---
title: "Isaac Newton"
chunk: 10/17
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:07:12.165802+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

=== Knighthood ===
In April 1705, Newton was knighted by Queen Anne during a royal visit to Trinity College, Cambridge. The knighthood is likely to have been motivated by political considerations connected with the parliamentary election in May 1705, rather than any recognition of Newton's scientific work or services as Master of the Mint. Newton was the second scientist to be knighted, after Francis Bacon.
As a result of a report written by Newton on 21 September 1717 to the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, the bimetallic relationship between gold coins and silver coins was changed by royal proclamation on 22 December 1717, forbidding the exchange of gold guineas for more than 21 silver shillings. This inadvertently resulted in a silver shortage as silver coins were used to pay for imports, while exports were paid for in gold, effectively moving Britain from the silver standard to its first gold standard. It is a matter of debate as to whether he intended to do this or not. It has been argued that Newton viewed his work at the Mint as a continuation of his alchemical work.
Newton was invested in the South Sea Company and lost at least £10,000, and plausibly more than £20,000 (£4.4 million in 2020) when it collapsed in around 1720. Since he was already rich before the bubble, Newton still died rich, at estate value around £30,000.
Toward the end of his life, Newton spent some time at Cranbury Park, near Winchester, the country residence of his niece and her husband, though he primarily lived in London. His half-niece, Catherine Barton, served as his hostess in social affairs at his house on Jermyn Street in London. In a surviving letter written in 1700 while she was recovering from smallpox, Newton closed with the phrase "your very loving uncle", expressing familial concern in a manner typical of seventeenth-century epistolary style. The historian Patricia Fara notes that the letter's tone is warm and paternal, including medical advice and attention to her appearance during convalescence, rather than conveying any romantic implication.

=== Wealth ===
Newton was an active investor at times, including in the South Sea Bubble. At his death his estate was valued at around £30,000 — the equivalent of nearly £1 billion measured as a share of contemporary GDP, or roughly £6 million by standard inflation measures.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

=== Death ===

Newton died in his sleep in London on 20 March 1727 (NS 31 March 1727), aged 84. Newton was given a state funeral—the first in England for someone recognized primarily for intellectual achievement. The Lord Chancellor, two dukes, and three earls bore his pall, with most of the Royal Society following. His body lay in state in Westminster Abbey for eight days before burial in the nave. Newton was the first scientist to be buried in the abbey. Voltaire may have been present at his funeral. A bachelor, he had divested much of his estate to relatives during his last years, and died intestate. His papers went to John Conduitt and Catherine Barton.
Shortly after his death, a plaster death mask was moulded of Newton. It was used by the Flemish sculptor John Michael Rysbrack in making a sculpture of Newton. It is now held by the Royal Society.
Newton's hair was posthumously examined and found to contain mercury, probably resulting from his alchemical pursuits. Mercury poisoning could explain Newton's eccentricity in late life.