CANBERRA.- The National Museum of Australia in Canberra has acquired a rare 1813 New South Wales ‘Holey dollar’ – the first currency minted in Australia. In the early days of New South Wales, the colony faced a shortage of currency and in 1812 Governor Lachlan Macquarie imported 40,000 Spanish dollars, called ‘pieces of eight’, and had William Hensell, a convicted forger, cut the centre out of each coin. The outer ring became known as a ‘Holey dollar’ and the centre was called a dump. Governor Macquarie set their value at five shillings for the Holey dollar and 15 pence for the dump. The coins went into circulation in 1814 and, in doing so, Macquarie created the first currency minted in Australia. “Holey dollars speak eloquently of the creative and improvisatory attempts to create an orderly administration in colonial Australia. The holey dollar we have acquired for the National Museum is