Standard Gold and Silver Trial Plates. 83 



" Item. The Co'nsell being assembled in the midle chamber, 

 next the Mynt furnace in the Stare Chamber, the Tresurer and 

 the other officers ought to bring in the saide pixe or pixes, locked 

 with sev'all keys, before the saide Co'nsell, and then every 

 bage, called Sinthia, for every moneth to be opened, and of so 

 many pec's found in the said sinthia as wold make a pound 

 w e,t of Silver or Gold, Troye, to be weighed by Troye wights, and 

 after to be numbred, to try yf yt hold out in nomber, according 

 to the Standerd and Indenture ; and after that all the holle 

 mony in every of the said baggs called Sinthia to be laid on one 

 heape, and thereof taking so many pound w lt3 as shall pleas the 

 co'nsell to have put to the fyer to trye the Assaie. That done, 

 the Wardens and Goldsmiths to be sworne to trye the said 

 xnonye, and to take the Assaye accordyngly ; the tenor of whose 

 othe hereafter ensueth ; that is to saye : Ye shall well and 

 trewly, after your knolege and discrecions, make th'assais of 

 theis monys of Gold and Silver, and trewly report yf the said 

 monys be in wight and fines according to theis the King's Stan- 

 derdsof his Treasury,*and allso yf the same monys be sufficient in 

 allaie, etc., according to the covenant comprised in the Indentur 

 thereof mad betwyn the Bang's grace and the M r of his Mints, 

 so help y e Godde. 



" And that done, one of the said severall pond w its of mony 

 put in severall fier potts to be delivered to the Foremane of the 

 Jurie, to be molten and tryed by the Assaye, wherby yt may be 

 knowen whether the said pound w' ts containe so many oz. and 

 peney w eits in puer and good Syllver as by the Standard and In- 

 denture is apoynted or not ; and, as then yt shall be found by 

 the said Jurye, to be syngnified unto the Co'nsell, whos verdit 

 with the nomber of all the other coyned by any suche Indenturs, 

 within the tyme of the said Assaye, to be delivered from the said 

 Co'nsell to the Remembrancer to record all ther doings accord- 

 ingly as apertayneth. 



"Item. The lyke assaye to be mad of the Gold, mu- 

 tat'mutand." 



No doubt the form of making the Trial of the Pyx as here 

 prescribed was derived from an earlier period, as the " King's" 

 standard is mentioned and not the Queen's. It will be apparent 

 that, in order to make the examination as to the purity of the pyx 

 coins perfect, it was necessary that some standard or infallible 

 tests should exist to which comparisons might be made. These 

 were called Trial Plates, and they consisted of portions of the 

 precious metals, the composition of which had been studiously 

 effected in accordance with the legal enactments relating to the 

 fineness of gold and silver coins. 



* The Trial Plates, to be presently further referred to. 

 VOL. VI. — NO. II. Q 



