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Mr Arnold reported from the Committee
appointed to enquire into the Miscarriages of the
Officers of the Mint, the Matter as it appeared to the
said Committee, & the resolutions of the Committee
thereupon; which he read in his place, & afterwards
delivered in at the Table; Where the same were read
& are as followeth; viz
That the Mint by the Charter thereof, is a Corpora
tion, consisting of the Warden, the Workers, and
Moneyers, & other Ministers:
The Warden or Keeper of Exchanges of Bullion. &
New Coined Monies, is, by his Office, a Magis
trate, set over the Exchanges, or Mints, to do Right
& Iustice to the Members thereof, in all their Com
plaints & Differences, excepting in causes of Freehold
& causes
made by him, the Master. Comptroller or any Two
of this
charges of Repairs first allowed by the Master, Comptroller
and Assay Master, or any two of them
the whole process of the Coinage, & pays the Charges
thereof & the Saleries of the Officers; except the Ma
appointed to be paid by the Master: With the Consent
of the General of the Mint of Scotland, he makes the
& Scotland.
That the Workers are the Master & his Melter,
Refiner & Assay Master, with their Assist
ants Clerks & Under Workman. The Master
upon any new Occasion of Coinage, contracts
with the King, by Indenture, & according to the
Indenture, by the Assistance of his aforesaid
receives, melts or refines assays & allays the
Gold & Silver to be coined: & runs it into Standard
Bars, & delivers those Bars by Weight, to the
Moneyers:
That the Moneyers draw, cut out, size, blanch, edge
& coin, those Bars into Monies, Sissel & Brockage
back to the Masters by Weight: these live in the
Country, attend the Mint whenever called, take
Aprentices, & form themselves into a Government
by electing one of them to be their Provost.
That the other Ministers are, the Comptroller,
Assay Master, Surveyor of the Meltings,
Weigher & Teller, King's Clerk, Clerk of the Irons
&c: These & the Warden are standing Officers,
with set Saleries, to see that the Workers &
Moneyers do their duty, in Working & Coining
the Gold & Silver: The Workers & Moneyers except
the Master, are no standing Officers, nor have Saleries;
but as Workmen receive Wages, after a certain Rate
& coin.
The Comptroller is in behalf of the King, a Cheque upon the
Master in his Accounts & upon the Assay Masters in
their Assays; he makes a Comptrollment Roll every
Year, upon Oath, of all the Bullion Molten, with its
Allay, & of all the Monies Coined that Year; and
supervises the whole Coinage; & with the Warden &
Master, locks up the Gold & Silver, & the Pix &
Coinage Duty.
That the Assay Master is in behalf of the King,
Cheque upon the Master, for his Assays, & keeps books
of all the Gold & Silver, as to the quantity & Fineness;
& of the Pot Assays: When the Importer & Master
disagree about the price of Bullion, the Assay Master,
in the presence of the Warden & Comptroller, assays the
same, & the Master then receives it & stands charged
with it, according to the Assay Master's Report;
That the Surveyor of the Meltings is, in behalf of the
King, a Cheque upon the Melter to see that the Gold
& Silver, & its Allay, set out, & nothing else be put
into the Melting Pot, & that the Pot Assays be
duly taken out & carried to the Assay Master:
he keeps a book of all the Gold & Silver Molten
with the Allay put into it
That the Weigher & Teller weighs all the Gold & Silver
brought into the Office of Receipt, either before or after
That the Kings Clerk registers the Papers that pass
between the Treasury & the Mint: also he & the Warden
& Comptroller, by their Clerks at least two or three of
them in behalf of the King, rate & standard all the
Gold & Silver brought into the Mint; & examine the Pots
set out by the Master; & enter these Accounts in Day
Books. Ledger Books & Books of D rs & C rs:
That the Clerk of the Irons business is, to keep an
Account of all the Dies made & hardened by the Smith;
& when they are worn out he sees them defaced in the
presence of the Warden, Master & Comptroller; He now
keeps an Account of all the Dies that are sunk; & for
that End, has One of the Keys to the Great Press & to the
Box of the Puncheons.
That there are also two Auditors; who Yearly examine &
allow the Accounts of the Warden, Master & the Comptroll
ment Roll: Also an Engraver two Engineers & Smith
& above 200 Labourers, & ordinary Workmen not necessary
to give an Account of, nor of the extraordinary Clerks &
Ministers employed by the Master on this present
occasion, for recoining the clipped hammered Money &
the Plate.
That it hath appeared to your Committee That in the
Mints of York & Norwich, there lieth dead very great
Sums of hammered Money uncoined; by the Negli
gence of the Officers of those Mints; whereas at the Mint
That there hath appeared a very great Neglect, both in the
Moneyers & Officers of the said Mints, & that speedy care
ought to be taken therein.
That the Committee finding by the examinations of the Officers of the
Mint, that almost the sole government in making the Money
not only at the Tower, but in all the Mints at Bristol, York, Chester, Exeter & Norwich, depended on the Moneyers, who
pretended to be a Corporation, the Committee
& others of the Moneyers, & required them to produce their
Charter; which after many trifling delays & excuses, they
pretended was left by them in the Hands of the late Comptroller
of the Mint, Mr Hoar deceased; The Committee sent for
Mr Hoar's Execatrix; who delivered into the Committee
several Grants, Charters, & Inspeximus's, with other papers
relating to the Mint, but no Grant to the Corporation of
Moneyers:
The said Provost &c Moneyers being again required to
produce their Grant or Patent, they then pretended
That their Grant or Patent
Chief Baron: but when that was brought it proved only
a Decree of his Majesty's Court of Exchequer, to exempt
some of the Moneyers from bearing Parish Offices
& paying some duties, particularly therein mentioned.
That Mr Braint the Provost of the Moneyers,
declared he never had any Grant or Charter in his hands
And believth what Charter there is to be in Dr Newton the
Mr Neale, a worthy member of this House, and
Master-worker of the Mint, declared at the Committee
that he always looked upon the Moneyers as a
Corporation.
Dr Newton present Warden of the Mint, declared
that he had never seen any such Grant or Patent to
the Moneyers, & believed, they had no other Charter
but the general Charter of the Mint, which he had
in his possession, & was read over by the Committee
& contained no such Privilege or Powers as are now
claimed by the Moneyers.
That one Hunter who was a Servant to the Moneyers
conveyed away several of the Mint Dyes: That it
appeared either a Connivance or a great Neglect, in
the Person entrusted with the Dyes: & that both
the said Hunter & one Scotch Robin, who was also
concerned in the same Fact, sheltered themselves in
the Mint in Scotland.
That it appeared to the Committee, that if the
Melter & Assay Master of the Mint at the Tower
or any other Mint, shall agree & have a right
understanding in the worst sense, between them
that they may cheat the King & the Public, of
Vast Sums, & yet the constitution of the Mint
cannot prevent them.
The Committee doth observe, that the present Assay
Two Sisters. And that notwithstanding the last Melter
Mr Sheldon, gave up his Place of Melter, as not able
to Melt the Silver at d per ℔
Hurt & Loss, yet Mr Ambrose the present Melter
hath got a great Estate & keeps his Coach
The like is between the Master & Wardens of Goldsmiths
Company The Assay Master of the Mint, as to their
being a Cheque upon the Standard, & the Assaying of
Silver & Gold, & if there should be a Conspiracy either
between the Melter & Assay Master of the Tower, or
between the Master of Goldsmiths Hall & the Assay
Master of the Tower, the King & Nation may be de
frauded of Vast Sums, if not prevented by some
Comptrol over each of them; nor will the Pix Box, as
the Iury that sits or serves on that Assay, prevent
it as the Law now stands, therefore to be prevented by
a new Law.
The Committee does observe, that notwithstanding the
very great Trust, the Melter, the Assay Master
& the Moneyers, who have commonly £10
King's & of the Nations Money in their Hands, &
when the Plate comes in, will have greater Summs,
having given no security to the King, nor to the
Mint to answer the same
The Committee does observe, that a
brought by King rr. for not doing his Duty as Comptroller of the Mint
in the Tower
of his good Friends, he had £500
That the Committee do find, by the ancient Establish
ment of the Mint, that
for the Coinage of a Pound of Gold, & One Shilling &
Six Pence for One Pound Weight of Silver, & One
Shilling for One Pound Weight of Gold & One
Pennyweight of Silver to the King.
That the Scavunage, which is a Duty formerly
paid towards the Coinage; but is taken away by
Act of Parliament, & £500
lieu thereof.
By a Patent produced to the Committee, granted by
the late King
Duncomb Esqrs, it appears, That for the Coinage of
the Copper Half Pence & farthings, that 20d P.
H. was allowed for Coining & Milling the same in the
Tower: & that £1.0
out of the Profits of the same.
That the Committee do observe, that a new Patent is
granted to several Commissioners for Term of
Years; & they do change all tin Half Pence & Farthings
That the Committee hath had several Complaints,
that the said Tin Farthings & Half Pence are not yet
changed, but that several Thousand Pounds worth
lie yet unchanged.
That Mr Lawrence of St Peter's the Poor, London, Haber
dasher, informed the Committee, that he hath very often
pressed the present Commissioners for the making of
Copper, Halfpence & Farthings, & their Officers at their
Office, to change him some part of the worth of £200 he had
by him of good Tin Halfpence & Farthings; which they
refused to do, & have refused above two Years last past
but did proffer him, for
Guineas they would change him ten Pounds worth of
his Tin Halfpence, & Farthings, & sell him
of new Copper Farthings; & so proportionably for h is
Two hundred Pounds;
And that he knows of several £1000 worth of Tin Half
Pence & Farthings that are left in several Warehouses
in London & Southwark, of poor Country Tradesmen
& of Tradesmen of the poorer sort of the Suberbs of London
to their very great loss; & the said Office do refuse to
change the same contrary to the express Words of
their Patent or Grant, from his Majesty, it being
the only acknowledgement or Rent, that they pay
to the Crown, was the charging & taking in of Tin
Halfpence & Farthings, which hath been a cheat to
the poorest trading People of England above £100,000.
That Mr
Pewterer, saith, that because he could not (though he
very earnestly endeavoured for above Two Years with
the Commissioners & Officers of the Copper Farthings)
to melt down above £1.00 Sterling worth, to his very
great Loss & Damage: And that he bought some of
them of the Officers of the Copper Office:
That Mr
down £200 Sterling worth; to his great Loss.
That he knoweth what Mr Wm. Lawrence hath
before informed to be true, to his Knowledge:
That he was at a Committee of the Commissioners of
Copper Farthings; about a Fortnight since; & they
told him, they did not care to change any more
Tin Farthings, but that they would pay him 10s
a Month for every £100 worth; which is but the Interest
of this said £100. And they did proffer him if he
would pay them £100 in new milled Money or
Guineas, & £5 in Tin Halfpence & Farthings, they
would pay him £105 in Copper. Halfpence &
Farthings: That he sent their own Bills to them
for above £75, & they did nor would pay him but
£1.15 in a whole Year's time.
And further saith, That, when the King is beyond
Sea & the Parliament up, the Commissioners would
change no Tin Farthings; but sold several £1000
worth to
out of this Oppression, as a very great Scandal
& Abuse to the King, Parliament & whole Govern
ment.
That by the late Act of Parliament, One Shilling &
Two Pence was allowed for the Melting, Milling &
Edging of the Silver Money to be coined, which dit
the great Officers have thus distributed,
Mr Ambrose agreed with the Lords of the Treasury
for
Money, to be melted at the Exchequer.
That the Committee observes, the King still pay 1s6d
P ℔ for the Coinage besides the Charge of the Carriage
to the Tower, notwithstanding the late Act or claimed
that he should pay but 1s2d.
That the Committee do observe, that this distribu
tion is very unequal, some of the Workers having
to little & others to much, And the Committee is
of opinion, that it would be cheaper for the King &
better for the mint & Coinage, if all the Monyers
& Officers had Saler
& that no fee should be taken of the Mint but
of the King
That it appeared to the Committee, by the confess
of Mr Saml Shepperd, & also by an Account
under his own hand delivered, that he had
received out of the Profits of the Master Worker's th of Iune 1696 to the 19th
took & received to his own use, by virtue of a Mort
gage & Assignment of £10,500 made to him, by
the Master Worker Man, in the Mint, in May last.
That the Committee doth further observe that Mr
Hall a very carefull & dilligent Officer, & is
the Master Workers Deputy, & doth almost
the whole business of the Mint in Mr Neale's
absence, hath but £400 Salary & that not paid
by the Master Worker, though upon the modestest
Computation his Profits will come to £14,000 this
Year, yet the King pays him this £1.00
on a new Establishment, which charge the
Committee think very reasonable; & that Mr
Shepperd or the Master Worker should ease
the King of paying the same.
It also appeared to the Committee by the Accounts
sent from the several Mints in the Country,
that there are no Assay Masters in some of the
country Mints.
And that in the Mints at York & Norwich
there are far greater deficiencies, than in any
of the other Mints; viz in that at York by above
£2800 & that of Norwich by above £500, the several
Accounts of the several Mints, which the
Committee cannot make up and balance
they
melted down their several sweeps.
And the Committee do observe, that the said Men
have two Offices in the said Mint, & some of the
said Offices are or should be Ch
on the other, as Melter & Comptroller, as in York
Mint; by which the Committee is informed, that
the King lost in Melting down the Clipped &
hammered Money;
standardizing the said Money, for at the first
Melting the loss is not borne by the Melter but
by the King, the Melter being charged with the
loss after the Silver is Melted & Standardized
& the King bears the loss both in Melting & Refin
ing, as Dr Newton the Warden of the Mint
informed this Committee.
That the Committee do find by several informations
& particularly by the information of Colonel Colt, a
Member of this House, that the Plate marked
both with the Tower & Goldsmiths Hall Mark
though it hath no sodder in it doth not when
it is melted hold to be a Standard, by 6d, 8d or 12d in
the Pound, Troy Weight, which is a very great
Fraud & Abuse to the People, that pay for
Standard Plate, & ought to rematied, especially
at this Time
That it appeared to the Committee, that £320
Salary was allowed for the Master-graver, his
Assistant, Clerk, Servants & Workm
old Rotter & his three Sonns was brought over by
King Charles the Second, & the said £325 allowed
to the father, with the Addition of £450
by Patent under the great Seal to the Three Sons viz £150 a piece for their several Lives, which
have been constantly paid him that remained
here, notwithstanding one of them went several
Years since into Flanders, & the other fled to
France, where he is now in the French King's
Service: And
Thomas Neale Esqr a Member of this honorable
House & Master worker of his Majesty's Mint
produced articles of agreement made between him
& the younger Rotter, to pay him, the said Rotter
over & above the said £325
Annuity, the further Sum of £800 Yearly
Though it appeared to the Committee at the
same time that Henry Harris Esqr was
sworn into the Office of Graver at His Majesty's
Mints, & hath a Patent for the same, & that
the said Rotters are not only violent Papists
& refuse to take the Oaths or to subscribe the
Association, as by Law they ought to do, yet
they still continue in the house belonging to Mints, hath a Patent for the
same
from France; for it appeared to the Committee by
Two Letters out of France, written by Daniel
Arthur, who is out lawed for High Treason
& directed to the said Rotter, with two several
Bills of Exchange from France, even since the
Act of Parliament which makes it capital to
hold communication, with France; which letters
were taken in the house of one Connigs; a Mer
chant amongst several other very treasonable
Papers & Correspondencies:
And it further appeared to the Committee, by the
evidence of Mr Aron Smith, that he hath seen
another letter from the said D. Arthur to the said
I. Rotter, wherein he mentioned the stipend or
Salary from the French King to the said Rotter.
And it appeared to the Committee by the In
formation of several witnesses, as M r Brown
M r Fox, M rs Pigeon & others, that
the younger was in the company of Rookwood &
Bernardo the Assassinators; when they were
apprehended; & was suspected to be in that Conspi
racy himself; having at that time provided him
-self of Horses & Arms, at his own House in
Essex, where he entertained very ill company
to the
High Treason against him, by the Honble
the Lord Lucas, but he is fled from Iustice.
The Committee do observe, that old Rotter is
still continued in the Gravers House in the
Tower, though will not nor did ever own the
King, or do any One thing as Graver since
the Revolution: And that the Governor of
the Tower hath declared to some Members
of this Committee, that he is a dangerous
person to be in the Tower & that he would
remove him if he could.
of the House of Commons
upon the State of the Mint 9 th Willm 3d.
(8th April 1697)