Poland has recovered a valuable coin. It is worth millions of złoty

The historic Holey Dollar coin, considered one of the most valuable in the history of Australian numismatics, has returned to the District Museum in Toruń. Years ago, it was stolen and ended up on the black market, and its fate remained unknown for a long time. It was found by an Australian collector, who purchased it at auction for over half a million dollars.

The city museum in Toruń was robbed of valuable, historic coins for nine years. As determined by the prosecutor's office, the theft was committed by one of the institution's employees - curator Adam M.

In total, about 360 coins were lost, the man was accused of misappropriating 194 of them. The coins were supposedly bought from him by a numismatist from Toruń, Andrzej R., and then put up for auction in Poland and abroad.

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Polish and foreign law enforcement agencies were involved in recovering the coins. As a result, eight of them have been recovered so far. On Tuesday, another valuable coin was returned to the museum's collection - the Honey Dollar minted in Australia.

Investigators determined that the coin was sent to Germany and then to Melbourne, Australia, where it was purchased at an auction for over half a million dollars by a collector from Perth.

In August 2024, the buyer was identified and, according to the Australian police, agreed to return the coin voluntarily .

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"This story is incredible, a bit criminal and detective, because a very large investigation was conducted into where this coin ended up, how it was stolen and what its story was afterwards. The coin is currently worth over two million złoty , but I think that after this story its value has increased," emphasized Marta Cienkowska , Undersecretary at the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, in a statement from the Toruń museum.

As the museum explains, the Honey Dollar comes from Australia and is considered the oldest means of payment on the continent , being also a national symbol of Australian numismatics.

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The coin was struck on a Spanish Charles III silver dollar cut from a 1777 Mexican coin. Despite its age, it has been preserved in excellent condition , suggesting that it was never used in regular payment circulation.

It is not known how the coin left Australia, but in 1914 the Holey Dollar was acquired in Amsterdam by a Polish collector, Walery Amrogowicz. Before his death, he donated his collection to the Scientific Society in Toruń.