29/04/2026
The London Assay Office – working with London based timber company Fallen & Felled who repurpose fallen urban trees into hardwood timber and furniture – has taken steps to reduce waste and champion craft through the commissioning of a series of beautiful ‘Pyx’ boxes made from reclaimed London Plane.
Made from timber that would have otherwise been pulped, the boxes have been designed for use by the London Assay Office at the Trial of the Pyx – one of the UKs oldest forms of consumer protection – where since 1248, goldsmiths, and latterly the Goldsmiths’ Company, have been responsible for upholding the quality of the nation’s coinage through rigorous inspection and scientific testing.
These historical boxes provided inspiration to Director of the London Assay Office, Will Evans, who was looking for a robust, locally made, sustainable solution for sorting, storing and transporting the more than 6,000 coins that the Royal Mint submits to the trial and entrusts to the London Assay Office for testing every year.
“Heritage, craft, precision and accuracy sit at the heart of all that we do, with skills being used at our benches and in our labs that can be traced back to the very first public Trial of the Pyx more than 840 years ago. Working with Fallen & Felled, we have been able to share in their passion for sustainability and to witness how their skilled craftspeople have turned wood that was destined for landfill into handsome Pyx boxes, that will be used by the London Assay Office for generations to come.” - Will Evans, Director of The London Assay Office
🎥: .emms
