If you had to choose between the two what would you rather have. I would have done a poll with this question, but another pull is taking place now. Maybe when the poll is free, I'll repost it. The holed coin has a hole at 12 O'Clock and is more-or-less perfectly round. The hole is not too large either, lets say average and doesn't filter into the other parts of the coin. Whereas the plugged coin is recognizable as a plug, but retains back to the coins natural surface flow/ texture (if that makes sense). The plug is also nice and round and is filling up your average sized hole from a coin. Please don't not (double negative-positive) respond because then it won't help me. Thanks for the input.
By definition a holed coin has been damaged once, a plugged coin has been damaged twice. That makes the holed coin closer to original.
I love holed coins, but I have never purchased one because I was taught that they were "damaged" and worthless. I used to carry a holed coin on a chain for good luck when I was a kid. Some of the 100+ year old coins seem like a very important part of history, and sometimes scarce coins suddenly become affordable. I was thinking of putting together a set of 19th century circulated holed and/or damaged coins on the cheap, even though it is "wrong."
Actually holed coins make some extremely difficult to find dates cheaper. Sure they look ugly, but if your budget isn't there, perhaps holed coins, or damaged coins would be better.
Also the US considered patterns for a gold dollar in1849 with a square hole in the center and then from 1850-1852, several different patterns with a round hole in the center ( cent, gold half dollar and gold dollar) similar to some foreign coins, but these patterns never became actual coinage. The idea was that the coins could be stacked on a spindle and easily contained and counted. If such coins had actually been produced, the grading system would have to account for the "hole".
General usage in the numismatic community is that "holed coin" means a coin minted without a hole in which one has been drilled or punched. Coins minted with an open center (Chinese/Japanese/Anamese cash coins cast for over a millenium, Japanese 5 and 50 yen coins in current circulation, etc.) are not usually referred to that way, and the only effect those holes have on grading is that they (almost) double the amount of rim area that is subject to getting dings.
holed for me! When i get a plugged coin it is with the intent to remove the plug! Usually they come out with a little force from a paper clip, but I've had a couple that required my drill to fix. lol My holed type set is coming along nicely, someday I'll have to post photos it is rather interesting.
