The Silver Florin in Australia

Many types

Florins generally, including gold types, form the subject of a chapter in an excellent publication from The British Museum – “Symbols of Power – Ten Coins that Changed the World” (2015).

This puts it up there with iconic things such as shekels and dollars which also have a chapter in that neat little book.

Regarding florins, it says

…the florin remained a part of the British currency system with the result that it entered the currencies of several countries within the British Empire and Commonwealth.
p.60-1

Indian rupee, hammered silver coin 1721-48 (Mughal period)

The view from down under

The Australian perspective is interesting, stemming as it does from not only British coins in daily use over roughly the 18^th– 20^th centuries, but also coins readily available from many places in the Empire, including Indian rupees:

This continued use of the rupee in the new Australian colonies was due to a
serious deficiency in small silver coins being minted by the English Mint in
London between 1758 and 1816, largely as a result of the Napoleonic Wars.
.
Graeme Stephens and Walter Bloom, “Description of the silver rupees of India as used in the early Australian colonies” (Perth Numismatic Journal v53 no2 May, 2021)

Unfortunately, there appears to be a general lack of information for the period 1810 to 1840 or so…, still the use of sub continental coins declined to end more or less with the end of the East India Co rupees.

East India Co Rupee 1835

Dutch Guilder 1763

QV coins

At any rate, Victorian era (1837-1901) silver florins form part of the Australian florin set and there are four main types.

The first, dated 1849, the ‘Gothic’ design type (1851-1887) and two older portraits known as the ‘Jubilee’ and ‘Old Head’.

These are attractive coins, legal tender in Australia although it’s uncertain how many actually made it here – I have no idea at all!

What is known though, is that the short lived double florins did in fact arrive.

Great Britain Florin 1849 ‘Godless’ type

Great Britain Florin 1866 ‘Gothic’ type

Great Britain Double Florin 1887 – ‘Jubilee Head’ type

UK 1887 double florin reverse close up, new light angle showing the Roman 1 in the date

UK 1887 double florin obverse close up, new light angle showing the coin's lustre

Great Britain ‘Old Head’ obverse

After that there’s the British stuff up to say, 1910 which is when the first Australian silver florin came out.

Of course, later dates were accepted as late as the 1920s – there’s hoard evidence for that [W R Bloom and C E Pitchfork (2012) ‘Two 1921 NSW coin hoards’ in “Journal of the Numismatic Association of Australia” (Vol 23)].