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 Replies: 9 / Views: 2,792 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
602 Posts |
Hello. I bought a Fiji Florin at a Swap-O-Rama for $4 and I was curious if anyone actually knew anything about the coin. The date is 1941 and has the face of crowned-King George the VI on the front. The color is gray and the rim is all gray, so I know that it is a silver coin. If anyone could fill me in on the mint amount, price value someone would be willing to pay (I found 2 listings on ebay, one for $80-90 and the other for $220--overpriced?), and any/all/other information, I would be very thankful. *The picture is of both sides, but is not of my actual coin. The front for my coin has a dark spot in the upper right area and my coin is less dinged up.*   |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
807 Posts |
I bought a Fiji florin not long ago myself.
The florin is two shillings or a tenth of a pound in the old British monetary system. This is one of three denominations of silver circulating coins produced for Fiji, the other two being the sixpence (half shilling) & the shilling. The composition of your specimen is 500 fine silver, & it was struck at London on the same blanks used for British, New Zealand, & other Empire florins (except Australia & South Africa, which had their own mints). In 1942 & 1943, florins were made at the San Francisco mint in 900 fine (US standard) silver. The silver coins are all dated 1934-1945, with the heads of George V & VI (the reverses do not change except for the dates) ; the same types are used for cupronickel strikes with the head of Elizabeth up to 1965 (1967 for the sixpence).
Mintages for the florin are 200 000 maximum (1934), 20 000 for this date. Some quantity of the 1945 issue, 100 000 minted, is supposed to have been sunk. As is typical for world coins, none of the dates is particularly valuable ; a particularly nice specimen might realize $100, but yours is probably not in that high a grade. Mine set me back little more than the bullion value.
But why not tell us a little about why the coin interested you, & why you bought it?
Edited by publius
08/12/2013 9:52 pm
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
3831 Posts |
I wouldn't say it's rare although I'm sure it's worth way more than 4 dollars. Probably 30-50 dollars? I remember buying the entire pre decimal set of Fiji coinage for around 300 - 400 dollars which I think it is a bargain. They can be found here: http://omnicoin.com/collection/gxse...ountry=10146My partial coin collection http://www.omnicoin.com/collection/gxseriesMy numismatics articles and collection: http://www.gxseries.com/numis/numis_index.htmRegularly updated at least once a month. |
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Moderator
 Australia
16829 Posts |
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
A dealer would probably buy this coin for stock for $10 or $12 (half cat.), if he wanted it, but would have to allow for tied up capital over time, all of his business running costs, and profit.
That makes your $4 investment look quite good.
That's the reasoning behind most of my purchases, although If I really want an item, as a retail customer, I will go up to somewhere near catalogue value, but hopefully, not above it.
Sometimes, you miss out on the occasional desirable item, but at least with this strategy, your budget can be kept under control, and overall, your collection can be obtained at good value for money.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
602 Posts |
I'll put pictures of my actual coin later today. As for why I bought it, I wanted to expand my silver collection while the price was hovering around $20 and certainly BEFORE it went back up. The man who sold me the coin actually had other coins, such as a lot of Mercury dimes and two silver quarters. The thing was, he mainly sold silver jewelry and had the coins off to the side. It isn't uncommon for jewelers to do this. I personally held the coin, and the edges were gray, so I knew it was silver. He wanted $5, but I gave my offer for $4 and he accepted. If this coin is worth $30-50 as stated above, I'm very happy with the deal, and like I said, I'll post the photos of the REAL coin sometime later today. Does the low mintage make it value, because I would enjoy selling this for $70+ :) |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
7096 Posts |
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I personally held the coin, and the edges were gray Looks like you got "Lucky" with this one . ALL cupro/Nickel coins are grey on the edges as well  |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
2180 Posts |
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Does the low mintage make it value It helps, though I don't think there's huge demand for Fijian coins. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
602 Posts |
I am thankful for the answers given above and they satisfy my question. I consider my question answered and an admin or someone higher can lock this forum if they want to, it makes no difference to me.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1962 Posts |
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Replies: 9 / Views: 2,792 |
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Posted 08/13/2013 12:03 am
