Australia. Legendary Australian Proclamation Coin Features on New Gold and Silver Bullion Coins

Although they remain a topic of considerable numismatic debate, Proclamation coins are usually defined as legitimate Australian coinage. This is due to their inclusion in Governor Philip Gidley King’s famous edict of the 19th November 1800, which attempted to solve the currency crisis afflicting the colony of New South Wales. It wasn’t until the Governor of New South Wales Lachlan Macquarie took the initiative of using £10,000 in Spanish dollars to overcome this shortage of coins. These coins, sent by the British government amounted to 40,000 Spanish 8 reales coins of various dates and were primarily minted in Mexico. They arrived in the colony on the 26th November 1812 on HMS Samarang from Madras, India by way of the East India Company.

With the shipment of currency came strict instructions to prevent the newly arrived coinage from leaving the country, so after consultation with the Judge Advocate and other officials, Governor Macquarie utilised the services of a convicted forger named William Henshall to alter the coins in a way which would identify them as coins of New South Wales. The process decided on was to punch out the centres of the coins and counter stamp the ring or, ‘holey dollar’ portion with a face value and issuing authority, thus making them useless outside the colony. The central piece which became known as a ‘dump was given a value of 15 pence or, 1 shilling and 3 pence and were re-struck with a new design consisting of a crown on the obverse and the denomination on the reverse.

The holey dollar received a counter-stamp around the hole which read NEW SOUTH WALES 1813 on the obverse and FIVE SHILLINGS on the reverse. As such, this distinguished the coins as belonging to the colony of New South Wales and effectively created the first official currency produced specifically for circulation in New South Wales. The combined nominal value of the holey dollar and the dump was 6 shillings and 3 pence which amounted to 25 per cent more than the value of a Spanish dollar itself and this made it unprofitable to export the coins from the colony. The project to convert the Spanish reales coins took over a year to complete. Of the 40,000 Spanish dollars imported, the government managed to alter and issue 39,910 holey dollars and an equal amount of dumps, it was assumed the balance of ninety coins may have been damaged beyond use during the conversion process. On the 1st July 1813, Governor Macquarie issued a proclamation ‘that the said Silver Money shall be a legal Tender’ which also set their value for trade and commerce, and  the converted coins went into circulation in early 1814.

From 1822 the government began to recall the coins and replaced them with sterling coinage provided by the home country, and the holey dollar was finally demonetised in 1829. By this time, most of the 39,910 coins in circulation had been returned to the treasury and exchanged for sterling coinage. The holey dollars and dump coins were eventually melted down into bullion and as a result, experts estimate that only 350 holey dollars and 1500 dumps remain. The rarity of the Australian holey dollar ensures that even those in relatively poor condition are valuable.

The coin’s reverse is a recreation by graphic designer Sean Rogers and pays homage to the Spanish Pillar Dollar, also known as a peso, or ‘piece of eight’ as their homeland counterpart was valued as eight reales.

Under the inscription VTRAQUE VNUM (both are one) above the primary design, the coin portrays the Spanish Crown and two hemispheres representing the Old World and the New World. These elements are surrounded by representations of the Pillars of Hercules, both draped in spiralling banners displaying the words PLVS VLTRA (more beyond). It has been suggested that the s-shaped configuration of the banners around the columns explain the origin of the $ sign denoting the dollar. Also on the reverse is the year 2025 below the primary example. The obverse of both gold and silver proof strikes includes the Commonwealth effigy of HM King Charles III created by engraver Dan Thorne. The legend above the King’s likeness reads CHARLES III AUSTRALIA along with the specifications and denomination 1 oz 9999 Au 100 DOLLARS (gold) and 1 oz 9999 Ag 1 DOLLAR (silver) shown below the King’s likeness. 

Available from the 6^th May, each of the gold and silver coins are encapsulated. For additional information, please visit the e-webshop of the Perth Mint.