Even Coins Go to Court

Perhaps the most contemptible piece of mail is a summons to jury duty. Spending a day in court is rarely an enjoyable experience; however, it is interesting to note that trials are not limited to the human race.

In the 12th century, King Henry VIII enacted the beginning of an annual court proceeding in which British national coinage would be tested and verified for weight and purity. Since then, the Trial of Pyx has been held by British officials each year to guarantee minting standards are met.

The process involves randomly selecting coins during production and placing them into a pyx until the appointed time of trial. The “Pyx” is the box in which the coins are transported from the Royal Mint to London’s Goldsmiths Hall (previously held at the Palace of Westminster).

The process of evaluating the coins takes nearly 4 months, with rigorous methods utilized to ensure quality and consistency.

The Trial has undergone changes since its inception in the 12th century, but the practice earned the Royal Mint the distinction of being the first mint in the world to have ISO 9001 certification.

The trial has involved many heroes of the bullion world, including Sir Isaac Newton. As the Master of the Mint in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, Sir Isaac Newton was responsible for ensuring minting standards. In fact, he was specifically chosen as Master of the Mint due to a rampant counterfeiting issue plaguing England. Because so many coins were being discovered as counterfeit, the alchemy expert was brought in to help remedy the problem.

Newton discovered the greatest of the offenders, William Chaloner. He vowed to take down the counterfeiting criminal by any means necessary. Chaloner antagonized Newton by going before Parliament to label the Mint Master incompetent. He further put blame for the counterfeiting epidemic on Newton’s own workers. This enraged Newton, who began enacting questionable investigative tactics to catch Chaloner. Eventually, after two years of intense work, Newton had accumulated enough evidence to indict Chaloner. Sentencing for counterfeiting coins included hanging, which Newton encouraged.

The tenacious and arguably merciless (in terms of counterfeiting) Newton was a Mint Master who would not stand for subpar quality coins. This was seen in his takedown of Chaloner as well as in 1710 when he was said to fail the Trial of the Pyx. In 1710, Newton’s coins did not match the trial plates used to measure coins for the ceremony. Newton was adamant his coins were correctly manufactured to the specific weight and fineness- so much so that the trial plates were evaluated and found to be in error.

Knowing the penalty for failing the Trial of the Pyx makes Newton’s unwillingness to admit error quite understandable. Punishment ranged from imprisonment to hanging and quartering. The Royal Mint has never wavered on its commitment to quality coinage, and processes like the annual Trial of the Pyx illustrate the dedication of the Mint to brilliant bullion.

Add quality tested  1 oz Silver Britannias from the Royal Mint to your precious metals portfolio, today!