View source for Master of the Mint

{{short description|Head of the Mint in Commonwealth countries}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2025}}
{{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 [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scotland]] and [[Kingdom of England|England]], and later [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] and then the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|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 (England)|interregnum]] (1643–1660), the last Master of the Mint to [[Charles I of England|Charles I]], Sir [[Robert Harley (1579–1656)|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, [[Ex officio member|by virtue of her 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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

==Masters of the Mint in England==
*1331 Richard de Snowshill and Richard of Grimsby <ref>Mints and Money in Medieval England
By Martin Allen</ref>
*1351–? Henry de Bruselee and John Chichester  <ref name = HLM>{{Cite book |last=craig |first=John |title=The Mint: A History of the London Mint from A.D. 287 to 1948 |year=1953 |publisher=Cambridge [Eng.] University Press |url=https://archive.org/details/minthistoryoflon0000crai |url-access=registration }} Google Books</ref>
*1361–1361 Walter dei Bardi <ref name = HLM/>
*1365–1367 John Chichester <ref name = HLM/>
*1375–1391 Walter dei Bardi <ref name = HLM/>
*1391–1391 John Wildeman <ref name = HLM/>
*1411–1414 Richard Garner <ref name = HLM/>
*1413–1414 Sir Lewis John <ref name = HLM/>
*1418–1420 Sir Lewis John <ref name = HLM/>
*1421–1432 Bartholomew Goldbeter <ref name = ACGB>{{Cite book |last=Ruding |first=Rogers |author-link=Rogers Ruding |url=https://archive.org/details/annalsofcoinageo01rudiuoft |page=[https://archive.org/details/annalsofcoinageo01rudiuoft/page/n65 34] |title=Annals of the coinage of Great Britain and its dependencies |publisher=J. Hearne |access-date=2012-07-15|year=1840 }}</ref>
*1435–1446 John Paddesley  <ref name = ACGB/>
*1446–1459 Robert Manfield  <ref name = ACGB/>
*1459–1461 Sir Richard Tonstall <ref name = HLM/>
*1461–1483 [[William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings|William Hastings]] (executed 1483) <ref name = HLM/>
*1483–1485 Sir [[Robert Brackenbury]] (killed at Bosworth, 1485) <ref name = HLM/>
*1485–1490 Sir Giles Daubeney  <ref name = ACGB/>
*1492–1493 Sir [[Bartholomew Reade]] and Sir [[John Shaa]]<ref name = HLM/>
*1493–1494 Sir Bartholomew Reade and Robert Fenrother<ref name = ACGB/>
*1495–1498 Sir Bartholomew Reade and Sir John Shaa<ref name = ACGB/>
*1509–1534 [[William Blount, 4th Baron Mountjoy]]<ref name = ACGB/>
*1543 Ralph Rowlet and Sir [[Martin Bowes]]<ref name = ACGB/>
*1544 Sir Martin Bowes<ref name = ACGB/>
*1547–1553 Sir [[John York (Master of the Mint)|John York]]<ref>[[Dictionary of National Biography]] {{full citation needed|date=March 2014}}</ref>
*1553–1555 [[Thomas Egerton (mercer)|Thomas Egerton]]<ref name = ACGB/>
*1560–1571 Sir [[Thomas Stanley (Royal Mint)|Thomas Stanley]]<ref name = ACGB/>
*1571–1582 [[John Lonyson]]<ref name = ACGB/>
*1582–1599 Sir [[Richard Martin (Lord Mayor of London)|Richard Martin]] {{sfn|Challis|1992|p=259}}
*1599–1609 Sir Richard Martin (died 1616) and Richard Martin
*1617–1623 [[Edward Villiers (Master of the Mint)|Sir Edward Villiers]] 
*1623–1626 Sir [[Randal Cranfield]]
*1626–1635 Sir [[Robert Harley (1579–1656)|Robert Harley]] 
*1635–1643 In Commission:
**Sir [[Ralph Freeman (lawyer)|Ralph Freeman]]
**Sir [[Sir Thomas Aylesbury, 1st Baronet|Thomas Aylesbury]]
*1643–1649 Sir [[Robert Harley (1579–1656)|Robert Harley]] 
*1649–1653 [[Aaron Guerdon]]
*1660–1662 Sir [[Ralph Freeman (lawyer)|Ralph Freeman]] 
*1662–1667 Sir Ralph Freeman and [[Henry Slingsby (Master of the Mint)|Henry Slingsby]] 
*1667–1680 Henry Slingsby (suspended 1680)
*1680–1684 In Commission:
**Sir [[Buckworth-Herne-Soame baronets|John Buckworth]]
**[[Charles Duncombe (Lord Mayor of the City of London)|Charles Duncombe]]
**[[James Hoare (gold merchant)|James Hoare]]
*1684–1686 In Commission:
**[[Thomas Neale]]
**Charles Duncombe
**James Hoare
*1686–1699 Thomas Neale
*1699–1727 Sir [[Isaac Newton]] 
*1727–1737 [[John Conduitt]] 
*1737–1745 [[Richard Arundell (died 1758)|Richard Arundell]] 
*1745–1769 [[William Chetwynd, 3rd Viscount Chetwynd|William Chetwynd]]{{efn|Succeeded as 3rd Viscount Chetwynd in 1767.}} 
*1769–1784 [[Charles Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan|Charles Cadogan]]{{efn|Succeeded as 3rd Baron Cadogan in 1776.}}  
*1784–1789 [[Thomas Howard, 3rd Earl of Effingham]] 
*1789–1790 [[Philip Stanhope, 5th Earl of Chesterfield]] 
*1790–1794 [[George Townshend, 2nd Marquess Townshend|George Townshend, Earl of Leicester]] 
*1794–1799 [[Sir George Yonge, 5th Baronet]] 
*1799–1801 [[Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool|Robert Jenkinson, Baron Hawkesbury]] 
*1801–1802 [[Charles Perceval, 2nd Baron Arden]] 
*1802–1804 [[John Smyth (1748–1811)|John Smyth]]
*1804–1806 [[Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst]] 
*1806 [[Lord Charles Spencer]] 
*1806–1807 [[Charles Bathurst]] 
*1807–1812 Henry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst
*1812–1814 [[Richard Trench, 2nd Earl of Clancarty]] 
*1814–1823 [[William Wellesley-Pole, 3rd Earl of Mornington|William Wellesley-Pole]] 
*1823–1827 [[Thomas Wallace, 1st Baron Wallace|Thomas Wallace]] 
*1827–1828 [[George Tierney]] 
*1828–1830 [[John Charles Herries]] 
*1830–1834 [[George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland|George Eden, 2nd Baron Auckland]] 
*1834–1835 [[James Abercromby, 1st Baron Dunfermline|James Abercrombie]] 
*1835 [[Alexander Baring, 1st Baron Ashburton|Alexander Baring]] 
*1835–1841 [[Henry Labouchere, 1st Baron Taunton|Henry Labouchere]] 
*1841–1845 [[William Ewart Gladstone]] 
*1845–1846 [[Sir George Clerk, 6th Baronet]] 
*1846–1850 [[Richard Lalor Sheil]] 
*1850–1855 Sir [[John Herschel]] 
*1855–1869 [[Thomas Graham (chemist)|Thomas Graham]]
*1870– Office amalgamated into the office of [[Chancellor of the Exchequer]]

== 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]]<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=New Deputy-Master of the Royal Mint |date=8 January 1903 |page=7 |issue=36972}}</ref>
* 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<ref>{{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}}</ref>
* 2007–2010 Andrew Stafford
* 2010–2018 Adam Lawrence
* 2018–present [[Anne Jessopp]]

==See also==
*[[Münzmeister]]
*[[Warden of the Mint]]
*[[Zarabi]]

==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]]
[[Category:Masters of the Mint| ]]
[[Category:Lists of English people|Master of the Mint]]
[[Category:Public finance of England]]
[[Category:Public finance of Scotland]]
[[Category:Directors of coin mints]]