Spanish Holey Dollar Down Under

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The Holey Dollar Story:
In 1813 Governor Lachlan Macquarie ( Australia New South Wales ) overcame an acute shortage
by purchasing Spanish silver dollars, 40,000 dollars. The value of the Spanish dollar had been set in 1791 to equal value of 5 shillings.
Punching out the centres and creating two new coins- the Holey Dollar valued at five shillings and the dump, valued at one shilling and three pence. This single move not only doubled the number of coins in circulation but increased their total worth by 25 per cent and prevented the coins from leaving the colony.
In 1822 the coins were recalled and in 1829 they were no longer legal tender,very few remain check this link out, you won't believe the price they go for.
http://www.australianstamp.com/Coin-web/history/dollhist.htm
Cheers, Ossy

 

[Mainedigger]

Neat coin and story...never seen em before. Your link to the page wasn;t working when I tried it. Any idea what the punched cneter coins ended up looking like?

 

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Thanks Mainedigger, The dump, http://sterlingcurrency.com.au/Holey-Dollar-Dump
will check out other link?
Ossy

 

[Mainedigger]

Thanks..the second link worked....still no go on the first one. WOW, 12 grand for the center piece?? very pricey!!!

 

[Fla-Gal]

Yall truly amaze me !!!! The greatest benefit/fun of this site is that I learn so VERY,VERY much of historical """stuff""" that is far more interesting than anything I ever studied in HS and at VT(Virginia TECH) where we HAD to take LOTS of history credits in order to get 'out'.
Clearly these are rare--but wonder how the center was "punched" so neatly and who in Gov of the time realized that by so doing, the value would sustain at that time period....
Great,clear photos...share your camera/lens detail for us...still trying to get into the linked sites...
Thanks again for the info and Education......how many of the coins might still exist and are any ever found via metal detecting folks....esd

 

[MORE AND BEYOND OSSY]

Hi Fla-Gal, thanks for the comments, I don't know why the link won't work?. Here's some of
what's on the link.
Of the 39,910 originally produced, it is estmated that approximately 350 Dollars remain, many of which cannot be identified because details are obliterated.
Over one third of surviving specimens are housed in institutional collections. It is extremely rare for pieces to reach the marketplace.
Values as of 2002 : very good $25,000 Fine $45,000 Very fine $75,000 Extra fine $100,000 +
A simple coding system has been developed to record the positioning of the counterstamps.
The positions of the N of NEW SOUTH WALES and the F of FIVE SHILLINGS are shown as numbers corresponding to locations on a clockface when the matrix ( the original coin ) is held upright. The first mentioned is the counterstamp on the obverse of the matrix, the second is that on the reverse.
The Most Famous of Them All: In 1881, a bushranger's hoard was found in Tasmania and brought to the then governor of the State. J. H. Lefroy. He kept some of the more interesting specimens in the collection, and today one of those coins is the most valuable Holey Dollar known.
This specimen is of the particular type know as the Hannibal Head. the eight reale coin from which it was struck was made in Lima, Peru during the reign of Ferdinand the seventh.
Cheers, Ossy

 

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Fla-Gal this should work, http://www.australianstamp.com/Coin-web/history/dollhist.htm
Go to the green highlighted ( Coin and Dump etc ) and this should let you in.
P.S the coin is not mine I down loaded the photo, but my camera does take them as good, Camera used: Cannon 450D, Lens macro EFS 60mm.
The 1798 Spanish Colonial Dollar is mine, this is the main coin used as the Holey Dollar, only
one Pillar Dollar is known to have been used.
Cheers, Ossy

 

[MORE AND BEYOND OSSY]

Holey Dollar for $400,000 and a copper penny for a cool $1,000,000 any orders
http://www.coinworks.com.au/pdfs/newsl/newsletter29.pdf
Cheers, Ossy

 

[Mainedigger]

Yall truly amaze me !!!! The greatest benefit/fun of this site is that I learn so VERY,VERY much of historical """stuff""" that is far more interesting than anything I ever studied in HS and at VT(Virginia TECH) where we HAD to take LOTS of history credits in order to get 'out'.
Clearly these are rare--but wonder how the center was "punched" so neatly and who in Gov of the time realized that by so doing, the value would sustain at that time period....
Great,clear photos...share your camera/lens detail for us...still trying to get into the linked sites...
Thanks again for the info and Education......how many of the coins might still exist and are any ever found via metal detecting folks....esd

I'll strongly second that!!! Love seeing things on her that I never knew existed and learning the history of them, only problem is once I see an odd ball item like this holey dollar...then I want one!!
Thanks for a great eduational post on a unique and amazing coin, love seeing posts like this one!!

 

[Iron Patch]

Well I feel robbed.

My area also did the holey dollar thing pretty much the same way but there was only 1000 produced of the dollars and plugs. Of this 1000 there's maybe 65 rings and only 8-12 dumps/plugs which survived and one plug is mine, a detecting find in 2001! Unfortunately it's only worth $2,000-$3,000. Very far from the Australian pieces. I have no plans to sell it so maybe in 20 years things might change a little and the value increase. Here it's still a very historical coin so I am happy with it regardless of dollar value.

 

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Iron Patch, do you have a picture we can look at ?
Cheers, Ossy

 

[Iron Patch]

Iron Patch, do you have a picture we can look at ?
Cheers, Ossy

 

[divewrecks]

Iron Patch, where are you from? Just curious of where you are talking about when you say "my area"?

Great find. What kind of area did you dig it in?

Stan

 

[Fla-Gal]

Hey yall and Stan,too who asked the question I feared asking---as too intrusive---always want to know approximately where yall are from (no street address needed !!!), where (NOT EXACTLY !!!!) yall found or bought/traded your treasures or the details and story behind the piece,etc. Okay,since most of yall on these forums are guys---please do not (cause it is almost mom's day ) give me the "You just ask soooo many questions, as does my hubby of 42 years."...but I NEED to know _____fun details____and, thereby learn soooo much more. BYE THE WAY, I AM A RETIRED SCUBA DIVING,FISHING, ADVENTURE SEEKING PSYCHOLOGIST who like Diverlynn went thru '''crap''' some years back. So please don't carp on me....thanks again, Stan.....and, what great finds yall share with us. Many thanks to the moms who labored to bear yall.......HH CONGRATS IRON PATCH $$$$ IN THE BANK and a beautiful coin,too esd/FLA GAL

 

[divewrecks]

Hi FLa-Gal, I don't think anybody here minds questions. Sharing knowledge is the best part of the forum. Its good hearing from you. Here is something I ran across earlier

Interesting cob coin - 1846 Costa Rica. Apparently there is some buyer interest in it.....

http://cgi.ebay.com/Costa-Rica-1846-2-Reales-Cob-JB-Mint-KM-55_W0QQitemZ180354747202

Must be kinda rare at $152 with three days to go...Anybody know what it is worth?

Stan

 

[divewrecks]

I believe that the Costa Rican 1846 is struck on top of a 1700's era Potosi cob. I think I can see a part of the cross at 10:00 and a little after 12:00 (side opposite the "2" and the tree).

Stan

 

[MORE AND BEYOND OSSY]

Hey yall and Stan,too who asked the question I feared asking---as too intrusive---always want to know approximately where yall are from (no street address needed !!!), where (NOT EXACTLY !!!!) yall found or bought/traded your treasures or the details and story behind the piece,etc. Okay,since most of yall on these forums are guys---please do not (cause it is almost mom's day ) give me the "You just ask soooo many questions, as does my hubby of 42 years."...but I NEED to know _____fun details____and, thereby learn soooo much more. BYE THE WAY, I AM A RETIRED SCUBA DIVING,FISHING, ADVENTURE SEEKING PSYCHOLOGIST who like Diverlynn went thru '''crap''' some years back. So please don't carp on me....thanks again, Stan.....and, what great finds yall share with us. Many thanks to the moms who labored to bear yall.......HH CONGRATS IRON PATCH $$$$ IN THE BANK and a beautiful coin,too esd/FLA GAL

Hi Fla-Gal, ask any question you like. I have one for you, do you have a cure for compulsive coin purchasing and Treasure hunting
Ossy

 

[MORE AND BEYOND OSSY]

Iron Patch, fantastic find, I 'm still looking for mine, one day. With the rings as you call them, did
they have anything stamped on them? like the Aussie holly dollar.
I also wouldn't sell the dump, the more people know about it, then the more it will be worth.

I believe that the Costa Rican 1846 is struck on top of a 1700's era Potosi cob. I think I can see a part of the cross at 10:00 and a little after 12:00 (side opposite the "2" and the tree).

Stan

You have a sharp eye Stan, I agree
Sam

 

[Mainedigger]

I have one for you, do you have a cure for compulsive coin purchasing and Treasure hunting
Ossy

There is no cure...and it will overcome you completely and totally, and once afflicted you have it for life. I do believe one researcher years ago found a cure but he disappeared mysteriously, never to be seen or heard from again...

 

[divewrecks]

More info on the Costa Rica coinage (which has nothing to do with the title of this post). :P

http://www.anythinganywhere.com/info/a2z/azcostarica.htm

Stan