Great Britain 1889 double florin
This specimen was lot 71082 in Stack's Bowers Collector's Choice sale (Costa Mesa, CA, October 2021), where it sold for $180. The catalog description[1] noted, "GREAT BRITAIN. Double Florin (4 Shillings), 1889. Victoria. PCGS Genuine--Cleaned, Unc Details. Inverted "1" in second "I" of "VICTORIA", and Arabic 1 in date. A well struck coin with frosty luster, on patch of dark plum toning on the periphery, and a few light hairlines in the obverse fields." The SCWC lists this type for 1887-90. It and the florin were struck in an experiment to decimalize the pound (10 florins = one pound). The florin was accepted but the double florin was a flop. A variety exists with an inverted "1" in "VICTORIA".
Recorded mintage: 1,185,000.
Specification: 22.62 g, .925 fine silver, .6727 troy oz ASW.
Catalog reference: S-3923; KM-763.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Bressett, Kenneth E., A Guide Book of English Coins, Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, 2nd Ed., Racine, WI: Whitman Publishing, 1962.
- Skingley, Philip, ed., Standard Catalogue of British Coins: Coins of England & the United Kingdom, 46th edition, London: Spink & Son, 2011.
- 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.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The October 2021 Collector's Choice sale: World and Ancient Coins, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2021.
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