Holey Dollar
The Holey Dollar ( holey: English for holey ) called dollars, even ring, was the first independent minted coin, which was introduced in the early British penal colony of New South Wales, one of today's federal states in Australia, in 1813. The colony had since its founding in 1788, like many others, no own currency and British coinage was scarce and the Spanish Real dominated world trade. The Governor Lachlan Macquarie solved with the introduction of this coin -economic and political problems of the time, because rum was produced as a payment method outside of colonial regulations by the influence of the colonial army, the New South Wales Corps, independent.
Münzgeldknappheit
In the colony, which was established in 1788 after reaching the First Fleet, prevailed for a long time, a lack of British coinage, which hampered the economic activities. Spanish silver coins, the Spanish Reales, were widespread and of course for a Spanish silver coin was in New South Wales five Shillings. But the Spanish silver coins were not able to eliminate the shortage of cash, as developed trade and merchandise mainly came via ship transport to the colonies and the silver coins out of the country went, as the ships left the port.
Due to this, a bartering of goods for goods developed. Although other foreign gold, silver and copper coins circulated with fixed exchange rates, but in addition to these and British cash existed rum in the precursor of today's states of Australia as currency.
Economics and Politics
Originally, the Governor Arthur Phillip had free trade banned with rum and put under state control. This controlled trade was eased by Francis Grose and so it turned out that rum became more popular as an unofficial payment. The officers of the New South Wales Corps, also called Rum Corps, took advantage of their position and their wealth, bought the rum, and then rewarding to exchange it for goods and other items of daily use. For this profit, they acquired large tracts of land. In the early years of the colony, there was a food shortage and the supply ship was required. In 1793, began in a year in which food shortage in New South Wales, stills were imported and the onset Rumdestillation worsened as a result of the lack of grain on. For the cultivation of sugar cane for the rum came the expansion of cultivated areas of food, especially for wheat, obviously not a sufficient extent ahead.
From the British government was William Bligh, who was the commander during the mutiny on the Bounty, commissioned to eliminate these and other grievances. Bligh was in 1808 during the Rum Rebellion - laid down by the New South Wales Corps and should now stop the thriving rum trade and thereby expropriate the irregularly acquired lands - the only successfully conducted an armed uprising against an Australian government. Governor Lachlan Macquarie But first, who came to New South Wales after Bligh commissioned by the British government, the rum trade controlled better because he licensed it more effective. But even he could only finance the construction of the hospital in Sydney, because the donors had been given a monopoly on the importation of rum in return. The treaty allowed the import of 45,000 ( 204 574 liters) and later 60,000 and 65,000 gallons ( 295,496 liters) of rum Because of this agreement, the building of the hospital in Sydney is mockingly called Rum Hospital.
Macquarie requested coins from Great Britain, but the British government came to his desire not gradually as the merchant vessel Samarang on November 26, 1812 10,000 Spanish silver coins docked in Port Jackson on board, he decided to acquire these coins and use as payment.
Holey Dollar and Dump
Lachlan Macquarie was punched from the Spanish coins in the middle of a piece, the so-called dump. This creates two new coins were created, the annular Holey Dollar with a value of five shillings, the dump with a value of one shilling and three pence, so a quarter of a Holey Dollars. This move Macquarie overcame the coin starvation has arrived and the number of coins in circulation was doubled. The production of the coins Macquarie delegated to the convict William Hershell, a convicted counterfeiter in the UK.
Macquarie increased the revenue of the colonial administration by the doubling coins by 25 % and reached so that the coins were circulated and the drain of coinage, the domestic economy is no longer disabled. In addition, he had paid only four shillings and nine pence for the Spanish silver dollars. In the Holey Dollar and the Dump Macquarie had the lettering New South Wales bring in 1813. In 1813, these coins were put into circulation.
When Britain was able to supply the colony with coins, in 1822, the first Holey Dollars and Dumps collected and exchanged in British coins. On September 30, declared in 1829 Governor Thomas Brisbane, the Holey Dollar will no longer be accepted as payment.
Other imprints
In many British colonies in the Caribbean were produced from the Spanish silver coins dollars and dumps that were not called Holey Dollar. It was the British colonies in British Guiana, Dominica, Grenada, St. Vincent, Tobago and Trinidad.
There are about 300 known different imprints those dollars.
Holey dollar today
According to estimates there are 85 copies of the Holey Dollar of 1813, in museums and collections. One of the coins was bought at auction in 2007 for £ 61,462.50.
The largest Australian investment bank Macquarie Bank, leads the Holey Dollar symbolized in its logo.
In 1988, Australia to commemorate Holey Dollar and Dump Silver Coins in two sets out. The two coins are made to fit exactly, so that the two coins can be reassembled. The 1988's output shows a rainbow serpent and on the back of the British Queen Elizabeth II in the years 1989 and 1990 two more coin issues were brought out with other motives.
The Australian Rum Manufacturers Ministry of Rum ( Rum Ministry ) has applied a logo in the shape of the Holey Dollars on his rum bottles.