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CODE
DATE
Ref
[FL] FLORINS 1902 - 1936
GRADE
Price (£)
Edward VII 1902 - 1910
Bright - Choice
Rev. A very tiny rim indent - 2 o'clock Bright
Obv. A tiny edge indent - 11 o'clock Bright
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Picture - Very light tone
Picture Date: Fair
Picture - Bright
Picture
Obv. Very faint hair-line scratch below ear.
Picture - toned
Picture - Lightly cleaned
Strong Fine +
Picture - Brightish
For lower grades see our Silver bullion section
George V 1911 - 1919 (0.925 silver)
1911 2 Obverse dies
*
Due to the poor strike for the obverse the
obverse grade is probably only EF?
stock
Well struck head - Bright
Reasonably well struck head - Bright
Reasonably strike - both sides - Bright
Reasonable strike - Bright
1913 2 date Type dies
1914 2 Reverse dies
Obv. Reasonably well struck head - Bright
See our 'Silver bullion' page
Obv. Good head strike.
Tiny edge nick at 4 o'clock. Choice Bright
Reasonable head strike
Obv. Tiny dig by OMN Fairly good head strike
For lower grade George V florins - See our 'Silver bullion' page
George V 1920 - 1936 (0.500 silver)
1920 & 1923 2 Obverse dies
In February 1920 the price of silver rose to record prices - to 5/6d or
(0.275 pence) per ounce which meant that it cost more than the
legal tender value of the coins to make them. As a result the
government hastily decided to reduce the fineness of the silver
coinage from the recognised 0.925 fineness to the new reduced
0.500 fineness. Did was achieved in the first instant by mixing
1/2 silver & 1/2 copper together. This was quickly followed by mixing
1/2 silver & 1/2 cupro-nickel 'discarded' bullet shell cases - they
consisted of 90% copper & 10% nickel.
These early coins when worn turned to a dull brown !
Obv. Metal flaw above ear - bit of metal missing
The metal mix was never considered quite right so in 1921 the
nickel content was reduced from 10% to 5% and the other 5% was
now manganese but due to this the coins quickly 'coppered'.
Even new the coins had a slightly gunmetal grey appearance
instead of a 'silver' colour.
The problem of getting the right metal mix continued.
In 1922 the original idea of using 1/2 silver & 1/2 copper was
retried this time with the blank or coin planchets being deeply
blanched or bleached which meant that a higher percentage of
silver resided on the coin surface - which would give a more
silvered look to the coin. Again this was not the solution !
Bright
Obv. 2 I of BRITT to bead (Very rare in 1923)
2 + E (D.1752) Very rare.
Last example noted in London Coin auctions
04/09/2011 # 1972 GEF £399.50
Obv. Good metal mix
Obv. Slight copper showing thru on high spots
Obv. Bright. Rev. Just starting to tone
Brightish
The final attempt to get the dies and the metal mix right occurred
when the final mixture became - 50% silver, 40% copper, 5% nickel
& 5% zinc. This combination appeared to worked.
Light golden / reddish tone