assayer

[Eng. a ay; -er. In Dut. & Fr. e ay eur.] One who a ays bullion. Spec., an officer of the Mint, whose function it is to try the purity of the precious metals used for coin. a confidential man of busine , a practical miner and a ayer, would have been all that was required."-Darwin: Voyage round the World , ch. xvi. as-sa'y-ing, * a-sai-ynge, pr. par. & 8. [ASSAY, v.] As substantive: The act or proce of subjecting coins, quantities of bullion, or alloys, to examination and experiment, with the view of ascertaining what proportion of each of the precious metals they contain. The proportion in gold coin in the British Isles is of gold and of alloy. This is called the stan dard. That it is actually reached is proved by the Trial of the Pyx , which from time to time takes place. (PYx.) The proce adopted to a ay the precious metals is cupellation (q.v.). The a ayer's work has been much facilitated by the discovery that the application of sulphuric acid can separate gold and silver. The French call cupellation the dry method of a aying, and adopt another of their own called the humid one. [ASSAY.] "This method is also sometimes used in the a ay ing of coins to afford an indication of the quantity of silver required in the cupellation."-Graham: Chem., 2nd ed., vol. ii., p. 362.