I don't want to teach your grandmother how to suck eggs, but the Spanish Silver Dollar was a kind of internationally recognised currency for a few hundred years. Kind of like the US dollar is today. In fact, some countries actually used it as currency, or variations.
The British colonies in America used British coins, of course, but these were in very short supply, or in some cases non existent. So, out of necessity, they used the common Spanish 8 Real coin. To make smaller denominations, the clever little Yanks annealed the coins and chopped them into halves, quarters and eighths ... hence, "pieces of eight."
In fact, Americans still say "two bits" for a quarter, a reference to two pieces of eight.
Other British Colonies were in the same predicament. Australia actually purchased 40,000 Spanish Silver Dollars and punched a hole in them, making two coins ... the Holey Dollar and the Dump. This was so they couldn't be used overseas.
In 1827, Australia bought back the Holey Dollar and replaced it with British Coins. The Holey Dollar is now one of the rarest coins ... only 300 remain and around 1000 dumps.
THE POINT OF THIS POST: I found one of these 8 Real coins in my collection and would like to know if it smells fishy ... seems to have been underwater for a while ... or could be a real Real.
Posted 09/01/2023 01:52 am
