The queen's favourite forger

摘要

Eloy mestrelle had a shady past. Born in Paris, he learnt how to make coins at the Moulin de Monnais, the French mint at Versailles. But a job at the mint must have offered irresistible temptations, for by the time he arrived in London in 1559 Mestrelle had acquired a criminal record. Whatever he had done, it wasn't enough to put off the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth. After appointing him to assemble and operate Britain's first machine for making coins, she granted him a pardon "for all treasons, felonies and offences committed before 1 March 1559 in respect of clipping or counterfeiting coin".