The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-07-12 00:00:00

TRIAL OF THE PYX,
(From Monday's Times.)

Pursuant to the commands of a Treasury warrant
dated June 13, the above trial was held on Wednesday
in last week at Goldsmiths'•hall, at eleven o'clock.
For the advantage of those who do not understand
what a trial of the Pyx means, we may explain that it
is in fact nothing less than an inquiry as to the honest
discharge by the Deputy Master of the Mint and his
officers of the heavy responsibility intrusted to them,
and that the verdict rendered on these annual occasions
is in the nature of a quietus to those gentlemen for
their faithful performance of the work of supplying
the country with every denomination of coinage
necessary for public use from year to year.
The duty of finding jurymen for these trials, and
their conduct generally, have been intrusted to the
Goldsmiths' Company since the reign of James 1., and
it was thought but a partial recognition of this vain.
able service to the country for so long a period that
Her Majesty should confirm the company in this work
by an Order in Council, consequent upon the Coinage
Act of 1870, dated the 29th of June, 1871, under
which all the arrangements of future trials of the Pyx
were regulated.
Upon the assembling together of all the officials
summoned to attend the trial—viz., Sir W. F. Pollock,
the Queen's Remembrancer, wno is nominated by her
Majesty to act as president at such trials, and who
appeared in his official robes; Mr. W. Chandler
Roberts, the chemist to the Mint; and Mr. Chaney,
representing the Standard Weights and Measures
Department of the Board of Trade—Mr. Walter
Prideaux, the clerk of the Goldsmiths' Company, pro-
ceeded to call over the names of the following gentle-
men, freemen of the company, who had been nomi-
nated for jurors—viz., George Smith Hayter, John
Gray, Henry Sykes Thornton, George Matthey, Stewart
Pixley, Francis Boone Thomas, Stephen Smith, George
Lambert, William Robinson, and Henry Pizey—Mr.
Hayter being elected as their foreman.
The Queen's Remembrancer next called upon Mr.
Hankins, an officer of his department, to real the
warrant ordering the trial to be held; and, after ad-
ministering an oath to the jurors, he proceeded to make
the usual charge to the jury, and addressed a few
general remarks to them upon the important nature
of the work of the day before remitting them to their
duties. Before retiring to their laboratory their fore-
man announced that the jury would be prepared to
render their verdict to the Queen's Remembrancer at
half-past six o'clock.

Since the last trial of the Pyx, on the 10th of July
last year, no gold has been coined at the Mint, which
is a very unusual occurrence, and may be partly
accounted for by the general contraction of trade and
the large influx of gold coin from Australia; but a
silver coinage to the amount of £534,996 was executed.
In consequence of this the Mint was enabled to get
through all its own work, without entering into any
contracts for bronze coinage with private manufac•
turers, as in previous years, and several colonial
coinages were also undertaken, thus keeping the
machinery constantly at work, and the staff fully em-
ployed throughout the year.
The weight of silver coined between the Ist of July
last year and the 30th ult, amounted to 1,945,4400 z.,
or 2,702 journey weights of 7200 z. each. A journey
weight of silver means the amount of metal given out
at one time to the workmen for coining purposes, and
out of each such weight one coin at least has to be
placed in the Pyx for examination at this trial.
The following coins were thus deposited in the Pyx
during the twelve months just concluded, and were
submitted to the jurors for trial on this occasion :-
445 half-crowns, 626 florins, 1,001 shillings, 431 six-
peyny, two fourpenny, 140 threepenny, two twopenny
pieces, and six pence. The fourpenny, twopenny, and
penny pieces were coined merely as Maundy moneys,
or coins used in making up small white tied bags of
silver given by Her Majesty, by the hands of her
Royal Almoner, to certain poor persons on Maundy
Thursday, as many pence being contained in each bag
as Her Majesty numbers years,
The various tests to which these coins were subjected
were most thorough and searching, and afford an
ample procf that a jealous scrutiny is kept over the
purity and correctness of weight of our coinage. This
probably is the secret of the fact that, go where you
will, the English sovereign is always respected, if not
indeed, eagerly sought for.
Although we have described the proceedings of the
jurors on these occasions in previous years, we shall
very shortly repeat them. The jurors, on retiring to
their laboratory, first count all the coins in the Pyx to
see that the packets of money deposited in the box
tally in number and amount with the account rendered
to them by the Mint authorities. So many coins are
then taken from each packet for trial as the jury
think fit, and are weighed to ascertain that they are
within the legal remedy (or allowance made to the
Mint in manufacture) as to weight. These coins
are now melted in an ingot, which is most carefully
assayEA.
The weight and remedy of some of the silver coins
are given below, those of the lesser value being in
equal proportions :
Coin. Weight. Remedy..
Gra. Gra.
Half-crown 218.18181 .. 090909
Florin ...........17454545 .. 174.54545 .. 012727
ShillingB7 27272 .. 0 36363
Sixpence .. .. 43 63636 .. o'lBlBl

The standard fineness for silver coins is 37-40ths fine
silver and 3-40ths alloy, or millesimal fineness 925; the
remedy being millesimal fineness 0004.
The fineness of the metal of the coins was tested
against portions of the Government standard trial
plate of silver, produced by the representative of the
Board of Trade, and of which the jury possessed
themselves of a small portion before commencing work
—this plate being composed of as nearly pure silver as
it is possible to obtain scientifically.
The jury next weighed the residue of the coins in
bulk, to see that they were within the remedy as to
weight. They then took from such residue as many
coins as they deemed necessary, and assayed them
separately; this is a most crucial and searching test,
as it is well known to scientific metallurgists that the
exact combination of pure silver or gold with alloys is
open to many difficulties and uncertainties. It may
be interesting, as affording a convincing proof of the
extreme care with which our coinage is prepared at the
Royal Mint, to give the result of this test of individual
coin assay, as shown by the Pyx verdict last year.
Five sovereigns and four half-sovereigns were taken by
the jury for this purpose, with the following remark-
able result :—Their fineness was stated to be respec-
tively—sovereigns, 916.8, 9168, 916.8, 9168, 916'8;
and half-sovereigns, 9165, 9167, 916.8, and 916 6; or
an average of 91673; the legal standard millesimal
fineness being 91666.
The result of the finding of the jury on all these
tests was embodied in the verdict presented by them to
the Queen's Remembrancer, when it was read aloud by
the clerk of the Goldsmiths' Company and signed by
the jurors, and further authenticated by the signature
of Sir Frederick Pollock, who then took charge of it,
to be preserved as a record in his office.
As usual, the result of the day's work reflected the
highest credit upon the very excellent workmanship,
both scientific and mechanical, performed by the
officers of the Royal Mint. The verdict has since
appeared in the London Gazette, in accordance with the
directions set forth in Her Majesty's before-mentioned
Order in Council, To those interested in the subject
of our coinage the ninth annual report of the Deputy
Master of the Mint, lately Tkiresented to both Houses
of Parliament by command of Her Majesty, will be
found to afford much information; and the report
thereto appended by Mr. Roberts, the able chemist to
the department, gives many scientific and valuable
facts as to the difficulties besetting the manipulation of
the precious metals during coinage operations.
According to the hospitable custom of the Gold-
smiths' anmpany on these occasions, a grand banquet
was given at their hall, at seven &clock, to the heads
of all the public departments interested in the trial,
and to many of the gentlemen employed in their offices,
together with the jurors and several distinguished
friends. Among the guests may be mentioned the
Right Hon. the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Master
of the Mint ; the Right Hon. Viscount Sandon, Pre-
Mdent of the Board of Trade; Right Hon. Viscount
Midleton, Right HOD. Lord Cottesloe, Lord Napier of
Magdala, Hon. Wilbraham Egerton, Sir Thomas
Bloomfield, Sir Frederick Pollock, Sir Henry Jackson,
up., Major General Sir Henry Norman, K. 0.8.
Mr. J. G. Talbot, M.P., the Deputy Governor of the
Bank of England, Mr, T. H. Ferrer, Mr. H. S.
Northcote, Mr. E. S. Hope, Mr. T. Medill, &c.