1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:14,280 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:17,000 Speaker 1: a show that gives a quick look that's something that 4 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:21,920 Speaker 1: happened a long time ago. Today I'm Gabe Lucier and 5 00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:24,920 Speaker 1: in this episode, we're looking at the origin of the 6 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:29,159 Speaker 1: Holy Dollar, the first reliable supply of money for what 7 00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:38,720 Speaker 1: would later become the nation of Australia. The day was 8 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:44,640 Speaker 1: February eighteen fourteen. The first batch of coins to be 9 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:48,320 Speaker 1: minted in Australia was distributed for use in the Penal 10 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:52,400 Speaker 1: colony of New South Wales. The coins had been made 11 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:56,480 Speaker 1: by stamping out the centers of forty thousand silver coins 12 00:00:56,560 --> 00:01:00,160 Speaker 1: imported from Spain. The outer rings of the coins were 13 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:04,560 Speaker 1: quickly dubbed Holy dollars after the distinct hole in their centers. 14 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:09,720 Speaker 1: The middle pieces of the dollars, nicknamed dumps, were used 15 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:14,640 Speaker 1: as a secondary coin, valued at fifteen pence. This means that, 16 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:18,679 Speaker 1: since the original Spanish coins were valued at five shillings each, 17 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:22,399 Speaker 1: a Holy dollar and its dump were worth more than 18 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:25,800 Speaker 1: the coin they were cut from. The makeshift money was 19 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:29,600 Speaker 1: an ingenious solution to a currency shortage that had plagued 20 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:32,319 Speaker 1: the colony. For the better part of the last decade. 21 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:38,400 Speaker 1: The first European and African settlers to Australia arrived in seventeen. 22 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:43,720 Speaker 1: They reached Botany Bay that January and soon established the 23 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:47,720 Speaker 1: Penal Colony of New South Wales, the first European settlement 24 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:51,200 Speaker 1: on the continent. At the time, the colony had no 25 00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:55,400 Speaker 1: official currency. The settlers had brought three hundred pounds worth 26 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:58,720 Speaker 1: of English coinage, which was held by the governor, but 27 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:01,640 Speaker 1: other forms of four in currency were used by the 28 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: various convicts, soldiers, settlers and sailors who needed their own 29 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:11,040 Speaker 1: medium of exchange. This included British coins, as well as 30 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:15,560 Speaker 1: Dutch guilders and ducats, Indian mohors and rupees, as well 31 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:20,760 Speaker 1: as Portuguese Johannes and Spanish reals. Over time, much of 32 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:24,840 Speaker 1: this foreign coinage left the colony, typically as payments to 33 00:02:24,880 --> 00:02:28,760 Speaker 1: the visiting merchant ships. As the coin supply dwindled, the 34 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:32,320 Speaker 1: residents turned to rum as the trading commodity of choice. 35 00:02:32,919 --> 00:02:36,360 Speaker 1: This worked well for the soldiers who received regular rations 36 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:39,760 Speaker 1: of rum, as well as wealthy citizens who could import 37 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:42,360 Speaker 1: as much of the liquor as they needed, but for 38 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:45,680 Speaker 1: everyone else it was a tough system to survive under. 39 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:50,639 Speaker 1: In eighteen oh six, Captain William Bly was appointed governor 40 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:53,840 Speaker 1: with orders to clean up the colony's corruption and put 41 00:02:53,919 --> 00:02:57,720 Speaker 1: an end to the use of RUMs currency. His actions 42 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:01,480 Speaker 1: sparked what later became known as the Rum Rebellion, in 43 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:05,160 Speaker 1: which Bligh was deposed and placed under arrest by his 44 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:09,399 Speaker 1: own officers. A rebel government took control of the colony 45 00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:13,880 Speaker 1: and remained in power until eighteen ten, when Major General 46 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:18,280 Speaker 1: Lochlin Macquarie arrived from Britain to serve as the colony's 47 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:21,919 Speaker 1: new governor. It was under his leadership that New South 48 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:25,560 Speaker 1: Wales would finally find a remedy for its long standing 49 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:30,240 Speaker 1: currency problem. Governor Macquarie would have preferred to create a 50 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:34,280 Speaker 1: new currency from scratch. The problem was he had no 51 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:37,880 Speaker 1: way of sourcing the metal coined blanks that were traditionally 52 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:41,720 Speaker 1: used to mint new coins, so instead he had to 53 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:45,480 Speaker 1: get creative. At the time, the practice of cutting coins 54 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:48,960 Speaker 1: into segments and then countermarking them with new dates and 55 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:52,680 Speaker 1: values was already in use, both in the British colonies 56 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:56,360 Speaker 1: of the Caribbean and in several African nations such as 57 00:03:56,360 --> 00:04:01,000 Speaker 1: Sierra Leone. Governor Macquarie was aware of the technique and 58 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:04,600 Speaker 1: decided to give it a try in New South Wales. First, 59 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:08,440 Speaker 1: he arranged for a special shipment of forty thousand Spanish 60 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:12,040 Speaker 1: coins to be used in place of blanks. The coins, 61 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:16,120 Speaker 1: which arrived from Madras in November of eighteen twelve were 62 00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:20,760 Speaker 1: silver eight real coins, commonly known as pieces of eight. 63 00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:24,880 Speaker 1: At the time, these were frequently used as an international 64 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 1: trading currency, so there were plenty in circulation to get 65 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:31,799 Speaker 1: a hold of. Next. In order to make the coins 66 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:34,640 Speaker 1: unique to the colony and to keep them from being 67 00:04:34,640 --> 00:04:39,280 Speaker 1: immediately traded away to outsiders, Macquarie arranged to have the 68 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 1: centers of the coins removed from the Spanish dollars. The 69 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:47,719 Speaker 1: man chosen for that task was an emancipated convict named 70 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:51,600 Speaker 1: William Henshaw. He had worked as a metallurgist in England 71 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:53,920 Speaker 1: and was sent to the Penal Colony in eighteen o 72 00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:56,920 Speaker 1: five to serve a seven year sentence for his role 73 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:00,920 Speaker 1: in a counterfeiting scheme. Henshall had been granted a pardon 74 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:04,400 Speaker 1: six months before his sentence was scheduled to end, and 75 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:08,080 Speaker 1: just a few months after that Mcquarie recruited him to 76 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:12,160 Speaker 1: make the colony's new coinage. In the fall of eighteen twelve, 77 00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:15,880 Speaker 1: mcquarie provided Henshaw with a workshop in the basement of 78 00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:20,600 Speaker 1: a building called the Factory for all practical purposes. This 79 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:25,680 Speaker 1: was Australia's first mint and Henshaw its first mint master. 80 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:30,080 Speaker 1: Under mcquarie's orders, Henshaw punched out the middle of each 81 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:34,320 Speaker 1: Spanish silver dollar and then stamped new information overtop the 82 00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:38,559 Speaker 1: existing inscriptions. Around the edge of the whole of each coin. 83 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:43,839 Speaker 1: Henshaw stamped the date, the new value, and the issuing authority, 84 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:47,800 Speaker 1: which was New South Wales. Once that was done, the 85 00:05:47,839 --> 00:05:54,240 Speaker 1: Spanish realies became Holy Dollars, Australia's first circulating coin. When 86 00:05:54,240 --> 00:05:56,880 Speaker 1: all was said and done, they were able to convert 87 00:05:56,960 --> 00:06:00,880 Speaker 1: forty thousand coins into thirty nine thousand and nine hundred 88 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:04,600 Speaker 1: and ten Holy dollars, plus an equal number of dumps. 89 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:08,760 Speaker 1: The other ninety coins were accounted for by spoilage and 90 00:06:08,839 --> 00:06:14,440 Speaker 1: mistakes during the minting process. Because nobody's perfect. Macquarie originally 91 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:17,080 Speaker 1: hoped the coins would be ready in just three months, 92 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:20,560 Speaker 1: but the task proved more difficult than expected and took 93 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:24,120 Speaker 1: over a year to complete. As a result, even though 94 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:28,160 Speaker 1: all the coins were dated eighteen thirteen. They weren't actually 95 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:32,880 Speaker 1: put into circulation until eighteen fourteen. The first batch of 96 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:37,120 Speaker 1: Holy dollars and dumps was delivered to Deputy Commissioner General 97 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:41,200 Speaker 1: David Allen on February twenty five of that year. The 98 00:06:41,279 --> 00:06:45,400 Speaker 1: final batch followed six months later in August of eighteen fourteen. 99 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:49,320 Speaker 1: The coins were well received by residents of the colony 100 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:53,279 Speaker 1: and helped greatly reduce the value of rum as a commodity. 101 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:57,159 Speaker 1: Holy dollars and dumps continued as the official currency of 102 00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:01,440 Speaker 1: New South Wales until eighteen twenty two, at which time 103 00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:05,839 Speaker 1: reliable supplies of British sterling coins were available in the colony. 104 00:07:06,040 --> 00:07:11,000 Speaker 1: The pierced currency remained in common use until eighteen twenty nine, 105 00:07:11,080 --> 00:07:15,560 Speaker 1: when the Holy dollar and the dump were finally demonetized altogether. 106 00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:19,360 Speaker 1: By that point, most of the coins in circulation had 107 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:22,600 Speaker 1: been exchanged for sterling and shipped off to the Royal 108 00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:26,720 Speaker 1: Mint in London. There, the Holy dollars were melted down 109 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:29,760 Speaker 1: into silver bullion and sold to the Bank of England. 110 00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:34,120 Speaker 1: Experts estimate that as few as three hundred Holy dollars 111 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:37,560 Speaker 1: and just over one thousand dumps were spared from the fire. 112 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:41,960 Speaker 1: These surviving coins were typically held as keepsakes by wealthy 113 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:45,480 Speaker 1: colonists who could afford to hang on to devalued currency 114 00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:49,680 Speaker 1: instead of trading it in for legal tender. Today, Holy 115 00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:53,400 Speaker 1: dollars sell it auction for anywhere from ten thousand dollars 116 00:07:53,640 --> 00:07:57,920 Speaker 1: to nearly half a million dollars. Dumps, while less desirable, 117 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:01,400 Speaker 1: can still fetch up to twenty five thousand dollars, depending 118 00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:04,480 Speaker 1: on their condition. About one hundred of the three hundred 119 00:08:04,520 --> 00:08:08,240 Speaker 1: Holy dollars known to exist are held in museums, while 120 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:10,400 Speaker 1: the other two hundred or so are in the hands 121 00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:14,280 Speaker 1: of private collectors. One thing that keeps the currency popular 122 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:19,480 Speaker 1: among coin enthusiasts is that every Holy dollar is slightly different. 123 00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:22,400 Speaker 1: Part of the fun is seeing all the different details 124 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:25,280 Speaker 1: on the Spanish silver dollars, the coins that they were 125 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:29,040 Speaker 1: cut from. Since those were minted on different dates, in 126 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:33,640 Speaker 1: different locations and under different Spanish kings, no two coins 127 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:36,559 Speaker 1: are the same. That's even more true when you consider 128 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:40,280 Speaker 1: the variations and the holes and counter stamps that Henshall 129 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:43,800 Speaker 1: added to each coin. After all, it was a process 130 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:48,480 Speaker 1: he repeated nearly forty thousand times, so understandably, not every 131 00:08:48,559 --> 00:08:53,360 Speaker 1: hole or marking is uniformly centered. And speaking of Henshaw, 132 00:08:53,880 --> 00:08:56,840 Speaker 1: no one's quite sure what happened to him. We know 133 00:08:56,920 --> 00:09:00,240 Speaker 1: he left the colony for England in eighteen seventeen, but 134 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:04,840 Speaker 1: after that he pretty much disappeared from the historical record. However, 135 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:08,800 Speaker 1: you can still find traces of the old Forger if 136 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:12,720 Speaker 1: you know where to look. That's because Henshall incorporated his 137 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:17,000 Speaker 1: initial H into the leaf design of the Holy Dollars 138 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:20,920 Speaker 1: counter stamp. He also inscribed as initial between the words 139 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:25,440 Speaker 1: fifteen and pence on the reverse side of the dumps. 140 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:29,200 Speaker 1: So gone but not forgotten, Henshaw left his mark on 141 00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:33,480 Speaker 1: every piece of currency he made. It's a legacy written 142 00:09:33,559 --> 00:09:37,400 Speaker 1: in holes and dumps. Who could ask for anything more. 143 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:43,640 Speaker 1: I'm Gay Bluesier and hopefully you now know a little 144 00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:47,720 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. You can 145 00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:51,560 Speaker 1: learn even more about history by following us on Twitter, Facebook, 146 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:55,920 Speaker 1: and Instagram at t d I h C Show, and 147 00:09:55,960 --> 00:09:58,720 Speaker 1: if you have any comments or suggestions you can send 148 00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:01,520 Speaker 1: them my way at the This Day at I heart 149 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:04,959 Speaker 1: media dot com. Thanks as always to Chandler Mays for 150 00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:08,520 Speaker 1: producing the show, and a special thanks to Joey pat 151 00:10:08,559 --> 00:10:12,280 Speaker 1: our guest editor for this episode. Last but not least 152 00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:15,079 Speaker 1: thanks to you for listening. I'll see you back here 153 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:28,120 Speaker 1: again tomorrow for another day in history class. 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