Editing Trial of the Pyx (section)

{{Short description|Judicial ceremony in the United Kingdom}}
[[File:The_Livery_Hall_at_Goldsmiths'_Hall-3269860504.jpg|alt=A view of the inside of Goldsmiths' Hall, a long table surrounded by jurors test coins|thumb|upright=1.1|Trial of the Pyx in the Livery Hall at [[Goldsmiths' Hall]]]]
The '''Trial of the Pyx''' ({{IPAc-en|p|ɪ|k|s}}) is a judicial ceremony in the [[United Kingdom]] to ensure that newly [[Mint (coin)|minted]] [[British coinage|coins]] from the [[Royal Mint]] conform to their required dimensional and [[fineness]] specifications.<ref name="FT-2023">{{cite news |last=Thomas |first=Daniel |url=https://www.ft.com/content/e70a612b-900d-4e34-a1bc-16d5c789497a |title=British coins tested for quality in 700-year-old 'Trial of the Pyx' |work=[[Financial Times]] |location=London |date=2023-02-07 |accessdate=2023-02-25 }}</ref> Although coin quality is now tested throughout the year under laboratory conditions, the event has become an annual historic tradition. Each year, thousands of coins are put on trial, consisting of both those struck for circulation and non-circulating commemorative coins.

First held in the 12th century, the event takes place in the hall of the [[Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths]] in London, where the Deputy Master of the Mint (Chief Executive of the [[Royal Mint]]) is in effect put on trial before a [[High Court judge (England and Wales)|High Court judge]] as [[metallurgical assay|metallurgical assayers]] and selected leaders from the financial world sample coins from the mint's output. The boxes in which coins are stored form the ceremony's [[namesake]]: the word ''[[pyx]]'' derives from the [[Ancient Greek language|Greek]] {{langx|grc|πυξίς|[[Pyxis (vessel)|pyxis]]|label=none}} meaning 'wooden box'.