REPORT OE THE ROYAL MINT COMMITTEE.

H.—No. 6

14

" Weight assayed and valued, and value thereof; " Weight refined ; " Weight and value of bullion reissued, and amount charged for melting, assaying, and refining; " Weight of' bars delivered for coinage, distinguishing those from scissel and ingot pots ; " Weight of each description of coin produced ; " Weight of each description of coin delivered to the public, and the amount, if any, charged for coining; " Number and average of assay reports on which ingot pots have been passed into work, and the highest and lowest assay reports of such pots ; " The same for scissel pots; " The same for the assay of coin ; " Number and description of dies received or completed during the month, of dies worn out, of dies effectually defaced, and of serviceable dies in hand. " And that the Deputy Master shall faithfully, and without unnecessary delay, forward to the Master of the Royal Mint, at the end of every quarter, a return showing the waste during the quarter, distinguishing the waste arising in melting, in refining, in coining, and in assaying. " And he shall forward any other returns which the Master of the Royal Mint, with the consent of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, may require. " And that to insure the careful observance of the standard in the coin, the Deputy Master shall only permit coin to be delivered to the public between such hours, on such days, as shall from time to time be ordered by the Governor or Officer Administering the Government of the Colony, during which time an officer appointed by the Governor or Officer Administering the Government of the Colony shall attend and take, without preference in the selection, a number of pieces in proportion to the quantity delivered, not being more than one piece out of every five hundred coins, nor less than one piece in five thousand. That the piece or pieces so taken be sealed up by the officer appointed as aforesaid, and the envelope dated and signed by him, and be forwarded by the Deputy Master to the Master of the Royal Mint in London, for such examination as the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury may direct. " And that the Governor or Officer Administering the Government of the Colony shall also direct a Board of Government Officers, not less than three in number, to assemble at the Mint at the expiration of each quarter, for the inspection of the store of bullion and coin in the Mint, and report on tho same to him, stating the exact amounts of the balance of each description verified by them, and shall transmit a copy of the report to the Deputy Master, to be transmitted by him to the Master of the Royal Mint. " That the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury and Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies, may have authority to issue and give such instructions as to them may respectively appertain for effecting the several matters and things hereby ordered to be carried into effect. " Your Majesty's Commissioners therefore beg to lay before your Majesty the beforementioned circumstances, and humbly pray that your Majesty will be graciously pleased to take the premises into your royal consideration, and to make such order in respect thereto as to your Majesty in your royal wisdom shall seem meet." Her Majesty having taken the said representation into consideration, was pleased, by and with the advice of Her Majesty's Privy Council, to approve thereof, and to order, and it is hereby ordered, that the same and every part thereof be acted upon and carried into effect; and the Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, and the Earl Granville, one of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, and the Master and Worker of Her Majesty's Mint, are to issue and give such rules and directions as to them may respectively appertain for effecting the several matters and things hereby ordered to be carried into effect. Arthur Helps.

Enclosure 3 in No. 2. Eegulations for the Receipt and Coinage of Gold at the Melbourne Branch of the Eoyal Mint. 1. Deposits of unmanufactured gold in dust or in bullion will be received at the Mint for coinage daily (Saturdays and holidays excepted), between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., on the following terms : — {a.) A deposit of which both the gross and standard weight are under 20 ounces troy, at a charge of 7s. 6d. (J.) A deposit of any weight exceeding the above, but not exceeding 5,000 oz. standard, at a charge of 4-ad. per ounce. (c.) A deposit exceeding 5,000 oz. standard at a charge of 3d. per ounce. N.B. —The charge will be calculated on the gross or the standard weight of the deposit, whichever may be the greater. 2. All fine silver in a deposit in excess of 4 per cent, of the weight of the deposit after melting will be allowed for at the rate of ss. per ounce. 3. Every deposit will be weighed and melted, if desired, in the presence of the depositor. The assay will be determined by the report of the Mint assayers. 4. Gold bullion, in ingots or in bars and of any assay, can be obtained at the Mint to a limited extent, at £3 17s. 10-|d. the ounce standard. It can also, if desired, be alloyed with silver at an additional charge of ss. for every ounce of fine silver added to the gold._ 5. Each parcel of gold for which a separate assay is required will be considered as a separate deposit. 6. The Eeceiving Office at the Mint will be closed on the first two working days of January, April, July, and October.