 The Civil War was approaching; supplies were badly needed, and a Royalist proposed the establishment of a state pawnshop.According to the proposal, "The intolerable injuries done to the poore subjects by brokers and usurers that take 30, 40, 50, 60, and more in the hundredth, may be remedied and redressed, the poor thereby greatly relieved and eased, and His Majestie much benefited".The king would receive two-thirds of the profits, and the working capital (£100,000) would be provided by the city of London.