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 Replies: 10 / Views: 2,377 |
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Valued Member
269 Posts |
Australian pre-decimal collectors know that 1914H, 1915 and 1932 florins are rare. I had no problem at all acquiring a 1914H and 1932 in any grade I desired. Someone always has one for sale. The 1915 London minted florin is in my experience incredibly hard to find in high grades, and I have no idea why. In MS grades it takes a quantum leap in value and $50,000 won't buy the benchmark coin (which is for sale). Heritage have them occasionally but not often. This coin is interesting to me, and I would ask if anyone has speculative info on how many of the original 500,000 may still exist, and why there are dozens of 15h's for every 15, when the mintage of the 15h was only 50% more (750k). Also be interested in what grades other collectors have and any opinions on it. Bluesheet says VF $150 / EF.XF 280 / AU55 1,400 and I somehow doubt those prices reflect market reality. If VF 1915 Australian florins are really going for $150 - they are well hidden. AU55/58 is the kind of grade I want and a several month long worldwide search has turned up - Nada. Why is it so tough to find? Here is a picture of the best one for those unfamiliar.  |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
Coin pictured is a sharp strike: centre of star above shield is there, faces of emu and kangaroo are there, sharply defined feathers on the emu.
No sign of any nicks or scratches, excellent lustre, therefore high MS grade.
I have never come across one like this, perhaps it is a specimen first strike off fresh dies, and perhaps has been retained since it was struck.
I can guess that the London coins simply went straight into circulation, and that the coining press pressures were not normally as great as the Heaton struck coins, and so wear would appear to be more obvious.
I would agree the the Bluesheet values do not accurately reflect reality.
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Valued Member
 269 Posts |
The pic is MS64. It is not the coin that was sold in IAG's benchmark collection sale which is MS65 or 66. Nonetheless it's the one I'd buy if I could.
I don't want that coin, they cost a fortune - I want an AU grade coin, and I cannot find one.
The post was to ask opinions as to why this coin is so rare in decent grades i.e. AU**, and to ask what grade of this coin collectors here have.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
992 Posts |
I suspect most of the London mintage went directly to Australian troops in Flanders or the Middle East. No basis for that suspicion, but the troops were paid six bob a day, with one shilling held back for demobbing pay after the war. That was three times the pay rate for a British soldier.
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
Coming up with the right answer as to why London Two Bobs are much scarcer than Heaton coins,
may not make it any easier to find a decent London coin in the highest grade that you can afford to pay for.
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Valued Member
269 Posts |
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but the troops were paid six bob a day, with one shilling held back Yes, they were indeed nicknamed 'six bob a day tourists'. Here is a news clip from June 1915: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/...cle/81003870- and a fascinating insight from 1930 here: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/...cle/38520507From what I can find online, London's mints had all sorts of problems with the florins and were too busy with the war to waste further time and asked Heaton's mint in Birmingham to take care of it. I suspect that many of those 500,000 were rejected by the mint as inferior or destroyed later for silver, but I could easily be wrong there. Post 1915, Melbourne also struggled with the florin until 1919 when the much better Taylor and Challen presses were put into use for florin production. A quick scan of ebay and other auction houses shows plenty of 1932 and 1915H florins, but decent 1915 London coins are possibly now rarer than the 1932. Quote:
may not make it any easier to find a decent London coin in the highest grade that you can afford to pay for. Yep true enough. It's not about my search so much - it's about an interestingly rare coin that many local and international collectors have difficulty finding in any grade above aVF. I and many others find the history behind these to be fascinating and enjoy sharing knowledge & learning about them. John Sharples expertise is unmatched and I have learned a lot from his writings. Edited by CoinOS
02/20/2018 8:06 pm
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
852 Posts |
A bluesheet of $1400 for AU55 seems OK. Universal had an auction on 27th November with an AU58 available for $2000. It didn't get a bid so you could have got it for that price or less.
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Valued Member
269 Posts |
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AU58 available for $2000 Thanks for looking that up, appreciate it. |
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Valued Member
Australia
185 Posts |
Very interesting.
I've always had the idea that the 1919 and 1921 Florins were the ones that had the better value appreciation potential and always found them to be a little difficult to come by in aEF/EF/EF+ or there abouts.
Interesting bit of history thanks, CoinOS, and others. I have - somewhere - a copy of each of the 1962 - 1963 and 1963 -1964 Australian Decimal Currency Board's annual reports which lists the number of copper and silver coins withdrawn from circulation for each of those years, and melted down...( no, tears aren't running down my face, but..... )
If anyone is interested in the coin withdrawal figures for those years, I'll look for reports and gladly list the figures from the 2 reports for you.
Further, if anyone is interested, I have a photocopy of The Sydney Sunday Telegraph newspaper from, I think about Nov 1965, which had an excellent article listing all the known upset pennies and their ( potential ) values at the time in the various grades. This might or might be available somewhere on the internet via Google.
Ok, yes, I'm a chronic horder of anything which seems worthwhile and/or trivial at the time.
Let me know if interested in the Australian Decimal Currency Board's Annual Reports' figures and I'll seek out where that " somewhere " is.
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
1040 Posts |
Quote:
Further, if anyone is interested, I have a photocopy of The Sydney Sunday Telegraph newspaper from, I think about Nov 1965, which had an excellent article listing all the known upset pennies and their ( potential ) values at the time in the various grades. This might or might be available somewhere on the internet via Google.
Ok, yes, I'm a chronic horder of anything which seems worthwhile and/or trivial at the time. SMRP,i would appreciate if you come across or have access to articles on the 1930 or 1919 Double Dot Pennies from the period 1960-1966 could you please Post,not a lot shows on Google unfortunately or even the National/State Libraries as far as Newspaper Coin articles from that era. As a Paper Boy at the time I remember reading dozens of articles about Pre-Dec.Coins,they were a daily event in the Sydney Papers as we headed towards Decimal Currency and I'm at a loss as to why they don't appear in searches.TIA. |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
2180 Posts |
I've noticed this too - often enough nice 1915H florins appear but rarely the 1915.
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Replies: 10 / Views: 2,377 |
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Posted 02/20/2018 07:53 am
