Goldsmiths Hall

A programme and separate seating plan for a banquet held at Goldsmith's Hall on 8 July 1909 'on the occasion of a Tryal of the Pyx'. The programme details the music to be performed during the banquet, including lyrics and, for some, notes.

With medieval roots and formally laid down in the 1870 Coinage Act, the Trial of the Pyx is an annual event held at the Hall of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths to ensure that the Royal Mint has produced coins which fall within the statutory limits for metallic composition, weight and size. The Pyx refers to the chest in which the coins are carried to the trial; throughout the year leading up to the trial one coin is removed from each batch of each denomination struck, put into a sealed bag containing a total of 50 coins, and this bag put into the Pyx box until the time of the trial.