C Mintmark Gallery Press Dollar minted 1/1/13
Australia was in it's infancy as a fledgling penal colony in 1813 when it struck the first truly Australian coins. The holey dollar and dump were made from Spanish silver "pieces of eight". 200 years later we celebrate Australia's first official coins with a 2013 dated mintmark one dollar from the Royal Australian Mint. Each year a design is chosen to bear mintmarks, counterstamps and privymarks released throughout the year and for 2013 it is a stunning design.
The design features denticles on the obverse which adds much character to the dollar coin as we're used to seeing it. It also sees the words "1 DOLLAR" appear on the obverse or Queen's head side which is not common on the one dollar. Having these features does make it seem much more like a NCLT (non-circulating legal tender) coin than a circulation dollar. We last saw a circulation dollar that was also the mintmark coin design in 2002 but it's not likely this coin will be released into circulation.
Back in 1812 London sent Governor Lachlan Macquarie 40,000 (£10,000 worth) Spanish eight reale (dollar) coins to the new colony for use as currency to help stamp out the corrupt rum trade. He enlisted the help of convicted forger William Henshall to cut out the centre dump and over strike the donut shaped holey dollar with Five Shillings 1813 and New South Wales 1813 on the fifteen pence dump. The design on this 2013 dollar replicates those original designs of which examples now fetch upwards of $35,000 for a holey dollar and $5,000 for a dump.
The Holey Dollar and Dump were withdrawn and demonetised in 1829 but stand tall as an important part of Australia's numismatic history.
Specifications
| Mint | Year | Denomination | Metal | Mass | Diameter | Finish |
| Royal Australian Mint | 2013 | $1 | Aluminium Bronze | 9 gram | 25mm | uncirculated |
Posted by harrisk at January 9, 2013 10:19 AM
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