An 1813 Prince Edward Island counterstamped holey dollar – billed as the “first Canadian dollar” by auctioneers – topped its estimate by more than seven times this November.
Certified as Fine-15 by Numismatic Guaranty Company (NGC) and catalogued as Charlton-PE-1A1, the 21.70-gram coin displayed a sunburst counterstamp above a large, punched-out hole on an 1804 Mexican eight-reales piece.
“From a mere handful auctioned in the last 20 years, the present offering stands as the sole finest graded by either NGC or PCGS (Professional Coin Grading Service),” according to Heritage Auctions, which offered the coin as Lot 32354 of its Nov. 2-4 Platinum Session.
It brought $18,000 US (about $24,300 Cdn.), including buyer’s premium, on an estimate of $2,500 US (about $3,350 Cdn.).