Royal Mint was historically part of a series of mints that became centralised to produce coins for the Kingdom of England, all of Great Britain and eventually most of the British Empire. The original London mint from which the Royal Mint is the successor, was established in 886 AD and operated within the Tower of London for approximately 800 years before moving to what is now called Royal Mint Court where it remained until the 1960s. As Britain followed the rest of the world in decimalising its currency, the Mint moved from London to a new plant in Llantrisant, Wales where it
Royal Mint between him and senior mint chiefs which ultimately led to him being removed from his position at the mint. After relocating to its new home on Tower Hill, the Mint came under increased scrutiny of how it dealt with unrefined gold that had entered the country. Initially the Master of the Mint was responsible for overseeing the practise since the position's inception in the 1300s, however the refinery process proved too costly and suffered from a lack of accountability from the master. A Royal Commission later set up in 1848 to address these issues gave recommendation for the refinery process