Did Isaac Newton invent the perfect coin ?

1630Boston

At this point, you probably have a good sense of Newton's obsessive nature. So it should come as no surprise to learn that, when appointed the largely ceremonial role of Warden at the Royal Mint in 1696, the famed inventor took to the mean streets of London -- in disguise -- to root out counterfeiters.
And since counterfeiting was then a capital offense in Britain, the miscreants he brought to justice typically wound up at the execution block.

See, by the late 1600s, England's financial system was in full-blown crisis mode. The country's currency consisted entirely of silver coins, and that silver was often worth more than the value stamped on it. So what did people do? Why, they melted down the coins or "clipped" silver from the edges to sell to France.

By Newton's time, clipping had done a number on the nation's currency. The average bag of English coins was just a hodgepodge of damaged and unrecognizable silver chunks. As such, forgers had a field day. Since English coins varied so widely in size and quality, it was easy to pass off even the most sloppy knockoffs as legal tender. Riots broke out as faith in the English currency plummeted.

So in 1696, the British government called on Newton. In addition to hands-on crime fighting, he recalled all English coins and had them melted down and remade into a higher-quality, harder-to-counterfeit design. It was a bold move, considering that the entire country had to make do without a currency for an entire year. Working as many as 18 hours a day, Newton reorganized the Royal Mints into high-quality, high-efficiency factories pumping out currency that was highly resistant to forgers.

You know those ridges on the edge of a U.S. quarter? Those are milled edges, a feature introduced by Newton on English coins to prevent clipping.

thisistheshow

I did not know that.

3keepSECRETif2rDEAD

Whoa...that’s way too cool...I just burnt one down so I had to check the date and make sure it wasn’t April yet and then off to Google I went

Regulated

I have a unique pattern Halfpenny in my collection that was the result of Newton's experiments with a brass alloy to replace copper. Being able to hold one of Isaac Newton's experiments is kind of a kick.

SaorAlba

Coins were not only called in and re-coined in the Tower mint, but also in various cities around England - which makes for cool collecting when you factor in all the different mintmarks.

Scots coins were a whole other matter - the mint in Edinburgh was shutdown in 1682 due to fraud on the part of the mintmaster. The mint was re-opened in 1684 but no great re-coinage occurred until all silver and gold Scottish coinage was recalled in 1707 and reminted until 1709.

Sir isaac Newton also greatly influenced a tall, incognito visitor from Muscovy - when the visitor returned to Russia he instituted a great re-coinage and decimalisation of Russian coinage.

SmEagle1795

@Regulated said:
I have a unique pattern Halfpenny in my collection that was the result of Newton's experiments with a brass alloy to replace copper. Being able to hold one of Isaac Newton's experiments is kind of a kick.

That being kind of a kick is the understatement of the year - what an awesome piece of history!

markelman1125

Well the coin-press would have had a force of many Newton’s when creating the new coin.

Cool history 👍

coinhack

The history is what makes coin collecting worth it. Thank you for writing this post @1630Boston

ricko

@1630Boston ....Thanks for a great post.... Interesting bit of history... So, when there was no currency, did they simply barter for goods?? Cheers, RickO

1630Boston

Section 6-----------The death penalty for mixing copper with silver !!!!

Coin Act 1696
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Coin Act 1696 (8&9 Will.3 c.26) was an Act of the Parliament of England which made it high treason to make or possess equipment useful for counterfeiting coins. Its title was "An Act for the better preventing the counterfeiting the current Coin of this Kingdom." It was extended to cover Scotland by the Treason Act 1708.

Provisions
The Act came into effect on 15 May 1697. Section 1 made it treason to "knowingly make or mend, or begin or proceed to make or mend, or assist in the making or mending of" any stamp, mould or the like which could be used to make gold or silver coins current in the realm, or any tool which could be used to emboss letters or marks on the side of a coin. It was also treason to knowingly buy, hide or conceal, or have possession of such items "without lawful Authority or sufficient Excuse for that Purpose." Aiding or abetting such conduct was also treason.

Section 2 made it treason to "wittingly or knowingly convey or assist in the conveying" any of the items described in section 1 out of the Royal Mint without lawful authority. "Knowingly receiving, hiding or concealing the same" without lawful authority was also treason. This section differed from section 1 in that "sufficient Excuse" was not a defence.

Section 3 made it treason to mark the edges of any coin, whether the coin was current or not, or even a counterfeit coin (except if done by a person working in the Royal Mint).

Section 4 made it treason to colour or gild a coin, or anything resembling a coin, so as to make it resemble gold or silver.

Section 5 provided for the destruction of coin-producing machinery found in the possession of anyone not an employee of the Royal Mint.

**Section 6 made it a felony to take counterfeit money, or to mix copper with silver. The penalty for this offence was death.
**
Section 7 stated that corruption of blood was not to apply to any of the offences under this Act.

Section 8 provided that trials under the act were to be conducted either in the Court of King's Bench or before the justices of oyer and terminer, the assizes, or the Court of General Gaol Delivery.

Section 9 required any prosecution for offences under the Act to begin within 3 months of the offence. This time limit was later amended to 6 months for offences under sections 1 and 3 (by 1 Anne c.9 (1701/2) and by 7 Anne c.25 (1708)).

The Act was originally a temporary one which was due to expire, but it was made perpetual by 1 Anne c.9.

Hemispherical

Thanks for the very informative numismatic history lesson @1630Boston.

asheland

Great thread! This is closely connected to the hallmarking of British silver, something I collect and love to study!

asheland

London, 1787 hallmarks:
the same standard as the coin of the time, sterling

Meltdown

Very interesting.

johnny9434

the value of an education with things being related to this (& other things) = priceless

1630Boston

lkenefic

Thanks for sharing. I absolutely love the history attached to some of these pieces.

Namvet69

I wonder if anybody has Newtons fingerprint on a coin? Or did he wear gloves? Isaac was a smart fella! Peace Roy

jgenn

Milled coinage started in 1662, or 1657 if you include Blondeau's issues for Cromwell. That, with the lettered edges to curtail clipping greatly increased the difficulty of making counterfeits, however the desired effect on forgers and clippers was limited until hammered coins were demonetized. So, important measures were in place well before Newton's tenure.

Kudbegud

Very interesting stuff I didn't know. Now I do. Thanks.

Zoins

@1630Boston said:
So in 1696, the British government called on Newton. In addition to hands-on crime fighting, he recalled all English coins and had them melted down and remade into a higher-quality, harder-to-counterfeit design. It was a bold move, considering that the entire country had to make do without a currency for an entire year. Working as many as 18 hours a day, Newton reorganized the Royal Mints into high-quality, high-efficiency factories pumping out currency that was highly resistant to forgers.

Reminds me of what India did recently:

Why India wiped out 86% of its cash overnight

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-37974423

Unfortunately, it didn't seem to work:

India's banknote recall failed to uncover 'black money'

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/08/india-bank-note-ban-failed-slowed-economy-central-bank-180830093047724.html

savitale

Thanks for the informative post. I did not know Isaac Newton invented the reeded edge. Very interesting.

There were of course much earlier Roman coins with serrated edges, but it seems the jury is still out on the purpose.

Aspie_Rocco

Great thread!
Rocc-on!