Ireland 1939 florin
This specimen was lot 24154 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2018), where it sold for $2,040. The catalog description[1] noted, "IRELAND. Florin, 1939. PCGS PROOF-65 Secure Holder. RARE. Sharply struck with just a light layer on tone and excellent eye appeal. From the Brighton Collection." This date is scarce. Irish coinage was designed to circulate alongside British coinage which was 0.500 fine silver in the thirties. The first Irish florins (= two shillings), issued 1928-37, featured the obverse legend "SAORSTAT EIREANN"; this type, issued 1939-43, merely stated "EIRE". This is the second highest mintage of the silver florins after the 1928.
Recorded mintage: 1,080,000 plus a few proofs.
Specification: 11.31 g, 0.750 fine silver, 28.5 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: KM-15, S-6634.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1901-2000, 47th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Skingley, Philip, ed., Standard Catalogue of British Coins: Coins of Scotland, Ireland and the Islands (Jersey, Guernsey, Man & Lundy), Pre-Decimal Issues, 2nd edition, London: Spink & Son, 2003.
- [1]Ponterio, Richard, Kyle Ponterio, John Kraljevich and Cris Chatigny, The January 2018 NYINC Sale: Ancient Coins, World Coins & Paper Money, featuring the Eldorado Collection of Colombian and Ecuadorian Coins, Santa Ana, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2017.
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