Trial of the Pyx at Goldsmiths’ Hall, 2 February 2016. Image © The Goldsmiths’ Company. Photography by Richard Lea-Hair Approximately 40,000 coins produced by the Royal Mint in 2016 will be counted and scrutinised by a jury at Goldsmiths’ Hall in the City of London. Dating back to the thirteenth century, the Trial of the Pyx is one of the longest established judicial procedures in the world and is steeped in tradition. It is presided over by the Queen’s Remembrancer, itself the oldest judicial post to remain in continual existence in the country. The annual event has taken place at Goldsmiths’ Hall, the Goldsmiths’ Company’s historic headquarters ever since 1871. However, the guild was also involved in the earliest Trials and in the 16th century Elizabeth I granted the Company responsibility for proceedings. At the Opening of the Trial on 31 January, the Queen’s Remembrancer, Senior Master Barbara Fontaine will swear in a jury of 16 liverymen and freemen of the Goldsmiths' Company, one of the Twelve Great Livery Companies of the City of London. At present, the Trial of the Pyx fulfils a requirement imposed by an Act of Parliament (Coinage Act 1971) to conduct an examination by jury to ascertain that the coins produced by the Royal Mint are of the correct weight, size and composition. As such, this ancient ceremony has direct relevance to every user of UK coinage at present. In the next phase of the Trial, randomly selected samples of coins are sent for analysis by the Goldsmiths’ Company Assay Office, the UK’s longest established assay office. Over the next few weeks, the coins will be assayed (tested for correct metallic composition, size and weight) and measured using the standard Trial Plates, provided by the National Measurement and Regulation Office. Among the most remarkable items to appear at this year’s Trial will be a one kilo gold coin to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen’s 90th birthday (retail price: £42,500) and a 1 kilo Lunar Year of the Monkey gold coin (retail price: £49,995). Another important coin is the new 12-sided £1 coin, which will enter circulation in March. During the Trial, the Queen’s Remembrancer wears full court dress complete with a tricorn hat. Jurors include Wardens of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, equally resplendent in their robes of office, the Deputy Warden of the Goldsmiths’ Company Assay Office and a selection of the Company’s liverymen. Also in attendance are The Royal Mint and Regulatory Delivery, Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and as the coinage of New Zealand is also being examined, the New Zealand High Commissioner will be present. The final phase of the Trial, the Delivery of the Verdicts, takes place on Friday 28 April 2017. The Court reconvenes at Goldsmiths’ Hall and the jury delivers its verdicts to the Queen’s Remembrancer in the presence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who is technically on trial in his capacity as Master of the Mint. For further information & high resolution images, please contact Martin Macdonald, Communications Manager, The Goldsmiths’ Company. Tel: 020 7367 5913 / Email: [email protected] *images from this year’s Trial of The Pyx will be made available on 31 January 2017 Trial of the Pyx Attendance at the Trial of the Pyx is strictly by invitation only. The Trial is held annually at London’s Goldsmiths’ Hall in accordance with the Coinage Act of 1971, and is presided over by the Queen’s Remembrancer of the Royal Courts of Justice, the oldest judicial office in the UK, dating back to 1164. The Queen’s Remembrancer is the senior Judge at the Royal Courts of Justice. The oldest surviving Trial Plate, now preserved in the Royal Mint museum, is of silver, dating from 1279. Trial Plates today are made from pure metals of platinum, gold, silver, copper, nickel and zinc. The Trial Plates used to be kept in the safe custody of the Exchequer at Westminster, but are now entrusted to the National Measurement and Regulation Office along with the original coin Standard Weights against which the weight of the trial coins are compared. Besides the annual Trial of the Pyx, rigorous quality tests are continually carried out during coin production to ensure that all coins produced at the Royal Mint conform to their correct specifications. In November 1991, the Royal Mint became the first Mint in the world to be accredited to the international quality systems standard 1SO 9001. The Goldsmiths’ Company One of the Twelve Great Livery Companies of the City of London, the Goldsmiths’ Company received its first Royal Charter in 1327. The Company’s London Assay Office has been responsible since 1300 for testing the quality of precious metals. The Company is the principal patron of modern jewellers and silversmiths, continuing to play an important role in support of the craft, funding apprenticeships and assisting with the technical training of aspiring designer-makers. 2012 saw the opening of the Goldsmiths’ Centre in Clerkenwell, a state-of-the-art home for the Goldsmiths’ Institute comprising workshops, exhibition space and conference facilities. The Company supports a wide range of other charitable causes and pursues a number of educational projects with schools. The Goldsmiths’ Company’s private collection of silver is one of the largest in the UK, comprising 8,000 items dating from 1300 to the present day. Its contemporary collections are world- renowned. Goldsmiths’ Fair, the UK’s most exciting showcase of contemporary jewellery and silver, takes place at Goldsmiths’ Hall over two weeks every autumn. www.goldsmithsfair.co.uk For more information, visit thegoldsmiths.co.uk / @GoldsmithsCo assayofficelondon.co.uk / @LondonAssay goldsmiths-centre.org / @GsmithsCentre directory.thegoldsmiths.co.uk .