Prince Edward Island:
Silver 'Holey Dollar,' 1813
Upon his arrival in P.E.I. in 1813, Charles Douglass Smith, the
island's newly appointed lieutenant-governor, discovered that
there was a serious shortage of circulating coin. Although
Spanish coins, mainly the dollars or 8-reale pieces, occasionally
found their way to the island in trade, they rarely remained in
circulation because they were used to pay for imported goods. In
an effort to alleviate this situation, Smith issued a
proclamation in 1813 stating, in part: "It is also ordered that
Spanish Dollars, limited to the amount of One Thousand, shall be
cut at the Treasury, by having a circular piece taken out of the
centre of each - the Collars so cut, are to be issued from and
received at the Treasury at the rate of Five Shillings Currency
each, and the piece so taken out to be issued from and received
at the Treasury, at one shilling currency each. " Thus each
Spanish dollar provided two silver coins - the outer ring or
'holey dollar' and the centre disc or 'plug' - with a combined
total value of six shillings. Since the unmutilated Spanish
dollar was valued at only five shillings, it was hoped that by
overrating the holey dollar and plugs these pieces would remain
in circulation on the island. However, owing to a large number of
fraudulent imitations, probably made by the local merchants, the
official issue was recalled and, after 28 September 1814, even
genuine issue were no longer exchangeable at the colonial
Treasury. However, the unredeemed holey dollars, as well as the
merchants' forgeries, continued to circulate for many years.
Although records describing any official markings do not seem to
have survived, the holey dollars and plugs appear to have been
counterstamped with a ring consisting of ten triangles forming a
kind of star or sunburst. On the holey dollar this pattern can be
seen overlapping the Spanish king's forehead. The coin
illustrated is slightly larger than a
Canadian silver dollar and is part of the National Currency
Collection, Bank of Canada.
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