Jump to content

User:Tsange/sandbox5

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


A view of the inside of Goldsmiths' Hall, a long table surrounded by jurors test coins
Trial of the Pyx in the Livery Hall at Goldsmiths' Hall

The Trial of the Pyx (/pɪks/) is a judicial ceremony in the United Kingdom for ensuring that newly minted coins from the Royal Mint conform to their required dimensional and fineness specifications. Although coin quality is now tested throughout the year under lab conditions the event has become an annual historic tradition.

First held in the 12th century the event takes place in the hall of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths in London where the Deputy Master of the Mint (CEO of the Royal Mint) is in effect put on trial before a High Court judge as metallurgical assayers and selected leaders from the financial world sample coins from the mints output. The boxes in which coins are stored form the ceremony's namesake with the word pyx deriving from the Greek, πυξίς, (pyxis) meaning wooden box.

In 2017, a total of 35,000 coins were put on trial consisting of both those struck for circulation and non-circulating commemorative coins.

History

[edit]

According to records from the Dialogus de Scaccario, in 1179 the weight and fineness of coinage received by England's Exchequer was examined regulatory under the supervision of the Baron of the Exchequer. At this time the Master of the Mint was ordered to put aside one coin for every ten pounds of silver minted so as it may be trialed every three months. Found in the Red Book of the Exchequer a section thought to be written in May 1279 titled "forma nova monete" ("A new form of currency") set forth procedures for a regular series of trials whereby the Master of the Mint became liable for failings in the currency standards. Coins were to be put into a box with two keys, each held by the master and warden and its contents trialed four times a year.[1]

In 1282 under the reign of Edward I a writ was issued ordering barons to carry out pyx trials throughout the realm. Statutory basis for the Trial of the Pyx is given by the Coinage Act 1971, the latest in a long series of similarly named Acts of Parliament. Specific procedures are established by Order in Council, the most recent being the Trial of the Pyx Order 1998,[2] which was amended in 2005,[3] 2012[4] and 2016.[5] It is not required for a new Order to be issued for each Trial: this is mandated (to occur) only with regulatory revision.

Prior to the Coinage Act 1870 trials took place at the Palace of Westminster and coins were stored in Westminster Abbey's so named Pyx Chapel. With the passing of the act the venue for the trial was moved to Goldsmiths' Hall, the headquarters of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths who carry out the testing.

Procedure

[edit]

Every year around February, the event begins with a meeting held in Goldsmith's Hall. Attending the gathering are the Prime Warden of the Goldmiths’ Company, three of their supporting Wardens, the Head of the Assay Office, Liverymen,[6] The Deputy Master of the Mint, the Queen's Remembrancer, and the High Commissioners of New Zealand. The presiding judge is the Queen's Remembrancer (or King's Remembrancer when the sitting monarch is man), the Senior Master of the Queen's Bench. It is his or her responsibility to ensure that the trial be held in accordance with the law and to deliver the jury's final verdict to Her Majesty's Treasury. Where and when a trial is to take place is at the Treasury's discretion, though there must be a trial in any year during which the Royal Mint issues coins.

Coins to be tested are drawn from the regular production of the Royal Mint. The Deputy Master of the Mint must, throughout the year, randomly select several thousand sample coins and place them aside for the Trial. These must be in a certain fixed proportion to the number of coins produced. For example, for every 5,000 bimetallic coins issued, one must be set aside, whereas for silver Maundy money the proportion is one in 150.

The jury is composed of at least six assayers from the Company of Goldsmiths. They have two months to test the provided coins, and decide whether they have been properly minted. Criteria are given for diameter, chemical composition and weight for each class of coinage. Depending on the amount of coins being assayed their are a varying amount of jurors needed. Sitting along a table, the jurors are handed packets of up to 50 coins by Royal Mint official which they must count. Each juror then selects one coin from the pile, placing it in a copper bowl that is sent away to be assayed. The remaining coin are either sent away to be weighed or weighed at the table. Smaller denomination coins that are more numerous are counted by a machine.[7]

At the company's assay office, coins the were placed in the copper bowls are melted down and formed into plates were their fineness and and weight can be compared against a corresponding trial plate which acts as a benchmark. After three months of testing, a ceremony presided over by the Queen's Remembrancer is held were the final verdict is given. Attending the event and receiving the verdict under the their capacity as Master of the Mint is the Chancellor of the Exchequer or his Deputy Master, the Chief Executive of the Royal Mint.[8]

List of trials

[edit]

Prior to the Coinage Act 1971 which ordered a trial to be held at least once a year, trials were carried out in no particular order and often covered the coinage of multiple years.

Trials

[edit]
  • 1281
  • 1312
  • 1318
  • 30 Oct 1349
  • 30 Oct 1362
  • 30 Oct 1365
  • 18 Feb 1414
  • 14 Oct 1425
  • 14 Oct 1427
  • 27 Oct 1432
  • 1 Nov 1432
  • 1 Dec 1475
  • 26 Oct 1523
  • 4 June 1527
  • 21 Nov 1527
  • 20 May 1530
  • 1 Mar 1533
  • 30 Oct 1534
  • 16 Jun 1542

Trials - Reign of Elizabeth II

[edit]
  • 1952
  • 1953
  • 1954
  • 1955
  • 1956
  • 1957
  • 1958
  • 1959
  • 1960
  • 1961
  • 1962
  • 1963
  • 1964
  • 1965
  • 1966
  • 1967
  • 1968
  • 1969
  • 1970
  • 1971
  • 1972
  • 1973
  • 1974
  • 1975
  • 1976
  • 1977
  • 1978
  • 1979
  • 1980
  • 1981
  • 1982
  • 1983
  • 1984
  • 1985
  • 1986
  • 1987
  • 1988
  • 1989
  • 1990
  • 1991
  • 1992
  • 1993 - 60,000 coins
  • 1994
  • 1995
  • 1996
  • 1997
  • 1998
  • 1999
  • 2000
  • 2001
  • 2002
  • 2003
  • 2004
  • 2005
  • 2006
  • 2007
  • 2008
  • 2009 - 81,829[9]
  • 2010
  • 2011 - 81,829 coins checked (Mint report 2011-12)
  • 2012
  • 2013
  • 2014 - 40,000[10]
  • 2015 - 70,000[11]
  • 2016 - 95,000[12]
  • 2017 - 35,000[6]
  • 2018
  • 2019
  • 2020 - 23,000

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Allen, Martin (2012). Mints and Money in Medieval England. Cambridge University Press. p. 166. ISBN 978-1107014947.
  2. ^ Trial of the Pyx Order 1998
  3. ^ The Trial of the Pyx (Amendment) Order 2005
  4. ^ The Trial of the Pyx (Amendment) Order 2012
  5. ^ The Trial of the Pyx (Amendment) Order 2016
  6. ^ a b Greenhalgh, Hugo (31 January 2017). "Quality of Britain's coins tested as ancient Trial of the Pyx starts". Financial Times. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  7. ^ "The Trial of the Pyx". Goldsmiths' Company. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  8. ^ "The History of the Trial of the Pyx". Royal Mint. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  9. ^ "Inside The Trial Of The Pyx". londonist.com. 10 February 2009. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  10. ^ Thomas, Joanne (4 February 2014). "Trial of the Pyx: Putting the Pyx on trial". blog.royalmint.com. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  11. ^ Osborne, Hilary (3 February 2015). "Britain's coins go on trial at ancient ceremony". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  12. ^ Denton, Jane (2 February 2017). "The quality control for coins that's hardly changed since the 13th Century: Royal Mint faces the 'Trial of the Pyx' to see if its output is up to scratch..." This is Money. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
[edit]

UK legislation

[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Tsange/sandbox5&oldid=1092579714"