Anno Sexto & Septimo Gulielmi III. Regis.  
An Act to Prevent Counterfeiting and Clipping the COIN of this Kingdom.  
WHereas it is Manifest that of late Years the Currant Coin of this Kingdom hath been greatly Diminished by Clipping, Rounding, Filing and Melting the same, and likewise many False and Counterfeit Coins have been Clipped for the better Disguising thereof:  
And for as much as it is Apparent that these Practices of Diminishing the Currant Coin is very much occasioned by those who Drive a Trade of Exchanging Broad Money for Clipped Money, and by other Arts and Devices.  
Be it therefore Enacted by the Kings most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons in Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That from, and after the First Day of May, which shall be in the Year of our Lord, One thousand six hundred ninty five, if any Person or Persons whatsoever, shall at any one Time or Payment, Exchange, Lend, Sell, Borrow or Buy, Receive or Pay any Broad Silver Money, or Silver Money Unclipt, of the Coin of this Kingdom, for more in Tale, Benefit, Profit or Advantage than the same was Coined for, and aught by Law to go for, be Lent, Sold for, Borrowed or Bought, Received or Paid, shall Forfeit the Sum of ten Pounds for every twenty Shillings that shall be so Exchanged, Lent, Sold, Borrowed or Bought, Received or Paid, and so in proportion for any Greater or Lesser Sum, One Moiety thereof to His Majesty, and the other Moiety to the Person who shall Sue or Inform for the same, to be Recovered (with Costs of Suit) by Action of Debt, Bill, Plaint or Information, wherein no Privilege, Protection or Wager of Law shall be allowed, nor any more than One Imparlance.  
And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid. That no Person do or shall presume to cast Ingots or Bars of Silver, in imitation of Spanish Bars or Ingots of Silver, nor do Stamp any Mark or Impression upon any Ingot or Bar in Likeness of the Spanish Marks or Impressions, upon pain that the Person herein Offending, shall for every such Offence Forfeit the Silver so cast, and also the Sum of Five hundred Pounds, one Moiety to his Majesty, and the other to the Informer, to be Recovered, as aforesaid.  
And for the better preventing the Clipping, Diminishing or Impairing the Currant Coin of this Kingdom; Be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Person whatsoever shall Buy or Sell, and knowingly have in his Custody or Possession, any Clipping or Filings of the Currant Coin of this Kingdom, he shall for every such Offence forfeit the said Clippings or Filings, and also the Sum of Five hundred Pounds, One Moiety to his Majesty, and the other to the Informer, to be Recovered, as aforesaid, and shall be also Branded in the Right Cheek with a Hot Iron with the Letter R, and until payment of the said Five hundred Pounds shall suffer Imprisonment.  
And be it further Enacted, That no Goldsmith or other Person whatsoever, shall, from and after the said first Day of May, Transport, or cause to be Transported out of this Kingdom of England, into any parts beyond the Seas, any Molten Silver whatsoever, but such only as shall be Marked or Stamped at Goldsmith-hall by the Wardens, some or one of them belonging to the said Company of Goldsmiths; which Mark or Stamp the said Wardens are hereby required to provide, and therewith to Mark or Stamp all such Silver as shall be proved before them, or one of them, in such manner as is hereafter mentioned to be lawful Silver, nor unless a Certificate be first had and obtained under the Hand of one or more of the said Wardens, of Oath having been made before him or them, by the Owner or Owners of such Molten Silver, and likewise by one Credible Witness, that the same is lawful Silver, and that no part thereof was (before the same was Molten) the Currant Coin of this Realm, nor Clipping thereof, nor Plate wrought within this Kingdom; which Oath the said Wardens, or any of them, are and is hereby Required and Authorized to Administer, and likewise to make and grant a Certificate thereof, without Fee or Reward, an Entry of which Certificate shall be duly made by the said Wardens, in a Book to be kept for that purpose; And in case any Person whatsoever who shall offer any Molten Silver to be Marked, as is aforesaid, shall not prove by his or her Oath, and likewise by the Oath of one Credible Witness, that the Silver offered to be Marked is lawful Silver, and that the same was not before the Melting thereof the Currant Coin of this Kingdom, nor Clipping thereof, nor Plate wrought within the same, then and in every such Case it shall be Lawful, to, and for the said Wardens, or any one of them, to Seize and Detain such Molten Silver so offered to be Marked, until such time as such Oath and Proof shall be made, as is aforesaid.  
And be it further Enacted, That if any Person whatsoever shall ship, or cause to be shipped or put on Board any Vessel any Molten Silver, not Stamped or Marked by the said Wardens, or one of them, and without Certificate first obtained, of Oath having been before the said Wardens, or one of them, of the Lafulness of such Silver in manner, as is aforesaid, (which Certificate shall be shown to some one of the Commissioners of the Customs for the time being, before any Cocket be granted for the Exporting such Molten Silver) in such case, it shall and may be lawful, to and for any Officer or Officers of his Majesty's Customs, to seize such Silver so shipped, and put on Board, one Moiety whereof shall be to his Majesty, his Heirs and Successors, and the other Moiety to the Officer and Officers so seizing the same.  
And be it further Enacted, That if any Broger, or Broker, not being a Trading Goldsmith or Refiner of Silver, shall buy or sell any Bullion, or molten Silver, every such person shall suffer for every such Offence, Imprisonment for six Months, without Bail or Mainprize.  
And for the better Discovery of Offenders in the Premises, Be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That it shall and may be lawful, to and for one or more of the Wardens of the said Company of Goldsmiths, with any Two or more of the Court of Assistants of the said Company, within the Compass of the Weekly Bills of Mortality, and to and for any two Justices of the Peace within any County, City, or Town Corporat out of the Compass of the Weekly Bills of Mortality, to enter, into the House, Room or Workshop of any person, who shall be suspected to be Guilty of buying or selling unlawful Bullion, and to search for the same; and in case the Occupier or Occupiers of such House, Room or Workshop, shall refuse to permit the said Warden and Assistants, or Justices to make such search, as aforesaid, it shall and may be lawful to such Warden and Assiants and Justices, with the assistance of a Constable, to break open any Door, Box, Trunk, Chest, Cupboard or Cabinet, in order to search for, and discover such Bullion, as is aforesaid, and in case the persons so searching, shall at any time find any such unlawful Bullion, the persons so finding the same, are hereby required to seize, as well such Bullion, as the person and persons in whose possession the same shall be found; and the said Wardens, Assistants and Constables, shall bring him and her before the next Justice of the Peace, who shall, upon Oath made of such finding, which Justice within the Weekly Bills of Mortality, and the said two Justices without the said Bills of Mortality, shall and may examine the person so brought before him, or found by them respectively, upon Oath, whether the Bullion so found, be lawful Silver, and whether the same was not (before the melting thereof) the currant Coin of this Realm, or Clipping thereof; and in case the said person so examined, shall not prove by his or her Oath, or by the Oath of one credible Witness, before the said Justice and Justices respectively, that the Bullion so found is lawful Silver, and that the same was not before the melting thereof, the currant Coin of this Realm, nor Clipping thereof, then and in such case the said Justice or Justices respectively, shall commit the person so examined to Prison, and shall secure the Bullion so found, and shall likewise oblige the persons that can give any Evidence concerning the same, to enter into a Recognizance, to prosecute the said Offender and Offenders; And in case such Offender and Offenders, in whose possession such unlawful Bullion shall be found, shall not upon his, her or their Trials on an Indictment for melting the currant silver Coin of this Realm, prove by the Oath of one credible Witness at the least, the Bullion so found to be lawful Silver, and that the same was not the currant Coin of this Realm, nor Clipping thereof, then, and for want of such Proof, such Offender shall be found guilty of the Offence contained in such Indictment, and shall suffer Imprisonment for the space of six Months, without Bail or Mainprize.  
And whereas the Coin of this Realm is of late much Clipped and Counterfitted for want of due Encouragement to be given to such persons as shall Discover the same. Be it Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, that from and after the said first day of May, One thousand six hundred ninety five, all and every person and persons, who shall apprehend and take any person or persons, who have Counterfeited any of the currant Coin of this Realm, or that for Lucre or Gain, have Clipped, Washed, Filled, or any ways diminished the same, or shall bring, or cause to be brought into this Kingdom, the Dominion of Wales, or Town of Berwick upon Tweed, any Clipped, False or Counterfeit Coin, and prosecute such person or persons, until he, she or they be convicted for any such Offence, shall have and receive from the Sheriff or Sheriffs of the County, where such Conviction shall be made, for every such Offender so convicted, the Sum of forty Pounds (without paying any Fee for the same) within One Month after such Conviction and Demand thereof made, by tendering a Certificate to the said Sheriff or Sheriffs for the time being, under the Hand or Hands of the Judge or Justices before whom such Traitor or Traitors, Offender or Offenders, as aforesaid shall be Convicted, Certifying the conviction of such Traitor or Traitors, done within the County of the said Sheriff or Sheriffs; and that such Traitor or Traitors, was or were taken and prosecuted by the person or persons, claiming the said Reward, which Certificate as aforesaid, the said Judge or Justices, are hereby Required to give: and in case any Dispute shall happen to arise, between the persons apprehending, and prosecuting to Conviction such Traitors as aforesaid, touching their Right and Title to the said Reward, that then the said Judge or Justices so respectively Certifying as aforesaid, shall in and by their said Certificate, direct and appoint the said Reward to be paid unto, and amongst the Parties claiming the same, in such share and proportions as to the said Judge or Justices shall seem just and reasonable: And if default of payment of the said Sum or Sums of Money shall happen to be made by any Sheriff or Sheriffs, such Sheriff and Sheriffs so making Default, shall Forfeit to the person or persons to whom such Money is due as aforesaid, double the Sum or Sums of Money he ought to have paid, to be Recovered by him or them, or his or their Executors or Administrators, in any of His Majesty's Courts of Record at Westminster, by Action of Debt, Bill, Plaint or Information, wherein but one Imparlance, and no Effoign, Protection or Wager of Law shall be allowed, with triple Costs of Suit by him, or them Expended in recovery of the same.  
And it is hereby further Enacted, that all Sheriffs, their Executors or Administrators, upon producing such respective Certificats, and the Receipts for the Money by them paid in pursuance of this Act, shall be allowed, and are hereby Impowered to deduct upon their Accounting with His Majesty, all Moneys (other than the double Sum or Sums of Money and Costs of Suit) which they shall Disburse as aforesaid, without any Fee or Reward whatsoever.  
Provided always, that if upon the Account of any Sheriff or Sheriffs, there shall not be Money sufficient in the hands of such Sheriff or Sheriffs to Reimburse him or them such Moneys paid by him or them, by virtue of this Act, That then the Sheriff or Sheriffs having so paid the said Moneys, shall have the same Repaid by the Lord Treasurer, or Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury for the time being, out of the Revenue of the Crown, upon Certificate from the Clerk of the Pipe to that Effect.  
And be it further Enacted, by the Authority aforesaid, that if any person or persons, being out of Prison, shall, from and after the first day of May, One thousand six hundred ninety five, be guilty of Clipping, Coining, Counterfeiting, Washing, Filing, or otherwise diminishing the Coin of this Realm, and afterwards discover two or more person or persons, who already have, or hereafter shall commit any of the said Crimes, so as two or more of the person or persons Discovered shall be Convicted of the same, any such Discoverer shall himself have, and is hereby Entitled to the Gracious Pardon of His Majesty, His Heirs and Successors, for all ●uch his Crimes which he or they have committed at any time, or times before such Discovery made: and if the person making such Discovery be an Apprentice, he shall be Deemed and taken, and is hereby declared a Freeman, and shall have, and may exercise any lawful Trade, Profession or Mystery, with all Liberties and Privileges, and in as full and ample manner, as if the said person had served the full time of his Apprenticeship; any Law, Statute, Custom or Ordinance, to the contrary notwithstanding.  
And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That in case any Seizure shall happen of any Bullion shipped to be Exported, and a Doubt arise thereon whether the same be English or Foreign Bullion, that then the Proof shall lie upon the Owner, Claimer or Exporter of such Bullion, that the same is Foreign Bullion, and had not been melted down in this Realm of England, Dominion of Wales, or Town of Berwick upon Tweed.  
And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That in case any Person or Persons enter or ship any Bullion, allowed by this Act to be exported beyond the Seas, other than in the Name of the true Owner and Proprietor or Importer, the Exporter thereof shall forfeit the same, or the full Value thereof, one Moiety to his Mejesty, his Heirs and Successors, and the other Moiety to the Person who shall seize or discover the same.  
Provided always, and be it further Enacted, That this Act, or any thing therein contained, shall not extend to prohibit the Exportation of such Bullion as shall be Licenced by his Majesty (such Licences being Entered in the Books of the Custom House for the Port of London) so as the same be Exported before the first day of January, One thousand six hundred ninety five, and do not exceed Seven hundred thousand Ounces of Silver, to be applied for the Payment of his Majesty's Forces.   

EDINBURGH, reprinted by the Heirs and Successors of Andrew Anderson, Prin●r to His most Excellent Majesty, Anno Dom. 1695.