11 Bits Crenated center hole in Peru 8 Reales, KM# 97

This is not a Dominica issue. The host coin is a Spanish colonial Peruvian 8 Reales — KM#97, struck at Lima — that was subsequently counterstamped and holed by British Caribbean authorities for local circulation. Dominica, like several other Windward Islands colonies, authorized the mutilation of Spanish milled dollars to prevent their export and fix them within the local economy. The crenated center hole removed a plug of silver, simultaneously reducing the coin's intrinsic value to match its assigned local denomination and making the piece instantly distinguishable from an intact dollar.