No. LIV. 18 Elizab. c. 1. large it doth and may appear: Sithence the making of which good law and statute divers false and evil-disposed persons, knowing that the said ' law being, as it is, penal, ought to be taken and expounded strictly according to the words thereof, and the like offences, not by any equity to ' receive the like punishment or pains, have sithence the making of the 'said law and statute most wickedly devised and practised, for wicked 'lucre and gain's sake, other arts, undue ways and means, to falsify, impair, diminish and lighten, as well the proper monies and coins of this 'realm and the dominions thereof, as also the monies or coins of other within the 'realms allowed and suffered to be current within this realm and the domi- strict word of nions thereof by her Majesty's proclamation, to the great damage, loss, the foresaid Other undue means practised to falsify the money not ‹ hurt and deceit, as well of her Majesty, as of all her faithful and loving statutes. 'be not speedily met withal:' For reformation and remedy whereof, be it No corruption of blood or for feiture of dower for this treason. III. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any of Trial of a peer the Lords of the Parliament, or peer of this realm, for the time being, shall by his peers. fortune at any time hereafter to be indicted of any offence made treason by this Act, that then they and every of them shall have his or their trial by their peers, as hath been used heretofore in cases of high treason. 25 Ed. 3. stat. 4 & 5. c. 2. 1 Ma. sess. 2. c. 6. [No. LV.] 18 Elizabeth, c. 15.-An Act for Reformation of Abuses in Goldsmiths. No. LV. 18 Elizab. c. 15. WHERE certain evil-disposed goldsmiths deceitfully do make and sell plate, and other gold and silver wares, to the great defrauding of her Majesty and her good subjects: For remedy whereof, be it enacted by the authority of this present Parliament, That no goldsmith from the twentieth day of April next coming shall work, sell, exchange or cause to be wrought, sold or exchanged, any plate or other goldsmith wares of gold, less in fineness than that of two and twenty carrects, and that he use no sother, amell or other stuffings whatsoever, in any of their works, more than is necessary for the finishing of the same; and that they take not of what fineabove the rate of twelvepence for the ounce of gold, besides the fashion, ness his wares (more than the buyer shall or may be allowed for the same at the Queen's of gold and Exchange or Mint) upon pain to forfeit the value of the thing so sold or silver shall be. shall set his A goldsmith mark on his work. No. LV. 18 Elizab. c. 15. The fineness of silver plate, and what the exchanged: And that from the said twentieth day of April no goldsmith shall make, sell or exchange in any place within this realm, any plate or goldsmith's wares of silver, less in fineness than that of eleven ounces twopenny weight; nor take above the rate of twelvepence for every pound weight of plate or wares of silver, besides the fashion, more than the buyer shall or may be allowed for the same at the Queen's Exchange or Mint; nor put to sale, exchange or sell any plate or goldsmith's work of goldsmith shall silver, before he hath set his own mark to so much thereof as convenitake more than ently may bear the same; upon pain to forfeit the value of the thing so the buyer shall sold or exchanged. And if any goldsmith shall make any goldsmith's work or plate, and the same after the said twentieth day of April shall be touched, marked and allowed for good, by the wardens or masters of that Enforced by 6 mystery, and if in the same there shall be found any falshood or deceit; Geo. 1. c. 11. then the wardens and corporation of that mystery for the time being, shalt § 3. forfeit and pay the value of the thing so exchanged or sold; the one The penalty if moiety of all which forfeitures shall be to the use of the Queen's Majesty, falshood be and the other moiety to the use of such party grieved and sustaining loss found in plate, thereby, as will sue for the same in any Court of Record, by action, bill, or work mark-plaint, information or otherwise, wherein no essoin, protection or wager of ed by the war- law shall be admitted for the defendant. have for it at the mint. dens of the goldsmiths. No. LVI. 13 & 14Car. II. c. 31. 9 Ed. 3. st. 2. c. 3. 17 R. 2. c. 1. None shall melt current silver money. The Penalty. [No. LVI.] 13 and 14 Charles II. c. 31.-An Act to prevent the inconvenience arising by melting the Silver Coin of this Realm. W HEREAS by an Act made in the ninth year of King Edward the Third, it is enacted, That no sterling halfpenny or farthing shall be 'moulten to make vessel, or any other thing, by goldsmiths or any other, upon pain of forfeiture of the monies so moulten; whereas by one other statute made in the seventeenth year of King Richard the Second, it was 'further enacted, That no groats or half-groats shall be moulten by any man to make vessel or other thing thereof, upon the same pain; and 'whereas divers persons do elude the said statutes, as well goldsmiths as others, by melting silver coins of this realm above the value of groats, to the great diminishing of the silver coin of this realm, and the hindrance ' of the commerce of the same;' Be it therefore enacted by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and the Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by authority of the same, That no person or persons whatsoever shall, after the twentieth day of December, one thousand six hundred sixty-two, wilfully melt, or cause to be melted, any of the current silver money of this realm; upon pain not only of forfeiture of the same, but also of the double value of any such coin so melted; the one half to his Majesty, his heirs and successors, the other half to the informers, who shall sue for the same upon action of debt, bill, plaint or information, in any of his Majesty's Courts at Westminster; in which no essoin, wager of law, or protection shall be allowed: And moreover, That the said person or persons offending contrary to the tenor of this Act (if he or they be a freeman or, freemen, or privileged person or persons, of any city or corporations within this kingdom of England), shall, upon legal conviction for the same, be forthwith disfranchised and made uncapable of exercising the trade of a goldsmith, or any other mystery, by virtue of the privileges of the city or corporation of which he or they are members: And if the said person or persons offending, and convict as aforesaid, shall not be a freeman or freemen, or privileged person or persons, of any city or corporation as aforesaid, then he or they shall suffer imprisonment, without bail or mainprize, for the space of six months next ensuing his or their conviction as aforesaid. [No. LVII.] 18 Charles II. c. 5.-An Act for encouraging of Coinage. P. [No. LVIII.] 6 and 7 William III. c. 17.-An Act to prevent counterfeiting and clipping the Coin of this Kingdom. WHEREAS it is manifest that of late years the current coin of this No. LVIII. kingdom hath been greatly diminished by clipping, rounding, filing, c. 17. ' and melting the same, and likewise many false and counterfeit coins have 6 & 7 W. III. 'been clipped for the better disguising thereof: And for as much as it is apparent that these practices of diminishing the current coin is very much 'occasioned by those who drive a trade of exchanging broad money for clipped money, and by other arts and devices:' ed. II. Be it therefore enacted by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and Penalty upon with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and persons selling Commons, in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, or paying silver That from and after the first day of May, which shall be in the year of moneyfor more our Lord one thousand six hundred ninety-five, if any person or per- than it is coinsons whatsoever shall, at any one time or payment, exchange, lend, sell, borrow, or buy, receive or pay, any broad silver money, or silver money unclipped, of the coin of this kingdom, for more in tale, benefit, profit, or advantage, than the same was coined for, and ought by law to go for, be ient, sold for, borrowed or bought, received or paid, shall forfeit the sum of ten pounds for every twenty shillings that shall be so exchanged, lent, sold for, borrowed or bought, received or paid, and so in proportion for any greater or lesser sum; one moiety thereof to his Majesty, and the other moiety to the person who shall sue or inform for the same, to be recovered (with costs of suit) by action of debt, bill, plaint, or information, wherein no privilege, protection, or wager of law, shall be allowed, nor any more than one imparlance. III. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That no person Penalty for do or shall presume to cast ingots or bars of silver, in imitation of Spanish casting bars of bars or ingots of silver, nor do stamp any mark or impression upon any silver, &c. ingot or bar in likeness of the Spanish marks or impressions; upon pain that the person herein offending shall, for every such offence, forfeit the silver so cast, and also the sum of five hundred pounds, one moiety to his Majesty, and the other to the informer, to be recovered as aforesaid. IV. And for the better preventing the clipping, diminishing, or impair- Punishment ing the current coin of this kingdom, be it further enacted by the authority for buying or aforesaid, That if any person whatsoever shall buy or sell, and knowingly selling cliphave in his custody or possession, any clippings or filings of the current pings, &c. coin of this kingdom; he shall, for every such offence, forfeit the said clippings or filings, and also the sum of five hundred pounds, one moiety to his Majesty, and the other to the informer, to be recovered as aforesaid, and shall be also branded in the right cheek with a hot iron with the letter R. and until payment of the said five hundred pounds shall suffer impri sonment. V. And be it further enacted, That no goldsmith, or other person No person whatsoever, shall, from and after the said first day of May, transport shall transport or cause to be transported, out of this kingdom of England into any bullion, except parts beyond the seas, any molten silver whatsoever, but such only as it be stamped at Goldsmiths'shall be marked or stamped at Goldsmiths'-hall by the wardens, some or one hall. of them, belonging to the said Company of Goldsmiths, which mark or stamp the said wardens are hereby required to provide, and therewith to mark or stamp all such silver as shall be proved before them, or one of them, in such manner as is hereafter mentioned, to be lawful silver; nor unless a certificate be first had and obtained under the hand of one or more of the said wardens, of oath having been made before him or them by the owner or owners of such molten silver, and likewise by one credible witness, that the same is lawful silver, and that no part thereof was (before the same was molten) the current coin of this realm, nor clippings thereof, nor plate wrought within this kingdom; which oath the said wardens, or any one of them, are and is hereby required and authorized to administer, and likewise to make and grant a cer No. LVIII. 6 & 7 W. III. c. 17. tificate thereof without fee or reward, an entry of which certificate shall be duly made by the said wardens, in a book to be kept for that purpose; and in case any person whatsoever, who shall offer any molten silver to be marked, as is aforesaid, shall not prove by his or her oath, and likewise by the oath of one credible' witness, that the silver offered to be marked is lawful silver, and that the same was not, before the melting thereof, the current coin of this kingdom, nor clippings thereof, nor plate wrought within the same, then and in every such case, it shall be lawful to and for the said wardens, or any one of them, to seize and detain such molten silver so offered to be marked, until such time as such oath and proof shall be made, as is aforesaid. Bullion not VI. And be it further enacted, That if any person whatsoever shall ship, stamped may or cause to be shipped or put on board any vessel, any molten silver not be seized by stamped or marked by the said wardens, or one of them, and without cercustom-house tificate first obtained, of oath having been made before the said wardens, officers. or one of them, of the lawfulness of such silver, in manner as is aforesaid (which certificate shall be shewn to some one of the commissioners of the customs for the time being, before any cocket be granted for the exporting of such molten silver), in such case, it shall and may be lawful to and for any officer or officers of his Majesty's customs to seize such silver so shipped and put on board; one moiety whereof shall be to his Majesty, his heirs and successors, and the other moiety to the officer or officers so seizing the same. Goldsmith only to buy and sell bullion. What persons may break open houses, and search for bullion. VII. And be it further enacted, That if any broker or brokers, not being a trading goldsmith or refiner of silver, shall buy or sell any bullion or melten silver, every such person shall suffer, for every such offence, imprisonment for six months without bail or mainprize. VIII. And, for the better discovery of offenders in the premises, be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful to and for one or more of the wardens of the said Company of Goldsmiths, with any two or more of the court of assistants of the said company, within the compass of the weekly bills of mortality, and to and for any two justices of the peace within any county, city, or town corporate, out of the compass of the weekly bills of mortality, to enter into the house, room, or workshop of any person who shall be suspected to be guilty of buying or selling unlawful bullion, and to search for the same; and in case the occupier or occupiers of such house, room, or workshop, shall refuse to permit the said warden and assistants, or justices, to make such search as aforesaid, it shall and may be lawful to such warden and assistants, and justices, with the assistance of a constable, to break open any door, box, trunk, chest, cupboard, or cabinet, in order to search for and discover such bullion, as is aforesaid; and in case the person so searching shall at any time find any such unlawful bullion, the persons so finding the same, are hereby required to seize, as well such bullion as the person and persons in whose possession the same shall be found; and the said wardens, assistants and constables shall bring him and her before the next justice of the peace, who shall, upon oath made of such finding, which justice within the weekly bills of mortality, and the said two justices without the said bills of mortality, shall and may examine the person so brought before him, or found by them respectively, upon oath, whether the bullion so found be lawful silver, and whether the same was not (before the melting thereof) the current coin of this realm, or clippings thereof; and in case the said whose posses-person so examined shall not prove by his or her oath, or by the oath of one credible witness, before the said justice and justices respectively, that the bullion so found is lawful silver, and that the same was not, before the melting thereof, the current coin of this realm, nor clippings thereof, then and in such case the said justice or justices respectively shall commit the person so examined to prison, and shall secure the bullion so found, and shall likewise oblige the persons that can give any evidence concerning the same, to enter into a recognizance to prosecute the said offender and offenders; and in case such offender and offenders, in whose possession such unlawful bullion shall be found, shall not, upon his, her or their trials on an indictment for melting the current silver coin of this realm, prove, by Person in sion bullion is found, not proving it to be neither coin nor clippings melted, to be imprisoned six months. the oath of one credible witness at the least, the bullion so found to be lawful silver, and that the same was not the current coin of this realm, nor clippings thereof, then, and for want of such proof, such offender shall be found guilty of the offence contained in such indictment, and shall suffer imprisonment for the space of six months, without bail or mainprize. No. LVIII. 6 & 7 W. III. c. 17. IX. And whereas the coin of this realm is of late much clipped and Reward for 'counterfeited, for want of due encouragement to be given to such persons apprehending as shall discover the same;' be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That and convicting from and after the said first day of May, one thousand six hundred ninety- clippers, &c. five, all and every person and persons, who shall apprehend and take any person or persons who have counterfeited any of the current coin of this realm, or that for lucre or gain have clipped, washed, filed, or any ways diminished the same, or shall bring, or cause to be brought, into this kingdom, the dominion of Wales, or town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, any clipt, false, or counterfeit coin, and prosecute such person or persons, until he, she, or they, be convicted for any such offence, shall have and receive from the sheriff or sheriffs of the county, where such conviction shall be made, for every such offender so convicted, the sum of forty pounds (without paying any fee for the same), within one month after such conviction and demand thereof made, by tendring a certificate to the said sheriff or sheriffs for the time being, under the hand or hands of the judge or justices before whom such traitor or traitors, offender or offenders, as aforesaid, shall be convicted, certifying the conviction of such traitor or traitors done within the county of the said sheriff or sheriffs, and that such traitor or traitors was or were taken and prosecuted by the person or persons claiming the said reward, which certificate as aforesaid, the said judge or justices are hereby required to give: And in case any dispute shall happen to arise between the persons apprehending and prosecuting to conviction such traitors as aforesaid, touching their right and title to the said reward, that then the said judge or justices so respectively certifying as aforesaid, shall, in and by their said certificate, direct and appoint the said reward to be paid unto and amongst the parties claiming the same, in such share and proportions as to the said judge or justices shall seem just and reasonable : And if default of payment of the said sum or sums of money shall happen Penalty on to be made by any sheriff or sheriffs, such sheriff or sheriffs, so making de- sheriff not fault, shall forfeit to the person or persons, to whom such money is due as paying the aforesaid, double the sum or sums of money he ought to have paid, to be same. recovered by him or them, or his or their executors or administrators, in any of his Majesty's Courts of Record at Westminster, by action of debt, bill, plaint, or information, wherein but one imparlance, and no essoin, protection, or wager of law, shall be allowed, with treble costs of suit by him or them expended in recovery of the same. X. And it is hereby further enacted, That all sheriffs, their executors or administrators, upon producing such respective certificates, and the receipts for the money by them paid in pursuance of this Act, shall be allowed, and are hereby impowered to deduct, upon their accounting with his Majesty, all monies (other than the double sum and sums of money and costs of suit) which they shall disburse as aforesaid, without any fee or reward whatsoever. Sheriff to be allowed the 401. in his accounts, &c. By 3 Geo. I. c. 15. sect. 4. the sheriff may apply to the lord XI. Provided always, That if, upon the account of any sheriff or sheriffs, there shall not be money sufficient in the hands of such sheriff or sheriffs to reimburse him or them such monies paid by him or them by virtue of this Act, that then the sheriff or sheriffs, having so paid the said monies, shall have the same repaid by the lord treasurer or commissioners of his Majesty's treasurer. treasury for the time being, out of the revenue of the crown, upon certificate from the clerk of the pipe to that effect. XII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That if any Persons guilty, person or persons, being out of prison, shall, from and after the said first on convicting day of May, one thousand six hundred ninety-five, be guilty of clipping, two others, coining, counterfeiting, washing, filing, or otherwise diminishing the coin pardoned. of this realm, and afterwards discover two or more person or persons, who already have, or hereafter shall commit any of the said crimes, so as two or more of the person or persons discovered shall be convicted of the same; |