not so much but neare it, about 23 caretts 3 grains and 1⁄2.
"4 grains makes a caret. 24 caretts an oz.
"In silver every pound lacks 4s. 6d.
"A pound is 3li in tale.
"In 6 angells wch is in tale 3li, and in weight one ounce, there is not such an alloy, for in silver we want 4s. 6d., and in gold but—"
The notes end thus imperfectly, but what Salisbury was toilfully figuring for himself lay ready to his hand in the opinions of experts and of the officials of the Mint. Immediately succeeding these broken notes of his in the State Papers, there exists a series of documents which he doubtless had under his eye, and which exposed the situation with a clearness that was more than convincing. "Statement of the Page 136 Loss sustained by England in the Exchange of Coin." ... "Statement by the Officers of the Mint that the Raising the Value of the English Silver Coins by making a Pound Troy of Silver worth £3, 11s. 6d. only equalises the Value of English Money with those of Foreign Countries, and that to prevent the Export of Gold its Price must be raised in Proportion." And so on.
As the result of such representations, and after ten months of wavering Salisbury gave way, and on the 22nd November 1611 he consented to the issuing of a