334-5) with minor variations

Author: Isaac Newton

Source: MINT 19/1/354, National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, UK

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  - 1 January 2001
    - Catalogue information compiled by Rob Iliffe, Peter Spargo & John Young
  - 29 September 2011
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  - 28 January 2017
    - Transcribed by Will Scott
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Related Texts
- This document is a version of:
  Memorandum by Newton specifying the uses to which the money allocated to the Mint by Parliament can be put, breaking it down into specific sums for specific purposes, and stating which Mint officers are responsible for allocating which funds [MINT 19/1/334-5]

<354r>

The Act of 18 Car. II, chap. 5, saith that no moneys leviable & payable by this Act shall be applied or converted to any use or uses whatsoever other then to the defraying the charge or expence of the Mint or Mints, & of the Assaying melting down wast & coinage of Gold & Silver & the encouragement of bringing in of Gold & Silver into the said Mint or Mints there to be coyned &c. The first is the charge of supporting a standing Mint, the second is the further charge of carrying on the coynage in that Mint. And by the next Clause of the Act the first is limited to 3000^li for preventing extravagance, & the other is left unlimited for encouraging the coynage. The words are: And it is hereby further enacted, that there shall not be issued out of the Exchequer of the said 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 necessaries for assaying melting down & coyning above the summ of three thousand pounds sterling money, & the overplus of the said moneys so kept or to be kept as aforesaid shall be employed for & towards the expence wast & charges of assaying melting down & coynage & buying in of gold & silver to coyne, & not otherwise Here the charge of salaries & buildings with their appurtenances necessary for constituting a Mint (such as are Hearths & chimneys convenient for furnaces, floors convenient for Mill rooms, blocks for the presses & flatters benches for the cutters & for the Graver & smith, tables for weighing telling & sizing stalls & Desks for the Clarks money chests & boxes for the Treasury, & Pix {illeg}ells Pumps & Pipes for water doors & locks for the Offices, Gates for the Mint &c) are limited to 3000^li, & the overplus is for defraying the charges arising by the coynage such as are the charge of stationary ware for the clerk{s} ballances & weights for several Offices, Furnaces Cuppels water-silver, Aqua fortis & charcoal for the Assay Office, refining & allay for bringing the gold & silver to standard, flasks furnaces melting & wast in the melting houses Mills Dyes coyning & wast in the other offices. Indentures & Warrants for carrying on the coynage, & charges of making trial pieces & trying the Pix.

After the making of this Act the salaries upon the establishment of the Indenture amounted unto 2600^li & there remained only 400^li for the providing & repairing of buildings which charge in the old Accounts usually amounted unto two or three & sometimes almost 400^li per annum And the Incidents in the Wardens Account came to about 180^li per annum or within 20 or 25^li over or under. And there is an Article in the Indenture which obliges the Master to pay unto the Warden such summ & summs as are payable by him for salaries & repairs & such other expences of the Mint as have been heretofore usually paid by the Warden.

The Act made in the 4^th & 5^t year of her Majesty reign for enlarging the summ of 3000^li to that of 3500^li was not intended to charge the 3000^li with any sorts of payments which had not been used to be put upon it but on the contrary to make more room for bearing those sorts of payments which used to be put upon it, as the words of the Preamble import. And accordingly a new salary of 400^l per annum was settled upon the Moneyers presently after the passing of the Act. And the Salaries of the Clarks of the Mint being thought too small were intended to be augmented. But it was thought fit first to take care of the old buildings which were ready to fall. And since that <354v> time there has been spent upon rebuilding old houses & offices & extraordinary repairs about 900 or 1000^li. And a part of the charges of rebuilding the Engineers shop comes into the Account of the year 1712.

In the Account of that year the salaries upon the Indenture payable by the Warden are 1435^li, those payable by the Master to the Officers 1080^li, to the Smith 40^li in lieu of 50^li, & to the Graver for an Apprentice. 35^li in lieu of 95^li. The new salary to the Moneyers is 400^li. And the charge of the buildings in the Wardens Account is in one article 389^li. 2^s in another 11. 13. 6. Total 3390^l. 15^s. 6^d.