here oby other necessaries I understand things necessary for constituting a standing Mint, as a convenient Hearths & chimneys for Assaying & melting, a convenient closet for the Assay-scales, Locks for the doors, Gates {illeg}to ye Mint &c. These & the buildings come into the Wardens Account, the charges of a current coynage into the Masters.

The salaries from the time of making this Act have amounted to 2600li & sometimes above & there have remained only 400li per an for the buildings & other necessaries. And the buildings alone have usually amounted to two or three hundred & sometimes almost four hundred pounds per an

In the 4th & 5t year of her Maty another Act passed for enlargming the summ of 3000li to that of 3500li per an wthout making any other alteration in the former Act. And thereupon the Moneyers were allowed {illeg}a salary of 400li per an, & the salarys of the Clerks were intended to be allowed augmented. But several buildings being ready to be augmented it was thought fit to rebuild them first. And these have cost about 900li or above. Two years ago the Engineers shop was rebuilt & cost about 359li, whereof 3183li comes into the Account of the year 1712 & 176 is reserved for ye next year

In ye Indenture of the Mint there is a clause that the charges of making the bullion agreable to standard shall be born & sustained out of the Revenue arising to her Maty by vertue {illeg}of the coynage Act: wch clause would have been useless needless had that charge been recconed within the 3000li. This clause is a voucher for the charges of {illeg}assaying & allay. The Act of 18 Car II is a Voucher for ye charges of the Assay Office. And the standing practise of placing the charge of furnaces in thise Acct of ye Mr & Wr is a Voucher for that Article