Rare full ink signature as Master of the Mint, "Isaac Newton,” on an off-white 4.25 x 3 slip from an official document relating to the Mint, including the signature of Hopton Haynes, a teller (and later assay-master), dated June 12, 1718. Affixed to an off-white 5.5 x 8.5 sheet, below an engraved portrait of Newton. In very good to fine condition, with light staining and soiling.
During this period, Newton was living in London and serving as master of the Royal Mint; Hopton Haynes was a theological writer and employee of the Mint. Haynes acted as Newton’s assistant at the Mint, often witnessing and co-signing official mint documents together with him. Newton took his duties quite seriously—he resigned from his position at Cambridge University to dedicate himself to the task of reforming Great Britain's currency and punishing counterfeiters. A year earlier, he had overseen Britain's transition from a silver standard to what was effectively its first gold standard. Newton would soon become embroiled in the infamous South Sea Company stock bubble, which resulted in the hasty gain and vicious loss of vast fortunes. The present item with a full signature "Isaac Newton" is an especially rare and desirable form of Newton autograph.
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