Great Britain 1862 florin
This specimen was lot 21137 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Philadelphia, August 2018), where it sold for $720. The catalog description[1] noted, "GREAT BRITAIN. Florin (2 Shillings), 1862. NGC AU-53. Gently circulated with pale golden and lilac tone over the surfaces. A highly elusive key date florin, especially when found with highpoint detail that approaches full." This florin was Britain's first attempt to decimalize the pound (one florin = two shillings = 1/10 pound). It must have been popular, as it was struck in several variations 1848-87. There was even a brief issue of double florins. Full decimalization would have to wait until the 1960's, when the florin became the ten pence coin. This specimen realized about a third of its catalog value.
Recorded mintage: 594,000.
Specification: 11.31 g, 0.925 fine silver, 30.6 mm diameter, .336 troy oz ASW.
Catalog reference: S-3891; KM-746.1.
- Bressett, Kenneth E., A Guide Book of English Coins, Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, 2nd Ed., Racine, WI: Whitman Publishing, 1962.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Lobel, Richard, Mark Davidson, Allan Hailstone and Eleni Calligas, Coincraft's Standard Catalogue of English and UK Coins, 1066 to Date, London: Coincraft, 1995.
- Rayner, P. Alan, and Maurice Bull, English Silver Coinage from 1649, 6th Ed., London: Spink & Son, 2015.
- Skingley, Philip, ed., Standard Catalogue of British Coins: Coins of England & the United Kingdom, 46th edition, London: Spink & Son, 2011.
- [1]Ponterio, Richard, Kyle Ponterio and Chris Chatigny, The August 2018 Philadelphia ANA Auction: World Coins and Selections from the El Dorado Collection of Colombian Coins, Santa Ana, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2018.
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