trial-of-the-pyx « WordPress.com Tag Feed

The Story Of The Most Expensive Coin In The World

Keerthika Singaravel — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 19:23:07 +0000

In 1933, the President of the United States of America, Franklin D. Roosevelt stopped the coinage of

LondonLife - The Cromwell Trial Plate...

exploringlondon — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 12:23:36 +0000

This is a section of the Cromwell Trial Plate used in the Trial of the Pyx in 1649. The Trial of the

No Fakes Here

Ysbryd — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:52:01 +0000

I admit I was astonished by an article I read this morning on Yahoo! UK. Counterfeit money is something we hear about all the time here in the US, but they rarely, if ever, mention any of our coins being counterfeited. It’s always the paper money. Of course while GB may have 43 million £1 coins circulating the country, at least you don’t have the top counterfeiter in the world in your country, trying to pass off a bill that doesn’t exist. !!! The largest paper money denomination we have is $100. Clearly if you’re going to counterfeit anything, it should not be more than this amount – at least on one bill.

I also found it interesting from the article I read that there is the Trial of the Pyx wherein a selected jury of individuals meets to check the honesty of the Royal Mint to make sure that, at least on the government’s end, the public isn’t being cheated. Essentially, they make sure that newly minted coins conform to standards. This trial dates back to 1282.

I have checked my £1 which I still have from my 2010 trip and they are all legit. Phew!

Trial of the Pyx

Mike Paterson — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:10:34 +0000

Today was the opening ceremony of the annual Trial of the Pyx, held at Goldsmiths’ Hall. The trial lasts until May and about a hundred members of the public are allowed to spectate on the opening day. I managed to secure a small stash of tickets for London Historians, my thanks to the Company of Goldsmiths for that.

Goldsmiths' Hall. One of the lucky livery halls which survived the Blitz. By Philip Hardwick, 1835, who also designed the Euston Arch.

Goldsmiths' Hall, interior. Before the ceremony, the jury table, with the Remembrancer's chair at the far end.

The Trial of the Pyx is an ancient ceremony dating from the 1240s in which the integrity of the coins of the realm is examined and tested for size, weight, quality and composition. The number of jurors varies, but is usually between twelve and fifteen. So too does the number of coins examined, but in recent years around 188,000.

The ceremony is opened and closed by the Queen’s Remembrancer, the oldest judicial position in the land. He wears typical judge attire, except that on top of his wig is perched a small black tricorn hat. This can be disconcerting, because at first glance it appears not unlike when the death sentence is passed. But it is always satisfying to see ancient ritual and regalia being observed. Take note, Mr Speaker!

Once the Remembrancer arrives, each member of the jury stands up and announces his or her name. The entire jury then holds a copy of the Gospels and are sworn in to the affect that they promise to do a good job. The Remembrancer then gives his opening address. This year it was on the topic of the historical problem of the clipping of coins in an age when they still comprised precious metal; and how the authorities tried and failed to eliminate the practice. Very interesting it was too.

The Rembrancer then departed to leave the jury and officials of the Goldsmiths’ Company to get on with the job of sifting and examining coins. It’s an arcane and complicated process, which I’ll leave for another time.

Intrepid London Historians, after the ceremony.

More information on the Trial of the Pyx:
Wikipedia
Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths
The Royal Mint
Ian Visits (2009)
An article by Mike Rendell on London Historians web site. Scroll down a bit.