'Chaloner's Case'. A history of Chaloner's crimes since 1690, largely summarising the confessions of other coiners Isaac Newton c. 1,795 words The Newton Project Oxford 2019 Newton Project, University of Oxford

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 Before 22 March 1699, c. 1,795 words.

[Note on dating: Chaloner was executed on 22 March 1699: see Westfall, 575.]

Having turned from japanning to false coining, Chaloner became very expert in his new trade; after being detected, he escaped execution by betraying an accomplice and returned to his old ways.

 MINT 19/1/501-2, National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, UK UKSurreyKew, RichmondNational Archives MINT 19/1/501-2 William Chaloner Thomas Taylor Patrick CoffeeJoseph Gravener William Blackford Coppinger Peck Thomas HollowayThomas Trott [Brown, Carter, Williams] Jones Elizabeth Holloway Butler Newbolt Secretary Trenchard Mr Sampsons Mrs Gravener Michael Gillingham John Holloway Mr Sammonds Lord Mayor Sir Thomas Stamp Clark Mrs Labree Hicks Hanwell Mrs Peers John Peers Morris Francis NegusAubrey Price Randal Fitzgerald Before 22 March 1699 England English Holograph Unknown Hand Unknown Hand (1) MintClippers, Coiners and Embezzlers Catalogue information compiled by Rob Iliffe, Peter Spargo & John Young Catalogue exported to teiHeader by Michael Hawkins Transcribed by Will Scott Metadata updated by Yvonne Martin-Portugues.

Chaloner's Case

Taylor Green1. About seven years ago Chaloner was a poor man, a Iapanner in cloaths thredbare ragged & daubed wthwith colours, & then got stamps made by Taylor left of his trade turned coyner & in a short time put on yethe habit of a Gentleman took a great house at Kinghtsbridge & bought some plate.

Chaloner2 He was originally taught to coyn by Coffee & Grosvener & learnt all his art of theim & Grosvener & at that time (wchwhich was seven years ago) put in a stock wthwith Coffee for French Pistols wchwhich were conveyed into France by a Gentleman to put into yethe Kings treasury & also bought by Blackford Coppinger Peck Holloway Iones Carter & many others here & continued this trade wthwith Coffee till about 512 years ago.

Taylor23. He was arrested by Taylor an Engraver in Grays Inn Lane in making a pair of French Pistol Dyes 1690 & another pair 1691 & a pair of Guinea Dyes of K. Ch. II 1692 & tried the Dyes before Taylor & raised himself by coyning 17000 Pistols & a great number of Guineas all of silver guilt. Tho. & Eliz. HollowayTho. Holloway hath had at least a 1000 of Chaloners French Pistols & paid him & his Mrs for them He hath also seen myany 100ds of his Guineas & had almost an hundred in a day. He paid Chaloner 11s for a Guinea or Pistol & sometimes but 10s or 9s, & hath heard Chaloner own that he struck some of them & boast his workmanship & hath seen yethe Guinea Dyes in Chaloners hands Tho. Holloway4 About 512 years ago Blackford being condemned for putting off Chaloners Guineas informed agtagainst Chaloner for making many thousand Guineas & French Pistols & was reprieved for some months, & Chaloner withdrew till Blackford was executed & while Blackford was in prison carried to Tho. Holloways house in the Friars a pair of K. IJames Guinea stamps & materials & cut out blancks for Guineas but being in danger to be apprehended by one Tuccar fled & within 2 or 3 days he & Carter coyned in Westminster sixty Guineas. Eliz. Holloway6 Chaloner coyned Guineas about 3 years ago & continued to coyn them for the Holloways till about May or Iune was two years. LabreeLabreeAbout March or April last he & Clark who keeps yethe Flask Tavern had a Press a Chiswick for coyning them & imployed an Alehouse keeper of Westminster to coyn there. Mrs Labree hath seen some of their work & saith that the Dyes were very fine ones of Chaloner's making. Newbolt5 Soon after the execution of Blackford a great number of K. IJames's Declarations were scattered about yethe streets & Chaloner to secure himself as a person serviceable to yethe GovernmtGovernment, perswaded Butler & Newbolt (at yethe expence of several treats & some money) to print him 40 of those Declarations pretending that they were not to be dispersed but sent to a private Gentleman in the Country as soon as he had got yethe papers he went to Secretary Trenchard & informed him that he had discovered & taken the Printer of King IJames's Declarations wthwith their Press & receiving (as he gives out) a reward of a 1000℔ has since braggd that he fun'd (that is trick't) the King of a 1000℔.Peers Tho. Holloway7 A little before May was two years, about a week he & some others clipt & filed old hammered money at Mr Sampsons in501213in a little Alley in Drury Lane leading into Wild street. And about the same time Gravener & his wife & Carter by the consent of Chaloner coyned at Gravener's house about 60 pounds in half crowns wthwith a pair of stamps made by Chaloner, & Chaloner sent Tho Holloway thither to see them work & learn the art & take away the stamps. And then Holloway coynd for Chaloner & Gravener who found materials & got yethe silver flatted & shared the profit. Eliz HollowayThese stamps Eliz. Holloway hath seen in Chaloners hands in Gra Gillinghams house & heard him say that he made them himself & commend then for fine things & received of her husband & he of Chaloners 12 crowns made wthwith those stamps, as she knew by the form. And after her husbands hands she hath heard him rally at her husband for them & ask to have them again. IJohn HollowayAnd about 112 year ago IJohn Holloway (who hath also heard Chaloner commend them) hid them in Essex in Mr Sammonds Warren at Kilden Hatch. Newbolt. Reuse &cAbout May was two years Chaloner was accused face to face by Coppinger before the then Lord Mayor SrSir Tho. Stamp & sent to Newgate but saved himself by getting Coppinger hangd out of the way. Newbolt. Chaloner.Soon after to regain the favour of yethe GovernmtGovernment he discoveddiscovered the plot of cheating the Bank by Orphans Bills cut out of the check book of tilles in yethe Chamber of London, & carried recdreceived of yethe Bank 200℔ for a reward Mrs LowAnd that winter, a litle before yethe recoynage of yethe money he clipt old hammered money. NewboltAnd soon after was in trouble again on account of a K. W. & Q. M. Did taken out of the Tower Mr NewtonAnd the summer following recommended to yethe Warden that he might have a spy upon the Warden of the Mint for his own safety recommended to him his intimate friend & fellow coyner J. H. as a person that could do the GovernmtGovernment the greatest service by taking up clippers & coyners. Labree.And till tilabout Feb or March following had he & Clark who keeps the Flask Tavern by Charing Cross who had a Press at Chiswick for coyning Guineas & other Gold moneys & imployed an Alehousekeeper of Kings-street Westminster to coyn there. Mrs Labree hath seen their work & saith it holds touch & weight & that yethe Dies are very fine ones of Chaloners makings. About the same time he shewed before a Committee of ParliamtParliament some exptsexperiments of diminishing & counterfeiting milled money to convince them how easy it was to be done & how yethe money should be grooved & coyned high to prevent those abuses, but amongst his confidents talktPeers. Tho. Holloway. Saker. slaightily of funning yethe ParliamtParliament & in conclusion represented all the Mint very unskilfull in comparison of himself that he might be made their supervisor, & told T. Holloway that he would then supply him wthwith coyning tools out oth' Tower & teach him how to to d coyn wthwith blanks hereafter mentioned wchwhich being soft would easily rise. HaBut In the mean time vizt about yethe 10th or 11th of March last he desired H. Ha to cast him a stamp for a shilling, for his money grew short & if yethe ParliamtParliament did not give him encouragemt.encouragement, he must go to coyningwork again. ITho. HollowayAfter the end of that Sessions of ParliamtParliament when Mr Chaloner found himself disappointed of preferment he advised Tho. Holloway to take a convenient house for coyning & agreed with him that he & his brother IJohn Holloway should coyn together there & Chaloner should teach them a new way wchwhich quick & profitable & supply them wthwithfind materials & receive their work & they three should share the profit & accordingly Holloway did take a house about 20 miles off at Egham in Surrey, & did make some progress in teaching the brothers & particularly Tho. Holloway the Art Th. HollowayFor Chaloner ordered him to get two brasses cast by a wooden pattern whaeich he received of Chaloner & shewed me & he did get two brasses cast accordingly & gave ymthem to Chaloner & Chaloner to Hicks to get Peers to file themHicks Peers & Gravener seeing them in the hands of Hicks said I know what those are for those are for the casting of blanks. And Hicks telling this to Chaloner, he replied, Ay, Let Gravener find out that if he can. And the brasses were filed by Peers & returned to Chaloner & Chaloner confessedChaloner Warden to yethe Warden of yethe M. that they were for casting of blanks & were thicker at one end then in other places to make room for the gates or gutter where the mettle was to run in & described the use of them to yethe Warden & G but excused the matter by saying that they were cast three years ago & ytthat he sent them to be filed only to see if Peers was so good an Artist as he was pretended to be. The way of using these brasses was also described to me by Tho. HollowayTho. Holloway so far as he had learnt it of Chaloner. And when Hanwell was newly taken up (viz. Sept 276) he described it to me exactly & said that Chaloner taught it him yethe winter before with intention ytthat he should work at Holloways house & Chaloner find money, & spake of this way as the most profitable.Hanwel. IJohn Holloway. ThoIohn Holloway.Chaloner also to com shewed described to the Holloways or to one of them theat way of making the stamps should be but little ones no broader then a shillingno broader then a shilling so that they might be hidden any where, & produced a brass ring of that size & shewed how with whiting to make a mold of it for casting of stamps & how to use that mould. But before they had stamps, Tho. Holloway was cast into yethe Kings Bench Prison for debt & this was towards yethe end of April & put a stop to the designe. PeersThen Peers & his wife being taken up by Morris for other things then coyning & carried before Mr Negus confest several things May 18th & something Peers confest of Chaloner & Gravener, & was bailed & about not long after went to Tho Holloway in Prison & told him that he could cast after Chaloners way between two pieces of lead & was taught by Gravener & then went to Egham by Holloways consent & cast 18 shillings there after that way,Th. Holloway. & Chaloner being told that Peers could cast this way called Gravener a Rogue for teaching him. 502Peers told Holloway also that he could cast stamps & that he had made two trialls & failed. Tho. HollowayIn Iuly Mr Chaloner was upon a designe wthwith Price of taking out the summ in an ExcheqrExchequer Bill & inserting a larger summ but desisted because Price discovered it by Randal to Fitz Gerald, & Fitz Gerald sent to Chaloner about it