EDINBURGH, Scotland, May 23 (UPI) -- Scottish archaeologists have discovered hard evidence in an Edinburgh building of 300-year-old political corruption.

Queensberry House is now a back office for the Scottish Parliament. In the 1680s, however, it was the home of Lord Hatton, the Scottish Treasurer Depute.

Hatton, who bought the house in 1679, was fired in 1683 and fined a large sum for mishandling Scotland's financial affairs. He sold the house to the Duke of Queensberry to pay the fine.

A new book on archaeological work done in the area before the new parliament building went up says that mint-grade silver was found in the building, The Scotsman reports. That suggests Hatton was clipping coins -- shaving off silver and melting down the shavings for sale.

"What other reason would the Treasurer Depute have for smelting mint-grade silver in his kitchen?" asks Gordon Barclay of Historic Scotland, who was in charge of the dig.

Barclay described Hatton as a man of giant ambitions who had power mostly because his brother, the Earl of Lauderdale, was the king's manager in Scotland.