ISAAC NEWTON AT THE ROYAL MINT

Isaac Newton, father of modern physics, famed victim of rogue fallen apple, lived in a world of unreality, too. He believed in alchemy, and magic—as did many of his time. Witchfinders stalked the land, with political power behind superstition.

But he changed our understanding of the real. In between his work as a scholar, he was appointed to be Warden of the Royal Mint, and there took on a major role—stabilizing the currency. In the Spring of 1696 he joined the Mint—in what had been to that point a medieval patronage gig. Little was expected in such a role. No Warden had previously taken much of an interest in the activities of the Mint's clerks, who were tasked with tracking counterfeiters.

Newton, however, took it seriously.

England's currency at the time was based on a silver standard. Coins were made of silver and weighed fixed amounts, dictating their value. This was a challenge when the value of silver, relative to other goods, fluctuated. England was in debt thanks to ongoing wars; its coins were often worth more (as bullion) than their face value in pounds. Silver coin was taken from the country to be sold in markets abroad.

A popular currency crime was "coin clipping" (cutting or shaving a small amount of silver from the edge of coins, and filing the coin down or even melting and recasting with a lower percentage of silver). Counterfeiting and clipping were capital crimes, but apparently widespread. Newton started cracking down.

He interviewed alleged coin clippers and counterfeiters, traced criminals to their homes, and visited the prisons to find accomplices. He helped draft the Coin Act of 1796, which penalized coin manufacture of any kind. But he went bigger: launching the Great Recoinage.

Coins in circulation were collected by the Mint, melted down, and reminted at fixed weights. This involved a production line of 500 men, and branch mints at different cities around the country. It took four years to smelt most of England's money supply.

In 1699, Newton was promoted to Master of the Mint, a role he held until his death in 1727. He applied scientific precision to creating regular coins, and hired an engraver to create more beautiful designs.

Later he would play a role in fixing the value of the gold guinea at 21s, inadvertently helping to move England from the silver to the gold standard.

After his death, Newton would appear on coins himself—the first time though not on official currency. Newton was used on unofficial halfpenny "tokens" issued by private businesses in the 1790s, to deal with the fact that there were not enough coins in circulation in the growing economy.

 

To read the complete article, see:
Anniversary of Isaac Newton's Birth (https://fee.org/articles/anniversary-of-isaac-newtons-birth/)

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web