Proclamation coins: The need for a system of money grew

Proclamation coins: The need for a system of money grew with the population as there were not enought coins to go around. Using coins from all over the world was very confusing because no one knew exactly what each coin was worth.
In 1800 Governor King tried to solve the problem by making a proclamation in which he fixed the price of all the different coins so that everyone would know what they were worth. These became known as the "Proclamation Coins". This set the value but did not solve the problem of providing enough coins.
In 1813... Governor Macquarie asked a convict named William Hershell (who had been convicted of forgery!) to punch a round piece out of each of the Spanish dollars, which were worth 5 shillings. This almost doubled the number of coins...
Because of the strange shape, the Colonial Dollar became known as the "Holey Dollar".
[Text taken from presentation boards.]
- 2013 Sep 08 11:51:02