The Coin Act 1696 (8&9 Will.3 c.26) was an Act of the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised t ...

which made it

high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

to make or possess equipment useful for

counterfeit To counterfeit means to imitate something authentic, with the intent to steal, destroy, or replace the original, for use in illegal transactions, or otherwise to deceive individuals into believing that the fake is of equal or greater value tha ...

ing coins. Its title was "An Act for the better preventing the counterfeiting the current Coin of this Kingdom." It was extended to cover Scotland by the

Treason Act 1708 The Treason Act 1708 (7 Ann c 21) is an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which harmonised the law of high treason between the former kingdoms of England and Scotland following their union as Great Britain in 1707. This Act is partly st ...

Provisions

The Act came into effect on 15 May 1697. Section 1 made it treason to "knowingly make or mend, or begin or proceed to make or mend, or assist in the making or mending of" any stamp, mould or the like which could be used to make gold or silver coins current in the realm, or any tool which could be used to emboss letters or marks on the side of a coin. It was also treason to knowingly buy, hide or conceal, or have possession of such items "without lawful Authority or sufficient Excuse for that Purpose." Aiding or abetting such conduct was also treason. Section 2 made it treason to "wittingly or knowingly convey or assist in the conveying" any of the items described in section 1 out of the

Royal Mint The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's oldest company and the official maker of British coins. Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly owned by His Majesty's Treasury and is under an exclus ...

without lawful authority. "Knowingly receiving, hiding or concealing the same" without lawful authority was also treason. This section differed from section 1 in that "sufficient Excuse" was not a defence. Section 3 made it treason to mark the edges of any coin, whether the coin was current or not, or even a counterfeit coin (except if done by a person working in the Royal Mint). Section 4 made it treason to colour or gild a coin, or anything resembling a coin, so as to make it resemble gold or silver. Section 5 provided for the destruction of coin-producing machinery found in the possession of anyone not an employee of the

. Section 6 made it a

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...

to take counterfeit money, or to mix copper with silver. The penalty for this offence was death. Section 7 stated that corruption of blood was not to apply to any of the offences under this Act. Section 8 provided that trials under the act were to be conducted either in the

Court of King's Bench The King's Bench (), or, during the reign of a female monarch, the Queen's Bench ('), refers to several contemporary and historical courts in some Commonwealth jurisdictions. * Court of King's Bench (England), a historic court court of common ...

or before the justices of

oyer and terminer In English law, oyer and terminer (; a partial translation of the Anglo-French ''oyer et terminer'', which literally means "to hear and to determine") was one of the commissions by which a judge of assize sat. Apart from its Law French name, the ...

, the

assizes The courts of assize, or assizes (), were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes e ...

, or the

Court of General Gaol Delivery The High Court of Justice of the Isle of Man is governed by the High Court Act 1991. There are four permanent judges of the High Court: *the Deemster, First Deemster and Clerk of the Rolls *the Deemster, Second Deemster *a full-time additional ...

. Section 9 required any prosecution for offences under the Act to begin within 3 months of the offence. This time limit was later amended to 6 months for offences under sections 1 and 3 (by ''1 Anne c.9'' (1701/2) and by ''7 Anne c.25'' (1708)). The Act was originally a temporary one which was due to expire, but it was made perpetual by ''1 Anne c.9''.

External links

Text of the Act
{{UK legislation 1696 in law 1696 in England Treason in England Acts of the Parliament of England Currency law in the United Kingdom

Provisions

See also

External links