Holed Early Coins

Ralph - This is a subject which I hold (no pun intended) very dear. You are correct about some of your assumptions about the purpose of holes.

In New Bedford, Mass where I was from there are numerous stories of Large Cents being used as copper washers in wooden vessels. I have also seen one that was cut into a gear. The center hole was square and hand cut teeth were filed into the edge. So there are utilitarian uses for coins. In "Moby Dick" the reward coin was nailed to the ship's mast.

In some cultures, silver coins are worn as a sign of wealth on dresses. Of course we have all seen bracelets and necklaces with coins suspended.

There are lucky pieces as well nailed to Barns and houses (usually with square nails) for good luck.

But my interest in coins with holes is because they are quite often a form of cancellation. A coin with a hole did NOT circulate. It was often the mark used to identify a counterfeit. Many times the holes were made through the date - the denomination or the mint mark - VERY INTENTIONALLY. They also tended to place the hole where it would be very hard to miss - like through the head of the eagle or through Liberty's head.

I have never counted the number of coins with holes in my collection but it certainly must exceed 1000 pieces. I search junk trays for holed pieces because of the number of counterfeits that I encounter.

I also remember a story that I think I have posted on this forum somewhere. I got it from a banker in Plymouth, Mass. He was a fourth generation banker and he told about how in the old days his father or grandfather kept a ring of counterfeit coins. The counterfeits encountered were punched and put on the ring which was kept at the head teller's cage - it was their method of checking for common forgeries. When a suspect coin was presented they tried to match it to the coins on the ring.

So there are many possibilities as to why a coin was holed.

I recall one story about one of the unpopular french kings. I can't remember which one. But his opponents would drill a hole in a coin so that when they wore it - he hung upside down. It was a form of protest.

When a coin is drilled in the DEAD CENTER it is often an indication of a forgery found in England - they preferred dead center.

Top center so that a coin hangs upright is perhaps jewelry (especially if the top of the drill hole is worn smooth) but if the hole is significantly away from the edge, causes the picture to hang oddly or has a lot of rough metal around the hole - make sure the coin is not simply a forgery.

The expression that something is "Not worth a plugged nickel" comes from the time when plugging (drilling) a coin stopped it from circulating. Silver and gold coins were most often treated as intrinsic items so the loss of metal caused by drilling the hole made them worth less than face value at a minimum. It was a very effective way of preventing a fake from being passed at face value.

One final point - sometimes coins were officially drilled or punched. Look for example at the KM-6 from Greenland. It is the 1926 5 Ore coin (KM-5) with a center hole added in the US. It is worth MORE than an example without the hole.

By the way, some counterfeits with holes are worth many times more than the originals that they were copying.

Here is the pic of my Holed 1/4 Dollar for reference I have put it next to a Half Dime.



Rick

SwamperBob - that's a wealth of information there Bubba - thanks. I've assumed, up until now, that holed coins weren't even worth the face value because of the hole - lots of historical value, but no monetary value. I'll look at them differently from now on. I've only got 4, but after reading your post, I might decide to pick up some more.

Hi Ralph

Coins like this one were made by private individuals,, this one I have reseached and it was made by a San Francisco Jeweler, the name escapes me at the moment,, but they were made in response to the need for fractional coinage.

This coin was authenticated by Mike Locke,, a well known expert on california Fractional coinage.

Rick

Ralph - here is my most recent holed coin from ebay. The auction says 1888 - but the coin is actually an 1838 counterfiet - a Contemporary Circulating Counterfeit listed in John Riddell's 1845 book on counterfeit dollars.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...110027833731

This is the type of counterfeit where an original in the same grade would be worth less. That is not typical of all counterfeits - most are worth less if they are Numismatic. Note the location of the hole.

By the way what makes this one valuable in such a low grade is the fact that it appears to be a "Sheffield Silver Plate" - a coin struck from a sandwich of silver layered on copper. Most of the 1838 coins were struck from solid low grade silver - Sheffield Plates are not common at all for this particular coin.

quote:

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Originally posted by Becky

Don't you just love the square holes? Most of the coins look like they were punched instead of drilled.

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Becky, have you stopped to think about those holes and that they more than likely were punched. In those days they used square nails and it sure seems likely that they would have used one of these to make the hole.

Yes Thingee, I am learning a good bit myself about an area that, heretofore, I thought of as ruined coins. I didn't realize I would learn so much when I started it, but I'm sure glad I did. And, hopefully there will be more to come.

longnine009 - you asked about the position of the hole in the 1838 Zs OM counterfeit 8R "Was the hole a way of getting rid of a mistake?"

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...110027833731

Actually I was trying to point out the fact that the position of the hole is such that the coin would not hang upright when suspended from a string or chain. The normal position for a jewelry mount is top dead center but a cancellation hole is more like the one shown on this coin.

I won another tonight that has a hole through the date - which is another typical location for a cancellation. This positioning can be confused with a jewelry mount whenever the coin uses the "coin rotation" as opposed to a medalic die positioning axis.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...270025339933