What is "trial of the pyx"

Pyx \Pyx\, n. [L. pyxis a box, Gr. pyxi`s a box, especially of boxwood, fr. py`xos the box tree or boxwood. See Box a receptacle.] [Written also pix.]

1. (R. C. Ch.) The box, case, vase, or tabernacle, in which the host is reserved.

2. A box used in the British mint as a place of deposit for certain sample coins taken for a trial of the weight and fineness of metal before it is sent from the mint.
   --Mushet.

3. (Naut.) The box in which the compass is suspended; the binnacle.
   --Weale.

4. (Anat.) Same as Pyxis.

   Pyx cloth (R. C. Ch.), a veil of silk or lace covering the pyx.

   Trial of the pyx, the annual testing, in the English mint, of the standard of gold and silver coins.
   --Encyc. Brit.

The Trial of the Pyx is the procedure in the United Kingdom for ensuring that newly minted coins conform to required standards. Trials have been held from the twelfth century to the present day, normally once per calendar year; the form of the ceremony has been essentially the same since 1282 AD. They are trials in the full judicial sense, presided over by a judge with an expert jury of assayers. Trials are now held at the Hall of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths; formerly, they took place at the Palace of Westminster. Given modern production methods, it is unlikely that coins would not conform, but this has been a problem in the past—it was tempting for the Master of the Mint to steal precious metals. The term " Pyx" refers to the boxwood chest (in Greek, πυξίς, pyxis) in which coins were placed for presentation to the jury.