Coins with hole in middle?

[Lorne]

I'm sifting through my father in law's coin collection and now liquidating
the European coins.

I have 3 coins with a hole in the middle. They are French, I think - one
side has "Liberte Egalite Fraternite" at the top, "25" on one side of the
hole and "Cmes" on the other side. The obverse has a stylized R and F on
either side of the hole and what looks to be a hood or helmet above the
hole.

I have two that are the 25 value and one is 10. 1918, 1925, 1930.

I'm curious of the significance of the hole in the middle. And whether
these are indeed French coins. Thanks.

[Stujoe]

Lorne spoke thusly...

Post by Lorne
I'm curious of the significance of the hole in the middle.

I don't know the significance (or reasons) of the holes in some coins.
However, I just bought a couple of 2001 Philippines 5 Sentimos that have
holes in the middle so the hole design idea is still in use, I guess.
They are *very* small so I could see the advantage of putting them on a
string through the hole in order to not lose them. Don't know if that
was the reason for the hole in them but it couldn't hurt. ;)

The US also had some patterns that had holes in the middle:

http://uspatterns.com/uspatterns/j1742p1954.html

http://uspatterns.com/uspatterns/j1724p1934.html

are two I remember seeing. Don't know if there were more.

[The Fausts]

Post by Stujoe
Lorne spoke thusly...

Post by Lorne
I'm curious of the significance of the hole in the middle.

I don't know the significance (or reasons) of the holes in some coins.
However, I just bought a couple of 2001 Philippines 5 Sentimos that have
holes in the middle so the hole design idea is still in use, I guess.
They are *very* small so I could see the advantage of putting them on a
string through the hole in order to not lose them. Don't know if that
was the reason for the hole in them but it couldn't hurt. ;)

I believe being able to put them on a string is one advantage, and
another is that you can increase the diameter to something more
reasonable without increasing the weight.

Eric

[Dale Hallmark]

Post by The Fausts

Post by Stujoe
Lorne spoke thusly...

Post by Lorne
I'm curious of the significance of the hole in the middle.

I don't know the significance (or reasons) of the holes in some coins.
However, I just bought a couple of 2001 Philippines 5 Sentimos that have
holes in the middle so the hole design idea is still in use, I guess.
They are *very* small so I could see the advantage of putting them on a
string through the hole in order to not lose them. Don't know if that
was the reason for the hole in them but it couldn't hurt. ;)

I believe being able to put them on a string is one advantage, and
another is that you can increase the diameter to something more
reasonable without increasing the weight.
Eric

And it can be cheaper I would think?
Less material and less cost?

Dale
reminds me of the featherless chicken

[note.boy]

The holes are usually punched out so there is no saving in metal, I
suppose the cut out bits could be recycled, and the hole punching must
add to the cost of manufacture. Billy

Post by Dale Hallmark

Post by The Fausts

Post by Stujoe
Lorne spoke thusly...

Post by Lorne
I'm curious of the significance of the hole in the middle.

I don't know the significance (or reasons) of the holes in some coins.
However, I just bought a couple of 2001 Philippines 5 Sentimos that have
holes in the middle so the hole design idea is still in use, I guess.
They are *very* small so I could see the advantage of putting them on a
string through the hole in order to not lose them. Don't know if that
was the reason for the hole in them but it couldn't hurt. ;)

I believe being able to put them on a string is one advantage, and
another is that you can increase the diameter to something more
reasonable without increasing the weight.
Eric

And it can be cheaper I would think?
Less material and less cost?
Dale
reminds me of the featherless chicken

[A.Gent]

Post by note.boy
The holes are usually punched out so there is no saving in metal, I
suppose the cut out bits could be recycled, and the hole punching must
add to the cost of manufacture. Billy

Then there's the very first Australian coin, the Holey Dollar:
http://www.australianstamp.com/Coin-web/aust/earlyaus/holey$.htm

The bit that was punched out of the centre (the -excuse me- "dump") was
worked flat and then stuck with a design to yield a 15p coin.

[Colin Kynoch]

Post by A.Gent

Post by note.boy
The holes are usually punched out so there is no saving in metal, I
suppose the cut out bits could be recycled, and the hole punching must
add to the cost of manufacture. Billy

http://www.australianstamp.com/Coin-web/aust/earlyaus/holey$.htm
The bit that was punched out of the centre (the -excuse me- "dump") was
worked flat and then stuck with a design to yield a 15p coin.

And spawned a Tv show hosted by Roy and HG.

Maybe our good US friends will miss the reason for the -excuse me-

Colin Kynoch

[A.Gent]

Post by Colin Kynoch
Maybe our good US friends will miss the reason for the -excuse me-
Colin Kynoch

I doubt it.

[Colin Kynoch]

Post by A.Gent

Post by Colin Kynoch
Maybe our good US friends will miss the reason for the -excuse me-
Colin Kynoch

I doubt it.

I always thought dump was a peculiarly Aussie term.

Colin Kynoch

[Christian Feldhaus]

Post by Lorne
I have 3 coins with a hole in the middle. They are French, I think - one
side has "Liberte Egalite Fraternite" at the top, "25" on one side of the
hole and "Cmes" on the other side. The obverse has a stylized R and F on
either side of the hole and what looks to be a hood or helmet above the
hole.

Yes, those are French coins. RF means République Française (French
Republic), and Cmes is short for centimes. The hood is the "Phrygian
cap" or "liberty cap" referring to the French Revolution.

Post by Lorne
I'm curious of the significance of the hole in the middle. And whether
these are indeed French coins. Thanks.

As for that hole, well, it may have been useful for keeping one's coins
together. But the more practical purpose is ... the hole allows making
large coins without using as much material as one would need for a
"full" coin of the same size :-)

Christian

[Lorne]

Thanks for the thorough explanation. I very much appreciate it!

Post by Christian Feldhaus

Post by Lorne
I have 3 coins with a hole in the middle. They are French, I think -
one side has "Liberte Egalite Fraternite" at the top, "25" on one
side of the hole and "Cmes" on the other side. The obverse has a
stylized R and F on either side of the hole and what looks to be a
hood or helmet above the hole.

Yes, those are French coins. RF means République Française (French
Republic), and Cmes is short for centimes. The hood is the "Phrygian
cap" or "liberty cap" referring to the French Revolution.

Post by Lorne
I'm curious of the significance of the hole in the middle. And
whether these are indeed French coins. Thanks.

As for that hole, well, it may have been useful for keeping one's
coins together. But the more practical purpose is ... the hole allows
making large coins without using as much material as one would need
for a "full" coin of the same size :-)
Christian

[Bob Peterson]

Post by Lorne
Thanks for the thorough explanation. I very much appreciate it!

Post by Christian Feldhaus

Post by Lorne
I have 3 coins with a hole in the middle. They are French, I think -
one side has "Liberte Egalite Fraternite" at the top, "25" on one
side of the hole and "Cmes" on the other side. The obverse has a
stylized R and F on either side of the hole and what looks to be a
hood or helmet above the hole.

Yes, those are French coins. RF means République Française (French
Republic), and Cmes is short for centimes. The hood is the "Phrygian
cap" or "liberty cap" referring to the French Revolution.

Post by Lorne
I'm curious of the significance of the hole in the middle. And
whether these are indeed French coins. Thanks.

As for that hole, well, it may have been useful for keeping one's
coins together. But the more practical purpose is ... the hole allows
making large coins without using as much material as one would need
for a "full" coin of the same size :-)

Maybe they were issued for some special purpose and they chose to put holes
in them to indicate that purpose. Possibly they were a new size issue and
wanted people not to confues them with previous issues of similar size.

Post by Lorne

Post by Christian Feldhaus
Christian

--
Lorne Sundby

[A.E. Gelat]

There wads no special purpose, but it was customary in many of the British
colonial minting, and in other countries, for the smaller denominations.

Tony

Post by Bob Peterson

Post by Lorne
Thanks for the thorough explanation. I very much appreciate it!

Post by Christian Feldhaus

Post by Lorne
I have 3 coins with a hole in the middle. They are French, I think -
one side has "Liberte Egalite Fraternite" at the top, "25" on one
side of the hole and "Cmes" on the other side. The obverse has a
stylized R and F on either side of the hole and what looks to be a
hood or helmet above the hole.

Yes, those are French coins. RF means République Française (French
Republic), and Cmes is short for centimes. The hood is the "Phrygian
cap" or "liberty cap" referring to the French Revolution.

Post by Lorne
I'm curious of the significance of the hole in the middle. And
whether these are indeed French coins. Thanks.

As for that hole, well, it may have been useful for keeping one's
coins together. But the more practical purpose is ... the hole allows
making large coins without using as much material as one would need
for a "full" coin of the same size :-)

Maybe they were issued for some special purpose and they chose to put holes
in them to indicate that purpose. Possibly they were a new size issue and
wanted people not to confues them with previous issues of similar size.

Post by Lorne

Post by Christian Feldhaus
Christian

--
Lorne Sundby

[Christian Feldhaus]

Post by A.E. Gelat
There wads no special purpose, but it was customary in many of the British
colonial minting, and in other countries, for the smaller denominations.

Don't know exactly whether the mint, or the manufacturer of the
planchets, actually saves money by making coins with holes. But it is
interesting to see how, for example, the Danish 25 øre coin designs
switched from "no hole" to "hole", then back to "no hole", then "hole"
again and now "no hole", all within less than 100 years :-)

Christian

[Bob Peterson]

I guess I always assumed there was some reason for it, like they changed
sizes of coins and wanted people to see that there was an obvious
difference.

Post by Christian Feldhaus

Post by A.E. Gelat
There wads no special purpose, but it was customary in many of the British
colonial minting, and in other countries, for the smaller denominations.

Don't know exactly whether the mint, or the manufacturer of the
planchets, actually saves money by making coins with holes. But it is
interesting to see how, for example, the Danish 25 øre coin designs
switched from "no hole" to "hole", then back to "no hole", then "hole"
again and now "no hole", all within less than 100 years :-)
Christian