Editing Trial of the Pyx (section)

== History ==
According to records from the [[Dialogus de Scaccario]], in 1179 the weight and fineness of coinage received by England's Exchequer was examined for regulatory purposes under the supervision of the [[Baron of the Exchequer]]. At this time the [[Master of the Mint]] was ordered to put aside one coin for every ten pounds of silver minted so that they might be tested every three months. Found in the [[Red Book of the Exchequer]], a section thought to be written in May 1279 titled {{lang|la|"forma nova monete"}} ("A new form of currency") set forth procedures for a regular series of trials whereby the [[Master of the Mint]] became liable for failings in the currency standards. Coins were to be put into a box with two keys, each held by the master and warden and its contents tested four times a year.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Allen|first=Martin|title=Mints and Money in Medieval England|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=2012|isbn=978-1107014947|pages=166}}</ref>

In 1282, in the reign of [[Edward I of England|Edward I]], a [[writ]] was issued ordering barons to carry out pyx trials throughout the realm. The current statutory basis for the Trial of the Pyx is the [[Coinage Act 1971]], the latest in a long series of similarly named [[Act of Parliament|Acts of Parliament]]. Specific procedures are established by [[Order in Council]], the most recent being the Trial of the Pyx Order 1998,<ref>[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1998/1764/contents/made Trial of the Pyx Order 1998]</ref> which was amended in 2005,<ref>[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/254/contents/made The Trial of the Pyx (Amendment) Order 2005]</ref> 2012<ref>[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/2746/contents/made The Trial of the Pyx (Amendment) Order 2012]</ref> and 2016.<ref>[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2016/1216/contents/made The Trial of the Pyx (Amendment) Order 2016]</ref> It is not required for a new Order to be issued for each Trial: this is required only to implement regulatory revision.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

Prior to the [[Coinage Act 1870]] trials took place at the [[Palace of Westminster]] and coins were stored in [[Westminster Abbey]]'s Pyx Chapel. The Act moved the venue for the trial to [[Goldsmiths' Hall]], the headquarters of the [[Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths]] who carry out the testing.