ARTICLE DESCRIBES QUEST FOR AUSTRALIAN HOLEY DOLLARS

Perth coin fanciers may want to tip out their money jars and look for any that may be sporting a hole - they could be worth more than $500,000 each.

Provided, of course, the hole was meant to be there and not drilled by a handy Black & Decker.

Cash and coin lovers will be heading to the Perth Money Expo at Domain Stadium on Saturday and Sunday where rare coin dealer Belinda Downie will display several Holey Dollars.

The coins were created during NSW Governor Lachlan Macquarie's reign between 1810 and 1821.

The unique coins were created from 40,000 silver dollars imported from Spain.

Governor Macquarie punched a hole in all of them to double the money supply.

The outer ring was restamped around the inner circular edge of the hole and became the 1813 Holey Dollar with a value of five shillings.

The centrepiece "Dump" was given a value of 15 pence.

Last May, Ms Downie sold a single Holey Dollar for a world record price of $550,000.

The coin expert believed there were around 300 Holey Dollars in existence.

"Some are unaccounted for. Who knows - someone in Perth could be sitting on a fortune?" she said.

"They could just be lying around in an old collection that hasn't seen the light of day in years."

The truth of that proved profitable for one Melbourne man a few months ago.

"A man came into our Melbourne office with a well-circulated Holey Dollar that had never been listed," she told 6PR's Chris Ilsley.

"He had it in his cupboard,and just decided to front up with it. We estimated it was worth around $35,000 to $40,000."

Ms Downie hopes to eventually find and detail all 300 Holey Dollars.

To read the complete article, see:
$500,000 up: Coin expert brings Holey Dollar quest to Perth's Domain Stadium (www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/500000-up-coin-expert
-brings-holey-dollar-quest-to-perths-domain-stadium-20160226-gn4oz1.html)

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