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Trial of the Pyx
The Trial of the Pyx is the procedure in the United
Kingdom for ensuring that newly-minted coins conform to required
standards. Trials have been held from the twelfth century to the
present day, normally once per calendar year; the form of the
ceremony has been essentially the same since 1282 AD.
They are trials in the full judicial sense,
presided over by a judge with an expert jury of assayers. Trials are
now held at the Hall of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths;
formerly, they took place at the Palace of Westminster. Given modern
production methods, it is unlikely that coins would not conform, but
this has been a problem in the past—it was tempting for the Master
of the Mint to steal precious metals.
The term "Pyx" refers to the boxwood chest (in Greek,
πυξίς, pyxis) in which coins were placed for presentation to the
jury. There is also a Pyx Chapel (or Pyx Chamber) in Westminster
Abbey, which was once used for secure storage of the Pyx and related
articles.
 The
judge having charge of the trial is the Queen's Remembrancer, the
Senior Master of the Queen's Bench. It is his or her responsibility
to ensure that the trial is held in accordance with law, and to
deliver the final verdict to Her Majesty's Treasury. Where and when
a trial is to take place is at the Treasury's discretion, though
there must be a trial in any year during which the
Royal Mint issues
coins.
Coins to be tested are drawn from the regular
production of the Royal Mint. The Deputy Master of the Mint must,
throughout the year, randomly select several thousand sample coins
and place them aside for the Trial. These must be in a certain fixed
proportion to the number of coins produced. For example, for every
5000 bimetallic coins issued, one must be set aside, but for silver
Maundy money the proportion is one in 150.
The jury is composed of at least six assayers from
the Company of Goldsmiths. They have two months to test the provided
coins, and decide whether they have been properly minted. Criteria
are given for diameter, chemical composition and weight for each
class of coinage.
Statutory basis for the Trial of the Pyx is given by the Coinage Act
1971, the latest in a long series of similarly-named Acts of
Parliament. Specific procedures are established by Order-in-Council,
the most recent being the Trial of the Pyx Order 1998, which was
amended by The Trial of the Pyx (Amendment) Order 2005. It is not
required for a new Order to be issued for each Trial: this only
happens when the rules change.
History
The history of the Trial of the Pyx goes back to the
twelfth century, making it one of the longest established judicial
procedures in the country. The purpose of the
 annual
trial is to check that UK coins produced at the
Royal Mint are
within the statutory limits for metallic composition, weight and
size.
The name Pyx refers to the chests in which the coins
are transported, and derives from the Pyx chamber in Westminster
Abbey where historically the chests were kept, along with other
important items of state and church.
By the thirteenth century the Trial of the Pyx had begun to take the
form that we know today. Early trials were held first in Westminster
Hall and later in the Exchequer at Westminster. But in 1870, as laid
down in the Coinage Act of that year, Goldsmiths' Hall became the
established venue for the Trial. This made good sense with the Assay
Office collocated in the Hall as it is today. It is the Assay
Office, whose familiar hallmark is synonymous with quality, which
has the task of testing the metallic composition of the coins.
Historical Trial Plates and Pyx
The benchmark against which coins are tested is called a Trial
Plate. These metal plates of gold, silver and cupro-nickel, which
used to be under the personal charge of the monarch in the
Exchequer, are now the responsibility of the National Weights and
Measures Laboratory of the DTI, along with the weights against which
the coins are measured.
In February each year, officials from the Royal Mint bring chests (pyx)
to Goldsmiths' Hall, containing coins put aside in the course of
manufacture during the previous year. These coins, normally several
thousand in total, represent one coin from every batch of each
denomination minted.
The trial jury, comprising members of the Goldsmiths' Company, is
summoned to the Hall by the senior judge in the Courts of Justice,
known as the Queen's Remembrancer, and is a formal court of law.
During the opening proceedings the coins are counted and weighed,
and a selection put aside for testing by the Assay Office.
The Delivery of the Verdict, presided over once more by the Queen's
Remembrancer, takes place some two months later, once the Assay
Office has verified the coins. It is attended by the Chancellor of
the Exchequer (who is the Master of the Mint) or his representative.
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