This is the first in a series of blogs I want to do about the rare coins that we may find while metal detecting here in Australia. I will start with the coins of Great Britain as they are obviously the most prevalent. An excellent resource for these coins can be found here Coins of England & The United Kingdom (2019) at Amazon, a very good book to help you identify finds but also an interesting read if you enjoy numismatics.
| Specifications | Double Florin |
| Composition: | 92.5% Silver |
| Weight: | 22.6 Grams |
| Diameter: | 36 mm |
The Double Florin was minted in Great Britain only in the years 1887, 1888, 1889 and 1890 and was worth four shillings as the name suggests. The coin proved unpopular hence the short mintage, this may have been due to the existence of the Crown which was a similar size, worth five shillings and had been in circulation for centuries.
Mintage
| 1887 | Arabic & Roman | London | 483,347 |
| 1887 | Arabic Proof | London | 2,916 |
| 1887 | Roman Proof | London | 1,084 |
| 1888 | Both Types | London | 243,340 |
| 1889 | Both Types | London | 1,185,111 |
| 1890 | Normal | London | 782,146 |
There are four coin varieties for the year 1887 and 2 varieties each for 1888 and 1889. The 1887 double florin has either an Arabic 1 or a Roman I in the date as seen below, with a proof version of each.
The 1888 and 1889 double florin has Victoria spelt either with the second I as an inverted 1 or using the letter I.
The 1890 Double Florin has only one type with an Arabic 1 and Victoria with the correct letters.
The double florin is not a common coin to be found in Australia by any means but it is not impossible to find one here as a detectorist in Tasmania discovered.
A very nice find and it shows that it is possible for any of us to pick one up as well, personally I won’t hold my breath but you never know your luck.
The value of any of these coins varies greatly depending on quality and rarity. They are not as expensive as I would have thought given the look of the coin and the low mintage. You can pick up a proof coin for under $1000 or a VF20 for around $60-$80 if you shop around.
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Double Florin photos courtesy of:
Museums Victoria Collections https://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/76701
Accessed 05 February 2019