and formed into plates where their fineness and weight can be compared against a corresponding trial plate which acts as a benchmark. After three months of testing, a ceremony presided over by the King's Remembrancer is held, when the final verdict is given. Attending the event and receiving the verdict under the capacity as Master of the Mint is the Chancellor of the Exchequer or his Deputy Master, the Chief Executive of the Royal Mint. If the coinage is found to be substandard, the trial carries a punishment for the Master of the Mint of a fine, removal from office, or imprisonment. The last master of the mint to be punished was Isaac Newton in 1696. List of trials Prior to the Coinage Act 1971 which ordered a trial to be held at least once a year, trials were carried out in no particular order and often covered the coinage of multiple years. Trials Trials – Reign of Elizabeth II Trials have been held in every calendar year of the reign (starting in 1952). See also Halsbury's Laws of England United States Assay Commission, which performed a similar function in that country The historical novel The System of the World contains a detailed scene that covers the stages of a Trial of the Pyx conducted in 1714. References External links Royal Mint description, retrieved 23 March 2009 Company of Goldsmiths description Pyx Chamber at Westminster Abbey, retrieved 23 March 2009 Blog report by an observer of the Trial Report of Trial of the Pyx 2013. UK legislation Numismatics Law of the United Kingdom 1282 establishments in England Annual events in the United Kingdom Trials in the United Kingdom