Prince Edward Island
Around the end of the 18th century, the Spanish dollar was in constant circulation in Eastern Canada and the United States. The value of the coin varied in different centers but was highest in Halifax. Therefore, whenever the merchants of Prince Edward Island (PEI) secured them, they sent them to Halifax to take advantage of the higher rate. The resulting shortage of money in PEI prompted the governor to gather in all the Spanish dollars he could and have their centers punched out. Both the central plug and rims were stamped with a sunburst. The punched centers passed as shillings and the outer rims as five-shilling pieces. The combined value of the mutilated coins was thereafter 20 percent greater in PEI than outside the island (and the individual components less valuable), so as a consequence, the coins became the official currency in PEI.
Read more about this topic: Holey Dollar
Famous quotes containing the words prince, edward and/or island:
“The prince in disguise makes the most charming beggar in the world, no doubt; but that is because—as all fairy-tales from the beginning of time have taught us—the prince wears his rags as if they were purple. And, to do that, he not only must once have worn purple, but must never forget the purple that he has worn. And to the argument that all cannot wear purple, I can ... only reply that that seems to me to be no reason why all should wear rags.”
—Katharine Fullerton Gerould (1879–1944)
“I’ve learned one thing about life. We’re a good deal like that ball, dancing on the fountain. We know as little about the forces that move us, and move the world around us, as that empty ball does.”
—Ardel Wray, Edward Dien, and Jacques Tourneur. Dr. Galbraith(James Bell)
“This island is made mainly of coal and surrounded by fish. Only an organizing genius could produce a shortage of coal and fish at the same time.”
—Aneurin Bevan (1897–1960)