Most coins are created from a metal blank onto which a decorative pattern is stamped in a process that produces thousands (millions) of uniformly struck coins, each featuring the same design.

Valuing them is pretty simple: consideration given to the wear due to circulation (the coin's quality), how well the strike was executed and their rarity at that level of quality.

The 1813 Holey Dollar began its life as another coin, a Spanish Silver Dollar. Valuing a Holey Dollar, therefore, requires an assessment of that original Spanish Silver Dollar coin. 

1. What date is on the Spanish Silver Dollar? Who was the Spanish King at the time? As the dates varied, so too could the reigning Spanish monarch, Ferdinand VI, Charles III, Charles IV or Ferdinand VII. Death, abdication or dethronement the three instigators of change. Holey Dollars featuring the portrait of Charles IV are the most readily available, followed by Charles III, Ferdinand VII with the Ferdinand VI Holey Dollar known by just two examples.

2. Where was the dollar minted? In Spain or one of the Spanish colonies in South America, Mexico, Peru or Bolivia? The 40,000 dollars sourced by Macquarie came from various countries, each with a different mark to identify the issuing mint. Holey Dollars created from silver dollars issued by the Mexico Mint are the most readily available, followed by the Lima Mint in Peru, Potosi Mint in Bolivia, with the Madrid Mint unique in private hands.

3. Was the dollar well used or did it arrive in the colony relatively unscathed? Collectors are quality focused. It is the nature of the beast! Of particular interest with Holey Dollars, the quality relative to the date in which it was struck. The point here is that the earlier the date on the silver dollar (1789 versus 1807 let's say), the greater the chance of the coin circulating before Henshall grabbed it in 1813 and cut a hole in it. (Twenty four years in the case of the 1789 silver dollar, six years in the case of the 1807.)

4. Valuing a Holey Dollar also gives consideration to the counterstamps, the application of which converted a holed Spanish coin into Australia's first! Are they worn? And how do you rate William Henshall's job of cutting and over-stamping the holed silver dollar? The quality of the counterstamps reflects the extent of usage of the Holey Dollar. The finesse of the counterstamps reflects how well Henshall executed the strike. Is the hole centered? Are the counter-stamps nicely balanced with the coin design or are they 'all over the shop'? Also noted that, as with the Dump, some counterstamp die combinations are rarer than others. 

A major pleasure for owners is appreciating the story behind their Holey Dollar: the date, the monarch, the mint, the political statements. And its usage. As each Holey Dollar is unique, each coin has its own story to tell, so the narrative becomes uniquely yours. When you buy a Holey Dollar you just don't buy a coin. You buy the story and the experience.

Forty thousand Spanish Silver Dollars were imported by Governor Lachlan Macquarie from the East India Company to convert into forty thousand Holey Dollars, the nation's first circulating currency.

And those dollars came with different dates. And as the dates varied, so too could the reigning monarchs.

Ferdinand VI reigned from 1746 to 1759. Charles III, reigned from 1759 to 1788. Charles IV was the reigning monarch from 1788 to 1808 and Ferdinand VII endured a disrupted reign, 1808 and again between 1814 and 1833. 

And as each king ascended the throne, the design of the dollar was re-created with a re-styled legend and a re-styled portrait to record the new reigning monarch. 

Note the dates on the Holey Dollars below, from left to right, 1757, 1788, 1789, 1790, 1802, 1805, 1809 and 1810. Also note the changing legends of Ferdinand VI, Charles III, Charles IV, Charles IIII and Ferdinand VII. And the changing portraits. 

The Holey Dollar is a story.

Its narrative, is as much about Australian history as it is about European history, charting the changing Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand VI, Charles III, Charles IV and Ferdinand VII. And reflecting the associated political and social turmoil that so often occurs when a monarch dies or abdicates. (Coinage has always been politicised.)

Holey Dollars are classified into types based on the legend and portrait of the monarch depicted on the original Spanish Silver Dollar. A special classification is given to those Holey Dollars created from dollars minted in Spain (in Madrid or Seville) as the design varies from those struck in the colonies, the differences occurring in the legend, portrait and the shield. They are referred to as Continental Dollars. The dollars struck in the Spanish colonies are referred to as Colonial Bust Dollars. (Photo Gallery at the end of article shows the design differences. )

There are eight distinct types of Holey Dollars as photographed and detailed below. The number noted as 'availability' reflects the quantity of that type available to collectors and excludes those specimens held in museums. 

The Spanish Silver Dollar was the coin that ruled the world.

Beginning with Columbus in 1492 and continuing for nearly 350 years, Spain conquered and settled most of South America, the Caribbean, and the south west of America. 

It was however, the silver rich continent of South America that became Spain’s treasure trove, bank rolling its ascendancy as a world power. 

In 1536, Spain established its first colonial mint in Mexico. It was by far the most lucrative of the Spanish mints, coining more than 2 billion dollars’ worth of silver pieces over a 300 year period (1536 – 1821). 

The Lima and Potosi Mints came on board in 1568 and 1573 respectively. Guatemala and Colombia some years later. 

As the Mexico Mint was a prolific producer of silver coinage approximately eighty per cent of Holey Dollars were converted from Mexico Mint Silver Dollars. Of the remaining mints, ten per cent pertain to Lima and eight per cent to Potosi. Only six specimens have ties to the mints in Spain (four struck in Madrid and two at Seville). Five are held in museums and one only available to collectors, the Madrid Holey Dollar. (During the latter part of the 18th century and early 19th, silver in Spain was a status symbol and silver pieces were hoarded, rarely spent. A Holey Dollar punched out from a silver dollar minted in Spain is an extreme rarity.)

Only one Holey Dollar has ties to the mint in Guatemala, held by a Museum in Quebec Canada. To this day no Holey Dollars have been found with ties to Chile or Colombia.

If a Holey Dollar had been struck from a bright and shiny brand-new piece of silver, we would accept that some might survive today relatively unscathed. 

The Holey Dollar, however, was struck from a Spanish Silver Dollar, a commodity that was far from shiny and brand-new. In the eighteenth-century Spain ruled the world and the Spanish Silver Dollar dominated trade. It was an international currency and medium of exchange the world over.

Macquarie would not have set any quality parameters on his shipment. Most of the coins imported by Macquarie would therefore have been well worn. A study of the quality of the surviving Holey Dollars confirms the fact.

Of the one hundred and seventy nine Holey Dollars held in private hands, more than fifty per cent (about ninety Holey Dollars) were created from well circulated silver dollars, coins where the general outline of the design is recognisable but the significant parts, the fine detail, is worn away.  At least ten per cent of these are so denuded of detail that they look like a tap washer. 

As with all coins struck as circulating currency, once a collector introduces quality standards into a selection process, the pool of available examples substantially reduces.

Quality is a refinement on rarity. And quality increases the value of a commodity due to its reduced availability.

About fifteen per cent of the privately held Holey Dollars (less than thirty examples) were created from high quality silver dollars where high quality is technically defined as Good Very Fine to Uncirculated. (See Photo Gallery at end of article.) 

The very top examples (Extremely Fine to Uncirculated) are known by about ten coins. And only one Holey Dollar survives today in Uncirculated quality.

Six of the best Holey Dollars are shown here, their quality and their ranking.

No one really knows how the Holey Dollar was manufactured. Documentation as to the method has never been found. It is safe to assume that whatever machinery was employed, it was hand operated as the first steam engine did not become operational in the colony until 1815.

Likely production options were the screw press, drop hammer or hand-held punch with the drop hammer method considered the most likely. And it is assumed that the centre was cut out and the holed dollar overstamped, in two separate operations. 

Quality of the counterstamps - the wear to the counterstamps indicates the degree of circulation of the Holey Dollar. Most counterstamps show only slight usage. The reason being that the Holey Dollar, as a high denomination coinage (Five Shillings) was stored by the Bank of New South Wales as backup for their banknotes and underwent minimal circulation. 

Great force had to be exerted on the Spanish Silver Dollar to punch out the centre hole and, as a consequence some Holey Dollars are found dished, exposing the convex side of the coin and the counterstamps, to extraordinary wear.

The finesse of the counterstamps - a study of the surviving Holey Dollars reveals that Henshall's application of the counterstamps was wildly random, that the holed dollar was not placed in a particular position between the dies. And it obviously didn't matter which side of the holed dollar was facing up. The strike lacked a definite pattern or predictability, as shown by the position of the counterstamps in the Holey Dollars shown above. 

Our slideshow features two Holey Dollars that are stand out pieces by virtue of their counterstamps. The first a Holey Dollar created from a 1788 Charles III Mexico Mint silver dollar, the counterstamps in perfect alignment with the design of the coin, and extremely rare as such. And the second, a Holey Dollar created from an 1805 Mexico Mint silver dollar, the counterstamps Uncirculated. A miracle coin for the original dollar is also Uncirculated. 

Why Collectors Acquire the Holey Dollar

In the realm of rare coins, Holey Dollars exist on a different plane. They transcend mere collectibles and have become coveted objects that represent the pinnacle of Australia's numismatic industry, our very first coin.

Owning a Holey Dollar isn't just about adding another coin to a collection.

It's about indulging in an experience, a fusion of history and prestige and we hope the information provided above, triggers your interest.

Remember, you are not just buying a coin, you own the experience. So enjoy it!