What's a Florin?

Cladiator · April 30, 2009 6:01AM

I've no clue.

Where does it fall in the denomination scale?
How big is it?
Is it silver? If so, what percentage?
What dates was it made?
Any other info on 'em?

Gazza · April 30, 2009 6:39AM

A florin was 1/10 pound later to by called a two shilling piece. Pre 1920 0.925 silver. 1920 to 1946 0.500 silver and 1947 to 1967 cupro nickel.
Gary

Cladiator · April 30, 2009 6:58AM

<< A florin was 1/10 pound >>

So it's like a dime?

farthing · April 30, 2009 7:07AM

A Crown was worth 5 Shillings so a florin=2 Shillings or 2/5 of a Crown. In size it is between a shilling and a half crown - larger than our quarter.

Hussulo · April 30, 2009 7:40AM

Here is a list of Pre-Decimal Coins & Their Equivalent Values:
http://www.coinsgb.com/Predecimal_Coins_and_their_equivalent_value.html

thisnamztaken · April 30, 2009 9:14AM

Here's my 1849 so-called "Godless" Florin. Notice that it says "One Tenth of a Pound" on the reverse.
*edited to add: and "One Florin" on the top of its reverse.

Doogy · April 30, 2009 9:17AM

Cladiator,

now that you're really confused, here is another wrinkle; the DOUBLE Florin

Cladiator · April 30, 2009 9:24AM

Oy vey! Damn those Limies and their cursed coinage!

FilthyBroke · April 30, 2009 9:41AM

Don't feel bad, I had to make a chart to figure it out. I'm collecting old hammered coinage, and apparently it's different than today's denominations.

It started something like this (I think, I need to find that chart again to be sure):

1 penny was 1/240 of a pound
a groat was worth 4 pence (pennies)
a shilling was 12 pence, or 1/20 of a pound
1/2 crown was 2 shilling and a sixpence
a crown was 1/4 pound

Of course this was from the early days, and probably just confuses the matter now.

IloiloKano · April 30, 2009 10:24AM

<< a crown was 1/4 pound >>

So a crown was 0.55 kilograms.

FilthyBroke · April 30, 2009 11:13AM

<< 

<< a crown was 1/4 pound >>

So a crown was 0.55 kilograms.

>>

I didn't say it made sense... Actually, I read that the early crowns weighed around 30g, does that sound right?

The actual weights seem to have changed several times early on,(maybe due to silver purity?) which makes the whole thing a little too confusing.

StubbyMcNumbthumbs · April 30, 2009 11:44AM

<< A florin was 1/10 pound later to by called a two shilling piece. Pre 1920 0.925 silver. 1920 to 1946 0.500 silver and 1947 to 1967 cupro nickel.
Gary >>

That's correct for UK Florins. Australian florins were .925 silver until 1945. After that, they were .50 silver until 1963 when the last ones were made.

I've only lived here in Australia for about 4 years and I'm still learning the British Commonwealth ways of doing things, but I think it's something like this...

Farthing (one fourth of a Penny), HalfPenny, Penny, Threepence
Sixpence = 2 Threepences
Shilling = 2 Sixpences (or 12 Pennies)
Florin = 2 Shillings (or 24 Pennies)
Half Crown = 2 Shillings+Sixpence (2s6d) or 30 Pennies
Crown = 5 Shillings (or 60 Pennies)
Half Sovereign = 5 Florins (or 10 Shillings or 120 Pennies)
Sovereign (aka Pound) = 10 Florins (or 20 Shillings or 240 Pennies)

I believe the term "pounds sterling" came from back when the penny was a very small .925 sterling silver coin. It took 240 of them to equal one pound in weight. At different times past, the "pound" was worth 22 shillings (Guinea), 21 shillings and 20 shillings, depending several factors.

Someone please correct me if I've gotten any of this wrong. I realize there are more obscure denominations I haven't listed, but these are the most common. I'm still learning, myself.

Stub

wybrit · April 30, 2009 12:26PM

Groat = 4 pence

The florin was an early attempt at decimalization.

The Brits actually stopped minting the halfcrown for a while and then, in a curious move, brought it back to circulate alongside the florin until 1967.

The halfcrown was finally demonetized in 1969, 120 years after the first circulating florins were issued. 2 years later, the florin became 10 pence in the new decimal system.

wybrit · April 30, 2009 12:41PM

Here is a link to a YouTube video explaining "D-Day."

7Jaguars · April 30, 2009 12:53PM

Actually the denomination florin, although we customarily associate it with the Brits, was a unit of account and currency in many other European countries as well (incl. Italian States, Belgium, etc.) as early as the 13th century AD.

IloiloKano · April 30, 2009 2:29PM

Actually, my calculation was off. If a crown was 1/4 pound, and 1 pound is 0.4545... kilograms, then a crown should be 0.113636... pounds or about 1.8 ounces.

ProofArtworkonCircs · April 30, 2009 3:32PM

There is a strange symetry here.

twenty pennyweight equals 1 troy ounce
12 troy ounces equals one troy pound

12 pennies equals 1 shilling
20 shillings equals one pound sterling

240 equals a pound either way.

ProofArtworkonCircs · April 30, 2009 3:34PM

<<Actually, my calculation was off. If a crown was 1/4 pound, and 1 pound is 0.4545... kilograms, then a crown should be 0.113636... pounds or about 1.8 ounces.>>

Now, do you want to recalculate for troy weight (used to weigh precious metals)?

IloiloKano · May 1, 2009 1:32AM

<< Now, do you want to recalculate for troy weight (used to weigh precious metals)? >>

ProofArtworkonCircs · May 1, 2009 2:08AM

<<Actually, my calculation was off. If a crown was 1/4 pound, and 1 pound is 0.4545... kilograms, then a crown should be 0.113636... pounds or about 1.8 ounces.>>

Recalculating for a troy pound of .3732418 kg, I calculate a crown should weigh .09331 kg and it actually weighs .02828 kg.
So a pre 1920 crown has 30.3 % of the original silver weight that it would have had under the ancient system.
I am surprised that it is even 30 %. With centuries of inflation, I thought it might be less.

Sylvestius · May 1, 2009 3:34PM

To really confuse the waters...

The British silver florin (worth 2/- or 1/10 £) used from 1849 onwards was not the first time a coin called a florin had circulated in England.

In 1244 there was (briefly) a gold coin called the Florin which was worth 6/8d (1/3rd of a £)

Sapyx · May 1, 2009 3:59PM

<< ...At different times past, the "pound" was worth 22 shillings (Guinea), 21 shillings and 20 shillings, depending several factors.

Someone please correct me if I've gotten any of this wrong... >>

Actually, the "pound", as a money of account, always stayed the same, at 20 shillings; it was the face values of the coins themselves that changed. The gold coin known as a "guinea" was intended to be a 1 pound coin when first released, but they had to re-tariff it a couple of times with the changing values of gold and silver. The guinea eventually ended up with a value of 21 shillings or £1/1/-. This possible need for re-tariffing was the reason that the guinea and it's successor, the sovereign, didn't have a face value stamped on them; the government reserved the right to change the official face value at any time.

Back to the specific topic: florins by the British standard (2 shillings or 1/10th of a pound) were issued in several British and formerly British countries: Australia, Biafra, British West Africa*, Cyprus*, Fiji, Gambia*, Ghana*, Ireland, Malawi, New Zealand, Nigeria*, Rhodesia/Rhodesia & Nyasaland/Southern Rhodesia*, South Africa*, Zambia and the Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek*. For countries marked with a * they're not actually called "florins" on the coin, but the value and intent is the same.

Other countries used different kinds of florins. The first "florin" was a mediaeval gold coin from Florence, Italy, with a large fleur-de-lys on it, hence it's name. British East Africa had, until 1921, a monetary system of 100 cents to the florin. The Austrian monetary system between 1857 and 1892 was 100 kreuzer to the florin. The pre-euro Dutch gulden was colloquially known as a florin, and Dutch people seemed to use florin and gulden interchangeably; the monetary system on the Dutch island of Aruba is currently 100 cents to the florin.

Aruban florins are the only coins officially called "florins" you can find in circulation anywhere today; all the others are obsolete.

What's a Florin?

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