The 1989 Holey Dollar & Dump, Commemorative Silver proof Issue.
Minted
in .999 Silver, the Holey contains 1oz of fine silver, the Dump contains
1/4oz Silver, as Issued by The Australia's Mint.
The story of
THE ORIGINAL 'HOLEY DOLLAR AND DUMP' From the earliest days of European
settlement in Australia Cash had been in short supply in the colony
since the arrival of the First Fleet, when the ships brought only £300
in currency to Australia’s shores. The authorities did not foresee any
need for money when the only European inhabitants would be prisoners and
their guards - all provided for from government stores. So the
resourceful Governor came up with a solution, he bought 40,000 spanish
silver eight reales coins - known as 'pieces of eight; which were then
in common use as an international trading dollar. To distinguish them as
Australian, the centres were punched out of the coin, creating two new
coins from each original. The outer ring was given a value of five
shillings and came to be known as the 'Holey Dollar'. The centre piece,
called the 'Dump', had a face value of 15 pence. Problem solved. The
Holey Dollar and Dump solved the colony's immediate coin shortage
problem. The Dump was widely circulated, but the Holey Dollars were too
valuable to be used as common coinage and most ended up in England,
where they were melted down. Today, only 280 are know to exist in the
world and are very valuable. This is not a photo of the actual item. The photos are meant to be an indication of the product you will receive. As is typical of this series, this product might have light toning and/or a lightly worn outer cardboard sleeve.
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