master of the Mint

{{short description|Head of the Mint in Commonwealth countries}}

{{for|the chief executive of the Royal Canadian Mint|Master of the Mint (Canada)}}

Master of the Mint is a title within the Royal Mint given to the most senior person responsible for its operation. It was an office in the governments of Scotland and England, and later Great Britain and then the United Kingdom, between the 16th and 19th centuries. Until 1699, the appointment was usually for life. Its holder occasionally sat in the cabinet.

During the interregnum (1643–1660), the last Master of the Mint to Charles I, Sir Robert Harley, transferred his allegiance to Parliament and remained in office. After his death in 1656 Aaron Guerdon was appointed.

In 1870 the role was amalgamated into the office of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, making the Chancellor, by virtue of their position, the Master of the Mint. The duty of running the mint was given to the Deputy Master of the Mint; who is now the mint's Chief Executive.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/information-management/osp22.pdf|title=THE RECORDS OF THE ROYAL MINT|website=National Archive|access-date=5 October 2019}}

Masters of the Mint in England

  • 1331 Richard de Snowshill and Richard of Grimsby Mints and Money in Medieval England

By Martin Allen

Deputy Master of the Mint

Now a private company; the job of Deputy Master is held by the Royal Mint's Chief Executive.

  • 1868–94 Charles William Fremantle
  • 1894–1902 Sir Horace Seymour
  • 1903–13 William Ellison-Macartney{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=New Deputy-Master of the Royal Mint |date=8 January 1903 |page=7 |issue=36972}}
  • 1913–17 Sir Thomas Elliott, 1st Baronet
  • 1917–22 Sir John Westerman Cawston
  • 1922–38 Sir Robert A. Johnson
  • 1938–49 Sir John Craig
  • 1950–57 Sir Lionel Thompson
  • 1957–70 Sir John ("Jack") Hastings James
  • 1970-74 Harold Glover
  • 1974-77 John R. Christie
  • 1978-87 Dr Jeremy Gerhard
  • 1989-92 Anthony D Garrett
  • 1993–2001 Roger Holmes
  • 2001–2006 Gerald Sheehan{{Cite web|url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/231610/1432.pdf|title=Royal Mint Annual Report 2005-06|website=Royal Mint|access-date=5 October 2019}}
  • 2007–2010 Andrew Stafford
  • 2010–2018 Adam Lawrence
  • 2018–present Anne Jessopp

See also

Notes

{{notelist}}

{{reflist|30em}}

References

{{Commons category|Mint masters}}

  • {{Cite book |last=Challis |first=C. E. |year=1992 |title=A new history of the Royal Mint |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-24026-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zz89AAAAIAAJ }}

{{Mints in the United Kingdom}}

{{Masters of the Mint}}

Category:Ceremonial officers in the United Kingdom

Master of the Mint

Category:Public finance of England

Category:Public finance of Scotland

Category:Directors of coin mints