1856 Florin Fake? Grade?

Wish I could help but have no experience with these.



to the CCF!

My initial thought was I couldn't see anything wrong with it, but looking closer there are a few concerns:
The border at 12 to 1 o'clock on the obverse looks too far from the rim,
The cross on the top of the crown looks squashed sideways,
The colon closest to the Queen's forehead is closer than usual,
The top edge of the bodice appears beaded whereas I believe the normal is more complex.
The plait below her ear looks very strong compared to the wear on the rest of the coin. (Most examples have this worn away almost completely.)

BUT - I do not have a book on Florin varieties, so I don't know if any of these anomalies are recognised deviations.

I believe that no dot after the date for the 1856 Florin is the norm. I can't find one with a dot and ebay has lots listed without.
Grade would be just about Fine with a fair wind. Value probably around £20 if genuine.

Use the sliding magnet test - look it up on google for a full explanation. Here is an extract from one:

"If you place a strong, rare-earth magnet called a Neodymium magnet on a silver coin or bar, it should not easily stick to it. If you are testing coins, you can angle one at 45 degrees and let the magnet slide down. It should slide down slowly - often spinning. If it sticks or it slides very quickly, it is not silver."

My book lists Victoria Florins as 28mm but Gothic Florins as 30mm its an old book (from 1988!) but the information is usually good on varieties...

It claims that on 1853, 1856 no dot after the date is very rare and that on 1858,1859 no dot after date is merely rare, 1865 and 1866 can have a colon after the date and it lists various date overs and an extra t in brit: and differring numbers of arc on some years.

Would ice cube test be a valid way to confirm it is silver? Don't have neodymium magnet nor where to buy in current situation.

Well it seems like it did get it wrong then.

I have a modern Spinks book but I tend to use an old "richards pocket reference" to look up mintages and which years coins were produced because its layout is convenient and it lists variants to look out for.

This is absolutely a counterfeit. The wear patterns are wrong, the tone is wrong, the style of the portrait is abysmal. From the graininess off of her face, as did @Princetane, I'd say its one of the Chinese cast fakes that have flooded the market in the last 20 years. Recently, there have even been more sophisticated die struck counterfeits coming to market.