By arts editor HELEN MUSA

The Royal Australian Mint has on Monday unveiled its Origins of Australian Coin: 2026 $1 Holey Dollar Uncirculated Coin, marking 60 years of diplomatic relations between Australia and Mexico while retelling the story of Australia’s first official currency.

The launch follows the Mint’s acquisition of an original 1813 Holey Dollar for the National Coin Collection. Believed to be one of only about 300 surviving examples, the historic coin has inspired the commemorative release and highlights the unlikely origins of Australia’s first legal tender.

“The Holey Dollar is one of Australia’s most recognisable historical coins, yet many people don’t realise its story begins with silver dollars, many struck in colonial Mexico,” Royal Australian Mint chief executive Emily Martin said.

Mexico’s ambassador to Australia, Ernesto Céspedes Oropeza, said the commemorative coin recognised a shared heritage forged through trade routes that connected Mexico, the Philippines, India and Australia.

He noted that Mexican silver coins travelled across the Pacific and Indian oceans before being transformed into Australia’s first minted currency, creating a connection between the two nations long before official diplomatic ties.

Faithfully reproducing the design of the original 1813 Holey Dollar, the new collector coin celebrates one of Australia’s most ingenious monetary innovations.

At the centre of the story is William Henshall, a skilled metalworker transported to New South Wales after being convicted of counterfeiting. In one of colonial Australia’s great ironies, Henshall was entrusted by Governor Lachlan Macquarie with creating the colony’s first official coins.

Working from a Sydney government workshop known as “The Factory”, Henshall spent more than a year devising tools and techniques to transform thousands of Spanish silver dollars into Holey Dollars and Dumps. The innovation helped address a chronic shortage of currency in the fledgling colony.

Macquarie’s solution began with the importation of 40,000 Spanish eight-reales coins, or pieces of eight, many struck at the famous Casa de Moneda de México. Each coin was punched through the centre, creating two separate denominations. The outer ring became the Holey Dollar, valued at five shillings, while the centre piece, known as the Dump, was worth fifteen pence. The process also made the silver less attractive for export, helping keep money in the colony.

The coin will be released through the Royal Australian Mint in Deakin following an EQL ballot process opening on September 4. To register for the ballot, visit the Mint at www.ramint.gov.au

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