News from Spink

An Australian Explorer's Souvenir Rediscovered After 100 Years

After lying unnoticed for over 100 years in the drawer of an unused piece of furniture in the attic of an ancestral home in Scotland, a precious souvenir of the days of exploration in the Australian outback has been discovered.

The small round piece of silver is at first sight unremarkable. Close inspection however reveals on one side a value, FIFTEEN PENCE, and on the other side a crown with the legend NEW SOUTH WALES, and the date 1813.

This rare reminder of the hard times from the early days of the Australian Colony, was recently spotted by the coin department of Spink among a small group of miscellaneous 19th century coins found jumbled together in the drawer of old piece of furniture in Scone Palace, the ancestral home of the Earls of Mansfield and Mansfield. The family, delighted to learn of its survival, have confirmed that they have a famous Australian explorer in the family, The Hon. David Wynford Carnegie (1871-1900).

Carnegie, an explorer and gold prospector in Western Australia, discovered gold in a granite outcrop near Lake Darlot (about 40 miles east of present-day Leinster), but is best remembered for the expedition he led in 1896 from Coolgardie, through the Gibson and Great Sandy Deserts to Halls Creek. The punishing journey of 1,413 miles took 149 days to complete. After some time in Halls Creek, Carnegie led his party back again by a slightly different route. The aim was to explore this hitherto unknown region in the hope of finding gold, or pastoral land, or possibly both. In the event the expedition returned disappointed, having found nothing but ‘heartbreaking country, monotonous, lifeless, without interest…’

Late in 1897 Carnegie returned to England. .His family clearly disapproved of his choice of ‘career’ and were not impressed, but he persevered, giving lectures, and writing an account of his adventures ‘Spinifex and Sand’ (published by C Arthur Pearson, London 1898). He was awarded the Royal Geographic Society’s medal.

In 1900 Carnegie travelled to Nigeria as the newly appointed Assistant Resident of Middle Niger. In November the same year he was killed by a poisoned arrow. He was just 29 years old.   

The coin in question is commonly referred to in Australia as a ‘Dump’. It is a small round piece of silver, cut from the centre of a Spanish silver 8-Reales or Dollar, the ‘Pieces of Eight’ of pirate lore fame. These curious pieces of local ‘emergency’ money were the brainchild of the Governor of New South Wales, Lachlan Macquarie. He arrived in the fledgling colony in 1810, and discovered that the only currency available was the large copper Penny and Twopenny coins that were brought from England. There was no regular supply of these coins, and any gold or silver coins that did find their way to the colony were immediately snapped up and exported.

Macquarie’s answer to the problem was most ingenious. A merchant ship, the Samarang, arrived in Port Jackson in 1812 with a cache of 40,000 Spanish silver Dollars on board. Governor Macquarie did a deal with the owners of the vessel and purchased the coins for four shillings and nine pence each. He then neatly punched out the centre of each coin. The main coin was then valued at Five Shillings, thereby becoming the famous ‘Holey Dollar’, and the small centre piece was valued at Fifteen Pence, to become the less famous little brother of the Holey Dollar, known as the ‘Dump’. The Governor thus produced a unique coinage for the colony which would not be taken abroad, and at the same time his administration made a tidy profit on the deal.

 The coinage was short lived. In 1825 coins began to arrive in quantity from England, and after 1829 the Holey Dollars and Dumps were no longer legal tender. A few were kept as souvenirs, but most vanished, presumably consigned to the melting pot. The survival rate was extremely small and today these coins are very rare. They are considered among the most desirable of Australia’s early coinages and both ‘Holey Dollars’ and their ‘Dumps’ are highly prized by Australian coin collectors. To find a piece after nearly 200 years so far from home and with such a provenance is remarkable.

 The Carnegie silver ‘Dump’ will be offered at auction by Spink in London on 27 September. The estimate is £12,000-15,000.

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Spink is the world’s leading auctioneer of coins, stamps, medals and banknotes.  Since its foundation in 1666, the Spink name has become synonymous with tradition, experience and integrity. Holders of three royal warrants and numerous records for prices achieved at auction, Spink offer an unparalleled range of services to collectors worldwide.  Spink is headquartered in London and hold over 35 auctions a year around the globe.  In June 2006 Spink shattered the world record for a British Coin sold at auction with the sale of the Double Leopard Gold Coin for a staggering £460,000.

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