Chester Mint

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Chester had a mint in Saxon times. A mint was opened temporarily on four subsequent and widely separated occasions, each owing to special causes, namely in the reigns of Edward I (twice), Charles I and William III. Coinage is useful to historians in several ways as coinage conveys information about language, administration, religion, economic conditions, trade routes and the ruler who minted those coins. In general coins are easy to date and the quality, quantity and metal content of the coins says something about economics of the time.

To understand the development of mints and coinage it is useful to consider the difference between coins being a convenient way of organising precious metal in standard units which are literally "worth their weight" and coins being "fiat currency" i.e. a token having a "face value" defined by law. Modern money in the form of notes and coins generally has a "scrap" value far less than its face value: there are some borderline cases - the US penny costs more than a penny to produce and in the early 1990's the value of the copper in a UK 2p coin was above 2p (it was replaced with copper-plated steel). Since ancient times it has been recognised that "bad money drives out good": i.e. if two coins have the same "official" face value, but one is worth more due to its metal content, the "good" coin may be hoarded or melted down for bullion while the "bad" coin may be quickly spent. Metal content may be reduced by wear of coins in circulation. In addition, one problem with coins was always that of "clipping". Clipping is the act of shaving or cutting off a small portion of a precious metal coin for profit. Over time, the precious metal clippings could be saved up and melted into bullion. The consequance was that the coins would get gradually smaller and suffer debasement. A mint therefore serves the useful function of issuing new coins to replace old ones.

Another form of debasement is the gradual reduction of the precious metal content of alloyed coins, either through official policy or the introduction of counterfiet money. When introduced, the Roman denarius contained nearly pure silver at a theoretical weight of approximately 4.5 grams, but from the time of Nero onwards the tendency was nearly always for its purity to be decreased.

Iron Age Coins

The "Celtic" currency of Britain were the various items and coins used as currency between approximately 200 BC and AD 60. The earliest currency included various forms of iron bars. Coins were first imported in large numbers in around 150 BC and domestic minting began around 100 BC. This appears to have been at first confined to southern and eastern England.

The Cornovii, the Iron-Age people of Cheshire, do not appear to have regularly used metal coinage before the arrival of the Romans. However, coins have been found at Meols. During the 19th century, the site of this ancient Wirral port was heavily eroded by the sea with the result that a significant number of artefacts were brought to light. Amongst those were three Carthagian silver pieces as well a number of silver coins minted by the Coriosolites, an Iron Age polity who were heavily engaged in maritime trade and whose territory was located in Armorica. This discovery indicates that ships from the European mainland were visiting Meols to trade and that the site may have been an emporium through which Cornoviian goods, which included salt, could be exported.

Roman Mint?

During the reigns of the usurpers Carausius and Allectus, "official" coins were minted in Britain for the first time in 250 years of occupation. Two mints were involved, one with a mint-mark that included the letter L, almost certainly Londinium (London), and another with a signature C or CL. The attribution of this mark has been questioned for many years and at one time Camulodum (Colchester) was favoured, then Clausentum (Bitterne, near Southampton). It has never been satisfactorily resolved where this mint was situated. Other coins of Carausius bear no mint-mark at all. For the early part of his reign, Carausius controlled a large part of Gaul along the Channel coast and one mint is thought to have been Rotomagus (Rouen) in northern France. It is highly unlikely that coins were minted at Roman Chester. Curiously, there are some "unofficial" Claudian coins which have been found and it is remotely possible these were locally made counterfeits. Obviously, counterfeit coins are only expected to appear once a currency becomes "fiat" and is worth less than its precious metal content.

Silver denarius of Carausius (BM 1900-11-5-10) bearing the words "EXPECTATE VENI" and "RSR" - almost a quote from Vergil and a clue to the interpretation of "RSR INPCDA" on other coins. Carausius was a usurper from Britain who minted coins for Legio XX, based at Chester. This provides a link all the way back to Octavian as in the Chester Mystery Play. Constantine, who also had British links, would refer to exactly the same myth system in his famous sermon.

The coins of Carausius are particularly relevant to the history of Chester as the last specific reference to Legio XX, the legion most closely associated with Chester, is on the coins struck by the usurper Carausius, who died in 294. Indeed, coinage is the main source of information about the rogue emperor. His initial issues show him as rough and thuggish, though the technical standard of die cutting on good specimens can be seen to be excellent. The initial intention was therefore to portray a rough and thuggish man; but his later coins show him as trim and beneficent. Carausius appears to have appealed to native British dissatisfaction with Roman rule; he issued coins with legends such as "Restitutor Britanniae" (Restorer of Britain) and "Genius Britanniae" (Spirit of Britain). Some of these silver coins bear the legend "Expectate veni" (Come long-awaited one), recognised to allude to a messianic line in the Aeneid by the Augustan poet Virgil, written more than 300 years previously. See: Elen of the Hosts for more on this.

Early in the 5th century, when Britannia, broadly comprising what is now England and Wales, ceased to be a province of the Roman Empire, the production of coinage effectively came to an end and a non-monetary economy developed. During the 5th century, Anglo-Saxon tribal groups from continental Europe migrated to central and southern Britain, introducing their own language, polytheistic religion and culture. Although gold coins from continental Europe were traded into Anglo-Saxon England at Kent, they were initially used for decorative purposes, only beginning to be used as money in the early part of the 7th century.

Saxon Mint

The first native Anglo-Saxon coins were produced by Eadbald of Kent (or his father) around AD 620, although sustained production would not appear for several more years. These were small, gold coins, called scillingas (shillings) in surviving Anglo-Saxon law codes, although they have since been referred to as thrymsas by numismatists. Modelled on coins produced at the same time in Merovingian Francia – geographically the rough equivalent of modern France – these early Anglo-Saxon gold shillings were often inscribed with words borrowed from either Merovingian or Roman coinage, although examples have been found which instead bear such names as those of King Eadbald of Kent, the moneyers Witmen and Pada, or the names of mints in London and Canterbury. In about 675 the gold shilling was superseded by the silver penning, or penny, amongst the Anglo-Saxons, and this would remain the principal English monetary denomination until the mid-14th century, during the Late Medieval period. Early silver pennies were typically decorated with geometric or pictorial designs, occasionally having the name of the moneyer inscribed on them. More rarely, coins produced in the kingdoms of Northumbria and East Anglia bore the names of monarchs.

In the latter part of the 8th century a new style of silver penny appeared in Anglo-Saxon England, thinner and commonly bearing the names of both the king and the moneyer who had struck it. This new type of penny was apparently first introduced in the reign of the Mercian King Offa in about 760. Minting coins with their name on (and later an image) was a way for kings to demonstrate their power on a medium which would circulate very widely. Sometimes they would even mint coins in places they had taken but could not expect to hold. King Edgar the Pacific had maybe eighty mints in his domains: the entire Roman Empire sometimes ran with twelve, so this number of mints is not necessary simply for reasons of distribution.

Coin finds from the Chester mint indicate the extent of Irish Sea trade.

From the names of the moneyers it appears that the Hiberno-Norse (Viking) community in Chester was much involved in coining. The coin minting process at the time was simple, "moneyers" paid huge sums to the king to obtain the rights to dies, and used these to stamp coins - they were literally licensed to make money. The coins had to be of a set weight and purity. In order to identify which moneyer had made the coins there were required to stamp their name on the coins. Penalties for short weight were severe, such as the loss of a hand.

While it is convenient for historians of the Saxon period to refer to "the Chester mint", there was probably no single building dedicated to minting coins in Saxon Chester. Moneyers appear to have "worked from home".

Two Emperors

Coins from around the time of Alfred the Great are relevant to Chester history. As is well-known the "Great Heathen Army" of Vikings effectively took control of Mercia around 874. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle offers the following account of what happened:

  • "This year went the army [i.e., the Great Heathen Army] from the Kingdom of Lindsey to Repton, and there took up their winter-quarters, drove the king [of Mercia], Burgred, over sea, when he had reigned about two and twenty winters, and subdued all that land. He then went to Rome, and there remained to the end of his life. And his body lies in the church of Sancta Maria, in the school of the English nation. And the same year they gave Ceolwulf, an unwise king's thane, the Mercian kingdom to hold..."

Up until 2015 historians generally believed the Wessex chronicler version that Coelwulf II was "an unwise king's thane" who was appointed as ruler of Mercia as the puppet of the Vikings. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle writes of Ceolwulf II:

  • "...He swore them oaths and gave hostages, so that it would be ready for them on whatever day they would have it, and he himself ready, and all those who would follow him at the force's need."

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is known to be biased in favour of Wessex. It is considered to be politically motivated, written with a view of strengthening the claims of Alfred the Great and his son Edward the Elder to the overlordship of Mercia, and plays down (or omits to mention) any significant contribution by the Mercians. That Coelwulf II was rather more than a "foolish thane" is evidenced by a 2015 find of Anglo-Saxon "Imperial" coins dated to around 879 CE, known as the Watlington Hoard presumed to have been buried by retreating Vikings. Most of the coins show an emperor’s head on one side and two royal figures seated side by side on the other. The coins are believed to depict both Ceolwulf II as a king as well as Alfred on the same coins, leading some experts to conclude that the two were being portrayed as equals. Only a single instance of this coin had been found before the Watlington Hoard. Other coinage of Coelwulf II and Alfred also show similarities, and this has been taken as further evidence that they may have co-operated against the Vikings. The newly found coins cover several years and were struck in different mints, demolishing the earlier belief that the two kings issued "joint" coins in only one year, marking a very short-lived alliance and a one-off issue.

Æthelflæd's Coinage

Æthelflæd's Mercian coinage also perhaps tells a story. No coins were struck in the name of Æthelflæd or her husband Æthelred, but sometime around the year 910, Mercian mints began issuing a new and iconographically unusual series of coins. These coins are known traditionally as the "exceptional" or "ornamental" types of Edward the Elder (the ruler of Wessex). They feature towers, flowers, or the hand of God on the reverse rather than the traditional cross or portrait bust. It has been suggested that the unusual imagery of the coinage may have been Æthelflæd's way of distinguishing coins issued by her mints from those issued by the mint of her brother (Edward the Elder), without going to far as to put her own face on the coins. It is also possible that the coins were issued without a monarch's face on them to make them more acceptable to the Hiberno-Norse community. There was also a minor issue of coins in the name of Plegmund, Archbishop of Canterbury, who may have previously lived at Plemstall ("Plegmunds Place") near Chester.

Coin of Plegmund, Archbishop. Silver Penny, moneyer Berhthelm, small cross pattée, inner and outer linear circles and legend surrounding, +PLEGMVND ARCHIEP. Reverse: three cross pattées across centre, tri-pellets above and below moneyer name in two lines, BERHT ELM MO. Plegmund was the last Archbishop to have his own coins minted.

As early as the reign of Edward the Elder (899- 924) one of the moneyers in north-western Mercia bore the name Irfara, a Norse nickname meaning "the Ireland journeyer", and there continued to be a strong Scandinavian and Gaelic element among the names of Chester moneyers, much more pronounced than at other west Mercian mints, throughout the 10th century and beyond. The discovery of an ingot mould in Lower Bridge Street suggests that metals may have been worked near the Hiberno-Norse settlement, perhaps in connexion with the mint. The mint was involved in trade which passed along the Irish Sea routes, though the interpretation of its marked fluctuations in output is far from certain.

The mint at Chester seems to have risen to prominence quite suddenly, c. 916-18, the time of Æthelflæd's most notable victories over the Welsh and the Danes. At her death in 918 it was well established, with perhaps 16 moneyers. Under Æthelstan (924-39) at least 25 moneyers worked there, with probably as many as 20 striking at any one time, compared with 10 in London and 7 in Winchester. That represented the zenith of Chester's activity. Thereafter, though still relatively important, the mint lost something of its dominance. In the reigns of Edmund I (939-46) and Eadred (946-55) there were around 17 moneyers, and in the troubled reign of Eadwig (955-7 in Mercia, 955-9 in Wessex) as few as 11. Under Edgar the Pacific (957-75) the mint became very active again, and there were around 20 moneyers working there in 970.

Despite the fluctuations the mint remained of at least regional importance until the early 970s: a Chester moneyer was chosen to strike a coin for the Welsh king Hywel Dda (d. 949 or 950). However, some might read too much into this: only a single coin in Hywel's name is known. It was produced by the Chester moneyer Gillys in about 946. As there is only one, it is unlikely that it is the sole survivor of a Welsh coinage and it was probably produced as a gesture by the English to the Welsh king. As for other coinage in Wales the ceiniog (Latin: denarius; English: penny; plural: ceiniogau) was the basic currency unit of the medieval Welsh kingdoms such as Gwynedd and Deheubarth. Hywel Dda was the only ruler recorded as minting his own proper coins; however, the ceiniog was more properly not a coin but a value of silver.

The city was a die-cutting centre for a region which included at least two other mints, Derby and Tamworth (Staffs.). Chester moneyers were heavily involved in establishing the Derby mint in Æthelstan's reign, and some sharing of moneyers, coin types, and dies among all three centres continued for most of the 10th century. In Edgar the Pacific's reign before his reform of the coinage Chester sent dies and moneyers to other mints to help with production. Edgar's reforms gave Anglo-Saxon England the most advanced currency in Europe, with a good quality silver coinage, which was uniform across the entire kingdom and abundant.

Thereafter, however, the Chester mint lost its importance. It took only a modest part in Edgar's reform of the coinage in c.973, and in the late 10th century output declined steeply and die-cutting ceased entirely. Although there was a recovery in its activities in the early 11th century, it never again rivalled the great centres of London, York, and Winchester. The date of the coinage reform is interesting, given that 973 was also the year of the council at Chester, traditionally at Edgar's Field.

"Tower" style coin from the time of Edward the Elder, believed to have been minted in Chester after it was re-fortified.

The Chester mint's extraordinary productivity in the earlier 10th century is rather puzzling. Proximity to the mines of north Wales, believed to have yielded silver along with the lead which was their chief product, has been adduced as a reason for its unusually high output. However there is no evidence that Wales ever produced silver in the quantity necessary for the vast numbers of coins minted in Chester. More plausibly, it has been suggested that the city was the centre for the collection of bullion and tribute acquired by Æthelflæd and Æthelstan as a result of their military victories over the Danes and the Welsh princes. Although there is nothing to suggest that Æthelstan ever exacted tribute on the scale or with the regularity necessary to sustain the output of the mint in his reign. Large amounts of bullion were probably obtained from the Vikings of the western Danelaw, either as plunder from those who had resisted and fled, or as offerings from those who wished to reach an accommodation with the new regime. Æthelstan was to advertise his status with the inscription, "Rex Totius Britanniae" (King of the whole of Britain) struck onto his coins. Examples were minted in Wessex, York, and English Mercia (in Mercia bearing the title "Rex Saxorum"), but not in East Anglia or the Danelaw.

The extensive coinage may also have been stimulated by a favourable balance of trade. Presumably Chester was a centre for the export of valuable commodities needed in Ireland, the bullion received in return being made into coin on the spot for circulation in England. That trade would naturally have been focused on Viking Dublin, which by the mid 10th century had become the principal port of the Irish Sea and one of the richest of all Viking towns. The extent of the traffic between Chester and Ireland is apparent from the large amount of "Chester ware" exported to Dublin by the time of Æthelstan. Other exports possibly included salt, much needed in Dublin to preserve fish and treat hides, disc brooches and other items of Anglo-Saxon metalwork, cloth, and slaves. The importance and value of the last commodity has almost certainly been underestimated. The Dublin Norsemen's continuing need for slaves, apparent from the long-lasting trade with Bristol, was probably serviced, as later, by those penally enslaved and by captives taken on the turbulent frontier between England and Wales, for whom Chester would have been the obvious market.

Trade between Chester and Dublin was not all one way. The large number of 10th-century coin hoards from Ireland and western Britain, in which Chester minted coins were very prominent, points to a considerable outflow of silver from Chester in the form of coin. The avoidance of portraiture by the Chester mint before 970 may have been partly to accommodate the taste of the Norsemen of Dublin.

The decline of the Chester mint has long been attributed to a Viking raid on Cheshire in 980. Three of the four Anglo-Saxon coin hoards found in the city, those from Castle Esplanade, Pemberton's Parlour, and Eastgate Street, have been assigned to roughly the same period and interpreted as linked to that raid. Assessment of the decline is however also affected by re-datings of the Chester coin hoards. Those from Castle Esplanade and Eastgate Street were probably deposited c. 965 and c. 970 respectively, well before the renewal of Viking hostilities in the Irish Sea. Only the Pemberton's Parlour hoard is likely to have been buried in 980 at the time of the Viking raid. That raid has probably been overused as a reason for the decline of the Chester mint and cannot account for the catastrophic falling-off in 973, presumably part of some more general process since the other north-western mints, especially Derby, show a like pattern. One possible explanation lies in long-term economic developments. The shift away from the north-western mints towards those of eastern England in the late 10th century may have owed as much to changes in trading patterns in response to the opening up of the German silver mines in the 960s as to the disruption of traffic across the Irish Sea.

Edward I coin minted at Chester.

Edward I's Mint

With the commencement under Henry II, in or about 1180, of the long series of "short-cross pennies", the Chester mint fell, or perhaps had already fallen, into abeyance. It remained closed under Richard I, John and Henry III, and but for the exigencies of later isolated occasions might never have been re-opened: it was, in fact, after Henry II's time, never again one of the regular mints.

In 1278 the bad state of the currency was discussed in Parliament, clipping and ordinary wear and tear being the causes of complaint; and in consequence the king determined upon the calling-in of the existing money and a great issue of new money, consisting chiefly of the penny as before, but supplemented by halfpence and farthings. Edward I also abolished the centuries-old system of independent moneyers operating in many of the chief towns of the realm, and instituted a new system under which the moneyers at whatever royal mints were open were to be subject to the supervision of a mint-master in London. He also aimed at keeping the number of mints down to a minimum. However the existing mints could not keep up with demand so early in 1281 Chester also was opened but closed again a few months latet.

Between 1282 and 1290 the few mints which remained produced less and less money, and from 1290 to 1298 there was a mere trickle. In consequence, at the end of the century another currency crisis developed. The causes this time were different; it was not only clipping and wear that were now complained of; this time the complaints were about lack of money altogether. In part this was due to the influx of inferior continental imitations of the English coin. The inferior coins were used but the better coins were hoarded. As part of another recoinage Chester briefly came into operation once more, the writ authorising this being issued in March 1300. Chester, which was only open between July and November 1300 and struck a mere 1400 Ibs.

Civil War Mint

Civil War half crown coin minted at Chester, with the mint identified as "CHST"

During the Civil War, when the king was not in possession of London, emergency mints were set up in various towns by the Royalists, as the fortunes of war permitted and convenience suggested. There were issues from York, Aberystwyth, Oxford, Shrewsbury, Bristol, Exeter and Chester. In 1644, after the Battle of Marston Moor, the king lost the mint at York; he was cut off from Oxford also. The need for an emergency mint and for a supply of silver in the north of the country would be pressing, and possibly an emergency mint was already being organised in the late months of 1644. However that may be, the corporation of the city passed a resolution on the 31 January 1645:

  • "That as much of the ancient plate of this City as will amount to the sum of £100 shall be forthwith converted into coin for the necessary use and defence of this City and towards payment of the City's debts"

The Chester coins of the Civil War were originally thought to consist only of half-crowns and threepences and can be distinguished by the mint-mark of the garb or wheatsheaf, three on the half-crown and one on the threepence. Many of the half-crowns also bear the letters CHST or CEST below the feet of the king's horse, and a plume above the horse. Shillings minted in Chester have also now been discovered. "Siege money" was produced by besieged castles in Royalist strongholds (Carlisle, Newark, Scarborough and Pontefract), which were cut off from the outside world and forced to produce their own coins to secure the continued loyalty of soldiers and maintain internal commerce. Some of these latter coins were odd-shaped and one-faced with values assessed by the weight of the final product.

The Flag Tower - and the white building which housed the mint. The mint staff were listed as "a warden, a master, an assayer, a king’s clerk, a surveyor of the meltings, a porter, a master’s assistant, and a comptroller’s clerk".

William III's Mint

Coinage production at the Mint in the Tower of London had switched to the use of machinery from 1662 (under Charles II). Silver and gold coins were thereafter made using horse-drawn rolling mills and manually operated screw presses which resulted in an immediately recognisable improvement. The existing stock of coins was not systematically withdrawn at this time, which meant that for thirty or more years two types of silver circulated side by side.

The last occasion on which Chester had a mint was in the reign of William III. By 1695, hammered coin had tyically been debased to a mere 50% of its original weight. A silver piece of full weight was such a rarity that these pieces were no longer taken at their face value, but in every transaction there was a haggling as to how much the individual coins were in fact worth; in other words, they were treated as bullion only. With the country’s coinage worth their original weight in precious metal, clipping entirely undermined Britain's currency. Clipped currency was naturally disliked by merchants, while "heavy money", coins that weighed as much as they should, was prized. Merchants would hoard heavy money and pass clipped coins along. Bad money once again drove out good. Foreign merchants would only accept heavy money. Ironically, low-weight coin was still accepted for tax payments.

The milled-edged guineas also no longer automatically passed at their authorised value, but if not hoarded were usually exchanged for considerably more, often fetching as much as thirty shillings.

it was decided that all the coins in circulation would be recalled and reminted to a standardised form, overseen by eminent and respectable men (to reassure the public who were concerned about the effect recoinage would have on their wealth). In effect, the public brought in their old money and deposited it with the mint. They were then issued with a "note" of how much they had deposited, and would have to wait until the coinage was melted down and re-struck into new coin.

The public was initially told that each old coin that was brought in would be refunded at face value, no matter the state it was in. The temptation to file down the precious metal and keep some shavings to sell on before handin-in the debased coins was too strong for many. The value that the government brought in through returned coins was very low, and it likely wasn’t helped by this last minute clipping frenzy. A few months into the whole operation matters were not looking at all good. On 4 May 1696 the government stopped paying face value for worn and heavily clipped silver coins. A mood of crisis was building. Large numbers of the old coins had been withdrawn during the first half of the year but only a fraction of the new full-weight pieces had been produced by the Mint. The Bank of England was being put under pressure to pay depositors in bullion for their banknotes and it was struggling to meet debt repayments to other countries. This contraction in cash and credit led to an economic depression through the rest of the year with a consequent increase in unemployment and civil unrest.

A panorama of the castle from the top of the Agricola Tower in 2018. The white building has been somewhat restored.

Halley and the Chester Mint

The Tower Mint, working at full pressure from the beginning of 1696, was considered not to be of sufficient capacity, and therefore five provincial mints were opened soon afterwards. This also made handing-in old coinage simpler. These local mints were at Bristol, Chester, Exeter, Norwich and York, so the country was well covered. For the last time Chester had a mint. The local mints were at work from the autumn of 1696 (from October in the case of Chester) until various dates in the summer of 1698 (June in the case of Chester). But the year 1697 is the last date inscribed on any of their coins.

Sir Isaac Newton presided at the Royal Mint in London and Edmond Halley (of Halley's Comet fame) in Chester, where the mint was based at Chester Castle. A new building at the back of to the Half-moon Tower was used as the Chester Mint for the Great Recoinage of 1696-98. The installation of the mint involved the construction of mint ovens and chimneys and other alterations to the Frobisher's Shop.

1696 William III silver shilling minted at Chester, with the mint identified as "C". This silver coin weighs 6.0 grams and has a diameter of 25.00 millimetres.

The recoinage was something of a disaster. On 4 May 1696, hammered silver coin was officially "demonetised" but by the end of June, only 12% of the new coin had been returned to circulation. Public confidence in bank "notes" collapsed and a general currency crisis followed. There was a widespread resort to barter and the government found it almost impossible to borrow or to pay the army. Financially exhausted, William III (aka William of Orange or King Billy) was forced to end his part in the War of the Grand Alliance.

The policy of extracting silver from circulation ultimately worked, and the operation of the mints in time delivered large quantities of new coins, but what stands out particularly strongly from the surviving records of the recoinage is how bad tempered it was. Looking back a few years after the events, Hopton Haynes described the officers in charge at the country mints as including amongst their ranks some "very unqualifyed persons". He went on to note that some were incapable of instruction; one of these "scarce knew his own right hand and could hardly read or write his Christian name". At Chester the Deputy Master disappeared for months at a time, refusing to respond to orders from London and issuing coins out of turn to persons who brought silver to the Mint, presumably in return for local favours. Fraud was also suspected on the part of one of his assistants, Edward Lewis. In June 1697. Newton wrote to Halley in response to his suspicion of:

  • "some foule Play either among the Tellers in the Melting house or both whereby the Money comes out worse than heretofore."

Halley repeatedly called on Newton’s protection and influence to have the Deputy Master (Thomas Clarke), "that proud, insolent fellow" removed, while Thomas Neale defended the Deputy Master to the Treasury. It eventually erupted into a challenge of a duel. The Tower Mint Master, Warden and Comptroller were forced to issue a remonstration in August 1697:

  • "Till Wee come let there be no further quarrelling, but let the publick business be peaceably carry’d-on... for the Mint will not allow the drawing of Swords, & assaulting any, nor ought such Language, Wee hear has been, be used any more among you."

It is not perhaps surprising that Edmund Halley, Deputy Comptroller at Chester, wanted to resign his position.

The total cost to the nation of the great recoinage of 1696/98 was more than twice the sum originally contemplated, and worked out at nearly £3,000,000. The paying of full face value for deficient coins no doubt accounted for much of this sum, but there were other contributing factors, namely, the buying of silver plate to provide extra metal, 1391 the setting up of the branch mints and the hiring of extra labour. The cost was met by a graduated Window Tax, which could be assessed by outdoor inspection, as contrasted with the old hearth tax, but which, like all other taxes, was unpopular, and was dubbed a tax on light and air, and which, like many other taxes, was stated at first to be intended to be merely temporary, but lasted, on and off, far longer than the intended seven years. In efforts to pay as little extra tax as possible, many people bricked up their windows and covered their vents. The resulting reduction in access to light and air brought widespread anguish and illness, including cholera, typhus and smallpox. The tax was wildly unpopular and continued to cause misery for many years after the Great Recoinage was complete.

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