About ancient English and Australian coins - By: Joe D Walker

What was the first currency minted in Australia?
The National Museum of Australia in Canberra has acquired a rare 1813 New South Wales 'Holey dollar' – the first currency minted in Australia.
In the early days of New South Wales, the colony faced a shortage of currency and in 1812 Governor Lachlan Macquarie imported 40,000 Spanish dollars, called 'pieces of eight', and had William Hensell, a convicted forger, cut the centre out of each coin.
The outer ring became known as a 'Holey dollar' and the centre was called a dump. Governor Macquarie set their value at five shillings for the Holey dollar and 15 pence for the dump. The coins went into circulation in 1814 and, in doing so, Macquarie created the first currency minted in Australia.
"Holey dollars speak eloquently of the creative and improvisatory attempts to create an orderly administration in colonial Australia. The holey dollar we have acquired for the National Museum is a finely preserved example of this iconic object from the era of Macquarie," said Andrew Sayers, Director of the National Museum of Australia.
The Holey dollars were recalled from 1822 and replaced with sterling coinage. By 1829 most of the 40,000 coins in circulation had been exchanged for legal tender. The coins were then melted down into bullion. Experts estimate that around 300 Holey dollars and just over 1,000 dumps remain in circulation today.
The National Museum of Australia acquired the Holey dollar at auction for a total price of $129,315. It will go on display in the National Museum's Landmarks gallery.

Ancient silver coin reveals unknown Viking ruler
The British Museum has announced the discovery of a hugely significant hoard of silver artefacts in Lancashire.
Buried in a lead container 1,100 years ago, it includes 27 silver coins from Britain's Anglo-Saxon and Viking eras.
One coin is of a type that none of the Museum's experts has seen before.
"One side of it reads DNS (Dominus) REX, the letters arranged in the form of a cross (many Vikings had converted to Christianity within a generation of settling in Britain)," Ian Richardson, Portable Antiquities and Treasure, wrote on the Museum's blog.
"On the other side, the inscription reads AIRDECONUT, which appears to be an attempt to represent the Scandinavian name Harthacnut, a ruler not previously known."
The hoard was discovered by a metal detector enthusiast. It follows a similar find in April of a 10th century hoard comprising 92 silver coins in nearby Cumbria.

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