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Lot 149
Description:
Unique
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Notes:
- Collectors of Australian Colonial coins should be aware of the contemporary forgeries of the NSW 1813 Dump that turn up from time to time. In a penal colony inhabited by a large number of resourceful criminals, it was hardly surprising that someone would look to make copies of a coin with such a simple design. These crude forgeries only needed to be passed off to the unsuspecting in a quick transaction, and so were struck in cheap copper and then coated in a silvery lead wash to give them the look of the real silver dumps. However, it should be realised that not all copper dumps were crude forgeries meant to fool. The late Dr W.J.D. Mira, who was widely acknowledged as the foremost expert on Australian Colonial coins, held in his collection both D2 and E3 type varieties of dumps that were struck in copper but which exactly mirrored the silver strikings. (Mira’s work “The Holey Dollars of New South Wales – A Pictorial Record of Known Surviving Specimens’ which was published in 1988 is still regarded as the standard reference work for collectors of Holey Dollars and Dumps). The question to be asked is why D2 and E3 Dumps were struck in copper in the first place and by whom. Mira speculated that copper trials of both Holey Dollars and Dumps were struck with the imprimatur of Governor Macquarie by the convict die-maker William Henshall, to “test the machine(ry)” before it was used for the silver strikings, and hence the existence of the D2 and E3 Copper Dumps in his collection. They too like the forged copper dumps show the remnants of a silvery lead wash perhaps to demonstrate the appearance of the silver strikings to the authorities. It is possible that the silver wash may have been added latter, as the fact that both the D2 and E3 copper dumps in Mira's collection were heavily circulated suggests that they were eventually passed off as real coins. That copper trials were struck was a sensible conclusion that was largely confirmed in 2007 with a new discovery of a trial strike of a Holey Dollar on a Great Britain 1799 Halfpenny which sold for $233,000. This coin turned up surprisingly on Vancouver Island in Canada accompanied by a copper Dump of an unknown type, which unfortunately was sold off before the significance of the find was realised, as there is some evidence to suppose that they were both trial strikes that had been souvenired by William Henshall himself. Because of his hands-on knowledge Henshall was always a prime suspect for the forged dumps that were circulating in the Colony, and perhaps as a deterrent he received an unusually severe flogging for trespassing on Sydney's Domain on the direct orders of Governor Macquarie his past employer. The suspicions were never proven, but when his wife died in 1817, Henshall decided it was time to take leave of Sydney and sailed on the ‘Chapman’ for England it was presumed to reconnect with his long abandoned first family. There are no further records of his life or death, but interestingly there is a very sizeable number of Henshalls (an uncommon name) buried on Vancouver Island where the two copper trials were later discovered, strongly suggesting that this may be the final resting place of Australia’s first 'Mint Master'. It is our conviction that the E3 dumps were the first type to be struck by Henshall although only in very small numbers, as it is estimated that only ten to fifteen have survived. If so then this 'copper trial' which was a precursor to the experimental silver strikings is the earliest surviving NSW Dump. Smalls Auctions offers in its October Sale a unique ‘copper trial’ of an E3 Dump struck by William Henshall at the Factory, and which once graced the collection of Dr Mira.
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October 7, 2017 11:00 AM AEDT
Paddington, Sydney, Australia
Smalls Auctions
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Bid Increments
| From: | To: | Increments: |
|---|---|---|
| A$0 | A$99 | A$5 |
| A$100 | A$999 | A$10 |
| A$1,000 | A$4,999 | A$50 |
| A$5,000 | A$9,999 | A$100 |
| A$10,000 + | A$250 |