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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;acanthite, post: 163576, member: 6647&quot;]Suddenly there is a lot of discussion about holed coins.&nbsp; For what its worth and at the risk of being presumptuous, I would like to relate a personal experience.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>In 1979 I visited Panama, specificially the San Blas Archipelago off the north coast in the Caribbean.&nbsp; It was my second year of collecting US coins, and I was stunned by the amount of old US silver dimes and quarters adorning the necklaces, bracelets, and anklets of the Kuna women inhabiting these islands.&nbsp; All perforated, of course, a bit of a let down as at the time I felt a damaged coin was not worth collecting.&nbsp; Mixed in with these coins were silver Panamanian Balboas, which is the currency of Panama and tied to the US dollar (in fact minted in the US) since its inception and Panamanian independence in 1903.&nbsp; The two currencies circulate interchangably.&nbsp; The Balboas are the same sizes as equivalent US coins, and I THINK but am not sure that the Balboa changed from silver to clad in the same year as the US, in 1965.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Vasco Nunez de Balboa, Spanish explorer and conquistador and who adorns the obverse of the Panamanian coins, was the first European to cross the isthmus and see the Pacific Ocean (from the Americas side, anyway) in 1513.&nbsp; It was apparently for this feat that he was beheaded by the envious governor Pedrarias in 1517.&nbsp; It is thought that this Pedrarias was his father-in-law.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Looking back I think these particular holed coins possess a great deal of less tangible value and regret not having purchased some in their jewelry form.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Attached is a poor photo from the web I found relating to the above.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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