Royal Mint other manufacturers. The Trial of the Pyx is the procedure in the United Kingdom for ensuring that newly-minted coins conform to required standards. The trials have been held since the twelfth century, normally once per calendar year, and continue to the present day. The form of the ceremony has been essentially the same since 1282. They are trials in the full judicial sense, presided over by a judge with an expert jury of assayers. Since 1871, the trials have taken place at the Hall of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, having previously taken place at the Palace of Westminster. Given
Coins of the pound sterling quantities, using quite a bit of energy, to achieve significant gain.) In later years, the price of copper fell considerably. Copper plated steel coins were introduced to replace them. A circulating bimetallic two pound (£2) coin was introduced in 1998 (first minted in, and dated, 1997). There had previously been unimetallic commemorative £2 coins which did not normally circulate. This tendency to use the two pound coin for commemorative issues has continued since the introduction of the bimetallic coin, and a few of the older unimetallic coins have since entered circulation. There are also commemorative issues of crowns. Before 1990,