Name/TitleCharles IV Holey Dollar
About this objectFrom 1497, the Spanish government minted a large silver coin which through wide circulation, especially in the Pacific, became known as the Spanish Dollar.
When the colony of New South Wales was founded in 1788, it ran into the problem of a lack of coinage. Governor Lachlan Macquarie took the initiative of using £10,000 in Spanish dollars sent by the British government to produce suitable coins for the colony. These coins to the value of 40,000 Spanish dollars came in November 1812 on the merchant ship the Samarang from Madras. To stop them from leaving the colony, the centres were punched out to create two different issues of coins.
There was a central plug (known as a dump) which was valued at 15 pence and was re-struck with a new design (a crown on the obverse, the denomination on the reverse), whilst the dollars received an over-stamp around the hole (“New South Wales 1813” on the obverse, “Five Shillings” on the reverse). The holey dollar became the first currency produced specifically for circulation in Australia.
From 1822 these coins began to be recalled and replaced by sufficient sterling coinage.
MakerWilliam Hanshall - Maker
Maker RoleMaker
Date Made1813
Period19th century
Place MadeSydney, Australia
Medium and MaterialsSilver
Measurements38mm diameter
Object TypeCurrency and Shares
Object numberSF000849
Copyright Licence
Attribution - Non-commercial - No Derivatives (cc)
Explore by category
Maps and Charts
Date range: 1541-1836
Ship Models
Date range: 1629-1890
Maritime Paintings
Date range: 1793-1849
Manuscripts and Ephemera
Date range: 1768-c1850
Medallions & Convict Tokens
Date range: 1619-1880
Indigenous History
Date range: c1800-1959
Landscapes
Date range: 1768-c1850
Books
Date range: 1694-c1850
Currency and Shares
Date range: 1624-1823
Printed Material
Date range: 1541-1836
Maritime Archaeology
Date range: 1629-1854
Curator's corner
New acquisitions, staff favourites and curios
The mug is decorated with an underglaze and a blue transfer print. On the body, it is titled ‘Emigrants to Australia’. This type of body and glaze was discontinued by 1840. Comparison of the handle shape and the profile of the foot, point to the attribution of manufacture by the Davenport Factory.
Delta was a ship-rigged vessel with two decks and three masts. It was built in Dordrecht, Netherlands in 1839 at the shipyard of Jan Schouten and registered in the same port. Its hull was constructed of oak and sheathed in ‘yellow metal’. Delta was owned by H. van der Sande at the time of its loss and was engaged as a cargo trader.
The Delta carried 29 crew and passengers, while sailing from Melbourne to Batavia in ballast when wrecked at Kenn Reefs on 30 May 1854 whilst under the command of Captain J.G. Kunst. This vessel loss supports the pattern of shipwrecks located on a well-travelled shipping route that was poorly charted until the mid-nineteenth century. The crew of the Delta could see four other shipwrecks at Kenn Reefs at the time of their vessel’s loss.
Important image of a ship associated with Matthew Flinders, that would shortly become one of the most famous early shipwrecks in eastern Australian waters. This is a fine ship’s portrait, by one of the great exponents of the art