Australian Holey Dollar
About Australian Holey Dollar
A Spanish dollar with the center punched out, creating two coins from one. The outer ring called the holey dollar was worth 5 shillings, and the center called the dump was worth 15 pence. Governor Lachlan Macquarie ordered the conversion of 40,000 Spanish dollars to address a coin shortage in New South Wales. The holey dollar is the first distinctly Australian coin. Only about 350 holey dollars survive today. They are worth tens of thousands of dollars.
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