On the 26th November 1812, one of the biggest crisis in the early Australian colony was solved.

When Governor Macquarie was appointed Governor of the colony of New South Wales he inherited a major problem. This problem was the lack of currency. After repeated requests to London  for some sort of relief the British Government agreed to send ₤10,000 (or 40,000 coins) of Spanish Dollars purchased in India via the East India Company. They arrived in Australia on a ship called the Samarang on 26th November 1812.

The big problem with early coinage in Australia was the retention of the coinage and the lack of small coinage. Macquarie attempted to solve this problem by ordering the convict forger, William Henshall, to cut the centre of the coin out to create a large and smaller piece. This "mutilation" of the coin detracted from from its use outside of Australia. Both pieces were counter stamped on the "New South Wales - 1813" on the obverse. The centre piece (dump) obverse was also stamped with a crown. The reverse of the dump was stamped "Fifteen Pence". The reverse of the large piece (holey dollar) was stamped "five shillings". The combined value of the two pieces was six shillings, three pence. This was four shillings and nine pence greater than the original face value of the coin, giving the government a profit.

The holey dollar and dump remained the life blood of colonial trade for 10 years. In 1823 Governor Brisbane devalued the holey dollar to four shillings and the dump too one shilling. At the time he also imported large amounts of Spanish dollars and attempted to make the dollar the official currency. Great Britain imported 100,000 pounds of British coinage into Australia in 1824 and 1825 effectively ending the use of the Spanish dollar, holey dollar and dump. The last nail in the coffin for the Spanish dollar was the passing of the Sterling Silver Money Act in 1826 which made British coinage the standard. In 1829 the holey dollar and dump were outlawed. The last of the holey dollar and dump was seen in 1849 when Tasmania stopped using the coins.

The holey dollar and dump are some of the most sort after coins in Australian numismatics. The current market value of the holey dollar and dump is a difficult thing to determine, but one thing for sure is that they are beyond the means of the average collector. The difficulty in determining market value is the fact that there are so many factors to consider. Firstly there is the grade of the coin. Consideration is given to the grade of the host coin as well as the counter stamp. All things being equal, the grade of the host coin should not be considered as regardless of its grade once it was counter stamped it became a new coin and should be graded as uncirculated at the time it was stamped. History has shown however that the host coin's grade is considered as it has a large part to play is the visual appeal of the coin. Another factor affecting the price of the coin is the mint mark, portrait and date showing on the host coin. It is estimated there are 350 holey dollars and 1500 dumps in existence  today. Given the rarity of the coins prices start at $10,000 for holey dollars and $1000 for dumps. Prices increase dramatically for higher quality coins and those with more rare host coins.

In recognition the fact that the holey dollar and dump were the first true Australian coins the Perth Mint  produced a series of collector coins 1988 to 1990. The RAM produced as part of its subscription series a holey dollar and dump coin this year. The disappointing thing about this coin is the fact that both the dollar and dump form one coin, unlike the real thing. I does however bring to the forefront the importance of this Australian treasure.

References:

McDonald G, Collecting and Investing in Australian Coins and Banknotes, 2nd Ed. (Sydney: 1991).

Myatt B & Hanley T, Australian Coins, Notes and Medals, Castle Books (Melbourne: 1982).

Pitt I, Renniks Australian Coin & Banknote Values, 18th Ed (Sydney: 1998).

Saxton J, http://www.triton.vg

I really can't comment on the 1933 florin overdate. I have only six specimens of that coin. The best are EF which is good enough to do that sort of analysis but not one of my specimens shows anything suggestive of an overdate.

On all my 1933 florins coins, the first three digits of the date are doubled. Since three of my coins (the ones good enough to show very fine detail) came from three distinct working dies and they all show the doubling, I must infer that the doubling occurred during one of the early stages of die preparation, i.e. prior to the pressing of the working dies.

Since the doubling is not on the 1932 florin it can't have be present on the 193_ hub and that leaves the 1933 master die and the 1933 working hub as the only candidates. Since the final digit is *not* doubled that pretty well eliminates the hub preparation stage. Think about it. If the doubling had occurred during the pressing of the working hub from the 1933 master die then *all* the digits of the date would have been doubled.

Of course this says nothing about any overdate. It is just something I noticed while looking for one.

There has been a lot of talk on the RAM forum this last month about the grading of coins. The problem I find with grading is consistency. I find many coin shops are consistent with the grading of the coins they sell but the consistency stops at the shop door. There is often a lack of consistency between dealers. If this is a problem with coin dealers, then how is the average punter supposed to cope. To add to this dilemma is the sellers on Ebay (lets not get started there). There are a number of web sites out there that have information on grading. Greg MacDonald and Renniks have both published information about grading. I have even seen articles in ACAB magazine. With so many questions still being asked maybe it is time a unified standard is reached.  Below is an interesting suggestion  that is worth some thought.

Hi Bigfella
Let me just encourage you on the Internet magazine - I think it's an excellent idea.
i couldn't find my Macca's this morning, and so turned to your site for an approximate evaluation on it. Great stuff. Unfortunately, I don't have any thing to offer in the way of articles. I did notice a thread, however, that with the right permission, perhaps could be covered in some detail - Grading Circulating Coins. I learn't a lot from Tritons posts, as i did from the others. Perhaps an edited reprint of the valid points from everyone might make a good and informative article?

Scatman

I am interested in doing doing some work on grading through a series of articles. I believe however this should not be left to one person and that input is needed across the wider numismatic community in order to gain some sort of consensus and credibility. To add to this I think both detailed description need to be written accompanied by well photographed examples depicting all series and grades of Australian coins. If the job is done well enough it may even form the basis of a publication that could be a standard used in Australian numismatics. If anyone has got the desire to offer help for this idea please contact me.