Without duty or seigniorage...

[RealFinney]

I've been reading Adam Smith's "..Wealth of nations.." and noticed an interesting passage on page 143 where by it is noted that the British Royal Mint has an obligation to mint bullion into gold coins for free.

Does anyone know if this is still extant as it could be a very nice method of obtaining British Sovereigns (say) at a knock down price compared to the usual premium.

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=rBiqT86BGQEC&lpg=PA324&dq=duty%20or%20seigniorage%20wealth%20of%20nations&pg=PA324#v=onepage&q&f=false

Edit: lets try again with that link...

 

[RealFinney]

A bit more research is pointing me in the direction of the Coinage Duties Act c.1769, though viewing a copy of the act online is proving tricky.

 

[h4rdware]

If you do find anything more about this, I'll be interested to know.

I expect that wherever it leads, it will be one of those things where it really doesn't matter what the rules say - trying to put it into action will result in blank stares, confusion and a very short conversation But I for one would be willing to try just for fun.

 

[RealFinney]

Got a response from the curator of the Royal Mint Museum:

"The Royal Mint certainly used to be obliged to coin gold bullion brought to it by any person. But that has not been the case since at least 1971."

Ho hum, nice idea though.

 

[DoChenRollingBearing]

Dr. Antal Fekete says the Mints should open their doors to gold! I would agree, but it does not look like THAT will happen...

Good luck re your research RealFinney! Report back!

But, don't forget to buy some physical when you take a break from your research!