John Lonyson

Lonyson responded that the variances were within the tolerances specified in his indenture and therefore allowable. The purity of the Elizabethan coinage was a matter of great pride to the government after the debased coinages and consequent inflation of the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI, and the matter was taken up at the highest levels of the government. The Warden, Richard Martin, raised charges against Lonyson for intentionally reducing both weight and fineness by the maximum amounts allowed under the indenture, against prior custom and for personal profit. The matter was finally weighed in 1578 by a commission of Privy Council members including Nicholas Bacon (the Lord Keeper), William Cecil, Lord Burghley (the Lord Treasurer), Sir Christopher Hatton, the Earls of Leicester and Sussex, Sir Francis Walsingham, and Sir Walter Mildmay. The wording of Lonyson's indenture was imprecise, and he avoided conviction. Ultimately the Council required Lonyson to coin only on short-term commissions that quite specifically established the Master's portion of precious metals at a level higher than the intention of the original indenture but lower than Lonyson's practice of 1572–76. Lonyson accepted the new oversight and was cleared of intentional wrongdoing in his prior practice. Lonyson died in 1582 and was buried at St Vedast Foster Lane, London, where a monument to him dated 21 May 1583 is recorded in Stow's Survey. Warden Richard Martin himself succeeded Lonyson as Master of the Mint, thus recombining both roles in a single individual.

• Name — John Lonyson • Office — Master of the Mint • Term Start — 1571 • Term End — 1582 • Predecessor — Thomas Stanley • Successor — Richard Martin • Born — 1525 • Died — 1582 • Resting Place — St Vedast Foster Lane, London, England • Occupation — Goldsmith