AUSTRALIA. New South Wales. 15 Pence (Dump), 1813. PCGS VF-35 Gold Shield. KM-1.3; Mira-D/2. Obverse: NEW SOUTH WALES / 1813, crown; Reverse: FIFTEEN / PENCE in two lines. Quite deeply toned, this VERY RARE example stands as one of the finest seen at PCGS, being exceeded by just one specimen. Assuredly, a great relic to the early colonial days of Australia and, specifically, New South Wales.Owing to the extreme shortage of coinage in Australia, the government in New South Wales secured some 40,000 Spanish colonial 8 Reales to repurpose. Each crown-sized coin was holed out, with the large denomination serving as a "5 Shillings" piece, and the small denomination--the hole itself--serving as "15 Pence" piece. As the resulting denominations were both worth more within New South Wales than anywhere else (owing to their reduced silver than what would be expected elsewhere), the hope was that this necessity coinage would not leave the colony and cause another shortage. Ultimately, these pieces circulated heavily for a decade until a supply of British coinage arrived at significant enough levels to satisfy demand. At that point, the "Holey Dollar" and the "Dump" were withdrawn, leaving few survivors to satisfy collector demands today. Whats more, given their high rate of use, what is encountered is generally very well handled, making the present minor quite extraordinary in terms of overall quality and charm.</em>Read more about this item in our Coin of the Week blog post, <a href="https://www.stacksbowers.com/News/Pages/Blogs.aspx?ArticleID=australias-first-coinage-world-coin-of-the-week-stacks-bowers-galleries">here</a>.
