Not even $50,000 could convince one Nowra resident to part with his ‘holey dollar’.
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The local man, who did not wish to be named for security reason, has an extensive, valuable coin collection.
After finding the holey dollar on the way home from school many years ago, Brett* knew even then that he was onto a winner.
“We lived in Bermuda and I found it on the footpath on the way home,” he said.
“I was offered $33,000 for it and even though I was only 13-years-old, I didn’t take it.”
The holey dollar was Australia’s first official currency and there is only 300 still in existence.
Valued at five shillings, they were created by stamping the centres out of 40,000 imported Spanish silver eight-real coins, known as ‘pieces of eight’. The middle, or ‘dump’ became a secondary coin worth 15 pence.
As an adult, Brett was offered up to $50,000 for the coin. Again, he turned the offer down.
“It’s travelled halfway around the world with me and I keep it in a safe at home,” he said.
Brett also has a ‘cartwheel penny’ and other valuable coins he found while renovating his Nowra home. The same coin was recently discovered in Wollongong, however Brett said he scooped his up many years ago.
“I found it in 1966 when we were pulling up our wooden verandah,” he said.
After finding that very first coin at the age of 13, there have been many other valuable contributions to Brett’s coin collection.
His mother used to work at a bank in Bermuda and with her bosses permission, she would swap coins that were of no value to the bank with their equal counterpart and pass them on to her son.
Brett received Egyptian coins from an aunt and uncle, and a Spanish monk gave him a five cent Cuban coin while he was on a ship bound for England.
He also has the dubious honour of owning a German coin that features the Austrian eagle with a swastika stamped on its tail.
With around 1000 coins to his name, Brett doesn’t plan to part with his collection anytime soon.
“I’m getting on now so I could leave them to my children or I could sell some to pay some bills but I’m definitely not that hard up yet,” he said.
*Not real name. Identity has been kept for safety and security reasons.