In the United Kingdom, there is a procedure in place to test coins minted. It is a very old procedure, created in the past to ensure that coins made of precious metals were in fact the correct weight and purity stamped on their face.
Called the Trial of the Pyx, a group of assayers gather to review coins struck for circulation. Assayers are experts trained to test metals for their composition. It is their role to ensure that a gold coin is in fact made of gold, silver are in fact silver, and so on.
Coins that were to be inspected were put into a wooden box called the “pyx”, a shortened version of the greek word for box “pyxis.” Assayers would review the coins and give their assessment of the coins.
Check out this video from the London Telegraph about a modern version of the Trial of the Pyx.
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