The Trial of the Pyx

"The Trial of the Pyx" occurs every five years in England. It is simply a testing of the amount of gold and silver used in the coins issued from the mint. The standard coins are kept in the Pyx, a box used for the purpose, and deposited in the "Chapel of the Pyx." The word pyx is derived from pyxos, a box tree, and it is probably merely a variant of the word box. This Chapel of the Pyx is a remnant of the original Westminster Abbey. It no doubt derived its name from the box, or <??>, containing standard coins which were preserved within it. It is entered through an iron-bound door unlocked by six keys. To enter the chapel, a special order from the Lord Commissioners of the Treasury is necessary. The chamber thus mysteriously guarded was formerly the Treasury of the Kings of England. The ancient stone altar remains, and the floor is littered with heavy iron-bound chests, some of them very curious. Dean Stanley says: "Hither were brought the most cherished possessions of the State; the regalia of the Saxon Monarchy; the Black Rood of St. Margaret (q. v.); the Crocis Gneyth (or Cross of St. Neot) from Wales, deposited here by Edward I.; the sceptre or rod of Moses; the Ampulla of Henry IV.; the sword with which King Athelstane cut through the rock at Dunbar; the sword of Wayland Smith, by which Henry II. was knighted; the sword of Tristan, presented to John the Emperor; the dagger which wounded Edward I. at Acre; the iron gauntlet worn by John of France, when taken prisoner at Poictiers." But nothing is kept there now excepting the standard gold and silver coins used every five years at the trial of the Pyx. There is a narrow space under the staircase leading to the Library, which was once the entrance to the Treasury, and here, bound by iron bars to the door, are still to be seen fragments of a human skin, said to be that of one of the robbers flayed alive, during the reign of Henry III., for attempting to break into the chapel and carry off the royal treasure.