Comparisons: BOE dollar, countermark dollar and Aussie "holey doll

[rpeddie]

My query here is how do all the face values of these different coins come about to vary so much?

Links to the coins I am talking about to be more clear:

BOE Dollar

Countermark
Aussie

Correct me if i am wrong here, but I work out the face values on them to be:

BOE dollar

5s till 1911

5s6d till 1917(ref. spink book)

Countermark

4s9d (ref. spink book)

Holey

6s3d (adding inner donut to outer donut)

Since they are all made from the same coin at the end of the day (BOE was struck on top of 8 real coin from my understanding)

Why do they all have such different values considering they would all be used during roughly the same year period?

And on the same note, is it safe to assume that the countermark issued 8 real coins issued between 1799 and 1804?

There any more specific information on the "mintages" of the cointermark coins?

[Rob]

5/- to 1811 and 5/6d thereafter until demonetised following the the recoinage.

In the case of the countermarked pieces, the values of the coins changed because the price of the raw metal caused the intrinsic value to rise above face. According to reports 2,325,099 countermarked dollars were issued (face value £552,211/-/3d) before 1804.

In the case of the Australian holey dollar, the need was to provide and retain currency within the local economy. Cutting out the centre ensured that it could only be used in Australia because elsewhere it would only be worth its (lower) intrinsic value. Just the same as our token coinage today which is worth more as circulating currency than it is in the melting pot - otherwise we would all be melting coins and the economy would grind to a halt.

[Peckris]

Before the 1816 Recoinage, coins had to be worth their face value in metal bullion. As Rob says, the value of silver was volatile during George III's reign, which is quite probably the main reason why there was so little regal silver issued before 1816 (the 1787 shillings and sixpences were issued to BoE customers rather than a general issue to meet demand; the counterstamped Spanish reales were an unofficial measure and went no way to meet the shortage of halfcrowns, shillings, and sixpences; the token issues of 1811 onwards were only temporary 'stop gaps'.)

[josie]

Very good thread.

I have seen this topic before not sure which forum maybe in CC forum.

Maybe it depends where the coins came from,where it is use,who will accept it and who authorize it,somewhat like debasement and purity of silver ever since....from first silver coin or flan to clipping in medieval times to metal composition of silver in the center of a silver coin.. to silver and gold standard, coins in far east have a hole in the center like China and other country like the giant circular stone..Rai stones,dont know when they started coins that have a hole in the center also cowrie shells is empty or nothing in the middle or inside i think.

Edited July 15, 2014 by josie