Showing 11 results

(1) Letter from James Bridgnell to H W I Wood, 28 Apr 1857. Relating to the introduction of a gold currency into India. (2) Reply from H W I Wood to James Bridgnell, 4 Jun 1857. Both letters with signatures.

Letter from Thomas A Cook of Newcastle upon Tyne to H B Jordan, Esq of the Alkali Works, Bristol, 8 Dec 1845. Acknowledging Jordan's letter of 4 Dec 1845. Discussing at length the relative efficiency of stone stills [for manufacturing alkalis] used by Cook [at Walker, Newcastle], by Jordan and by Lee and Co; advising Jordan to visit Lee and Co and copy their stills exactly. Mentioning a Mr Bell's patent, the surprising cheapness of coal, and a meeting of masters [i.e. factory owners] which he was unable to attend. Noting that the returns show an increase of stock.

Autograph, with signature. A note [in Jordan's hand] on page 3 states: 'Ansd. 5 Jany'.

Manuscript volume, [1580], containing instruction for all (Dutch) Exchangers for the alteration of coinage books and manuals following a proclamation that the fortieth part of all golden moneys is to be reserved for their salaries. The manuscript gives translations of the mottoes on various coins in place of the engravings of the coins found in the printed book.

Manuscript volume containing papers relating to coinage and the Royal Mint, 1722-1774, including a table of the gold and silver minted in the reigns of kings and queens of England from Queen Elizabeth I up to 1772, with a value in sterling for the total in each reign; a table of gold and silver minted from 20 Jul 1660-31 Dec 1751, with a value in sterling for the amount minted in each reign within this period; table of the weight of gold brought to the Mint for 20 years [1751-1770], with columns showing by whom it was brought and in what species it was coined; a table of 'gold at the Mint before the diminished guineas were sent', with a monthly account of gold coined from Aug 1773 to May 1774 and a statement of all gold coined from 1760-1774; an account of cut guineas imported into the Mint between 25 Aug 1773 and 9 Aug 1774, and delivered out between 13 Oct 1773 and 5 Oct 1774; tables giving the costs of coining various metals; a calculation table [for measuring fineness]; details of rises in salaries for officers of the Mint; details of salary scales for officers of the Mint, [Aug 1772].

Correspondence to John Bradley & Co., mostly being very detailed orders for iron, except for a few letters addressed to James Foster himself.

Papers of John Urpeth Rastrick, 1800-1855, comprising a miscellany of correspondence (including drafts of copies of outgoing letters), with notes, engineering drawings, etc. Many of the notes and calculations are written in Rastrick's private cipher. Major correspondents include the London shipping iron merchants Henckell and Du Buisson; the 2nd Earl of Powis; John (later Sir John) Gladstone [father of W E Gladstone]; the lawyer, estate manager and politician James Loch and [?his son] George Loch; and Rastrick's sons and employees. Topics covered include the canal and railway interests of Rastrick and the other correspondents, as well as the iron industry. Most of the letters were dispatched to or from London or the industrial areas of South Wales and the West Midlands.

Papers of Augustus Sauerbeck, 1893 and 1895, comprise two letters to Sir Guilford Molesworth; the first thanks him for a letter and two tables of production figures and discusses his own work: 'If you examine the real reduction in cost - not by opening up new countries - but by real scientific improvement, there is probably no important article in which the reduction has been so great as in the case of gold, where it pays now if you get 1/2oz or even less out of a ton of ore', 28 August 1893. The second letter refers to a forthcoming article on prices, to be published in the March issue of the Journal of the Statistical Society, 5 April 1895.

Manuscript volume containing a paper entitled 'A state of the trade to Sweden before and since the Prohibition', presented to the House of Commons as a petition for the relaxation of restrictions on trade with Sweden, 1717-1718.

Letter from Henry Tolcher of Plymouth to 'Most honble. Lord' [Peter King, Chief Justice of Common Pleas], 2 Sep 1720. Suggesting that 'unless a speedy method is taken to prevent the melting of the silver coin of this kingdom it is very likely that its scarcity so much of late complain'd of will be follow'd by a totall consumption of the same ... not less than fifty pounds sterling is to be gott by melting a thousand pounds of English silver coin which is easyly effectected [sic] and with security by almost any person in the space of an hour or two'.

Autograph, with signature.

Manuscript volume, 1554-1720, containing nine transcripts relating to the public coinage of France, notably a transcript of letters patent by King Henry IV setting out regulations for the coinage, 3 Mar 1554; a judgment of the Chambre des Comptes, 25 Nov 1690; miscellaneous transcripts giving details of the cost of equipment for minting, possibly for the coinage of Orleans, France; various formularies for the process of casting gold ingots and counterfeit gold coins, drawn up on behalf of Pierre François Guerin, Juge Garde de la Monoye d'Orleans, 30 Apr 1728; memorandum on the establishment of the coinage of Orleans following an edict of Oct 1716, consisting of 24 articles for regulating the work of the officers of the Mint; two treatises on the administration of coinage in France; summaries of judgements concerning coinage, 23 Dec 1719-26 Dec 1720, with a commentary on each; a description of various French coins, [1718-1728].

Manuscript copy of Reflections on the importation of bar-iron, from our own colonies of North-America, printed in 1757, possibly by Joseph Sykes, in response to The case of the importation of bar-iron (1756), written by the Reverend Josiah Tucker on behalf of the Iron Manufacturers of Great Britain. The volume also includes copies of 2 letters, of 29 April 1765, from Joseph Sykes in Hull to the Master Cutler [Sheffield], and of 1 May 1765 from David Barclay & Sons, London, linen merchants, to Mr [William] Dixon [in Sheffield], both concerning the debate on the import of American as opposed to Swedish iron and proposals for additional duty upon Swedish iron before the Board of Trade.The above items are bound with a printed version of The case of the importation of bar-iron (1756), by Josiah Tucker.