Reproduced with the kind permission of the author Fred Lever. Early in 2017 I was perturbed to see on our premier coin web site the ‘Australian Coin Forum’ a string of less than correct advice offered to a newcomer regarding the origin of the 1930 Penny. Part of the uninformed waffle was to re-invent the […]
In 1934 the Melbourne Centenary Committee (MCC) entered into arrangements with the Commonwealth Government for the minting of 75000 commemorative florins to the face value of £7,500. Under those arrangements the florins were to be sold for 3/- with all profits going to a fund under the control of the MCC to offset costs from […]
In 1954 the newly crowned Queen of England, Elizabeth II toured Australia in February. To commemorate this royal tour the Royal Mint branch in Melbourne minted a 50% silver florin using master dies and punches supplied by the Royal Mint in London. The obverse of the coin bore the bare headed portrait of Elizabeth as […]
1951 was the golden anniversary (50th) of the federation of Australia. A florin (known as the Federation florin) was released to commemorate the event. The obverse bears the usual Paget portrait of George VI while the reverse bears a design by William Leslie Bowles, a Victorian sculptor. His design was one of several considered by […]
Minted and released in the same year the 1937 Australian Crown was minted both as a commemorative of the Coronation of King George VI and also to trial the large coin in circulation. It was minted to demand and proved to be popular with an eventual mintage of 1,008,000. It turned out that the popularity […]
The crown was minted for just the second year in 1938 and due to the un-popularity of the coin just 101,600 of the coins were released into circulation. It is typified by a weak strike compared with the 1937 issue. This weak strike is obvious in the lack of definition in the hair above the […]
When Australia adopted it’s own coinage in 1910/1911 the decision was made not to include some of the denominations used in Great Britain. One of these was the crown or five shillings. However in 1937 to mark the coronation of King George VI it was decided to mint a crown sized silver coin for circulation […]
1938 to 1963 Shilling Designer: George Kruger Gray Weight: 5.65 grams Diameter: 23.5 mm Mint: Melbourne 1938 – 1963, Perth 1946 only, San Francisco 1942 – 1944. There was also a pattern minted in London in 1937. Minted 1938 to 1952 with King George VI obverse, then from 1953 to 1963 with Queen Elizabeth II […]
The florin (or two shillings) was minted for Australian use from 1911 through to 1963. During this time it was minted in England, and the Royal Mint branches in Melbourne and Sydney. The Australian florin weighs 11.31 grams and measures 28.5mm in diameter. It was minted in sterling silver from 1911 till 1945. From 1946 […]
The 1927 Parliament Florin was the first ever commemorative circulating coin to be issued in this country. It was Minted to celebrate the opening of the then new (and now old) Parliament house in Canberra. It is also often called a Canberra florin. With a mintage figure of 2 million a large majority of […]