Jubilee Florins

[ozjohn]

I have been trying to complete the run of jubilee florins 1887 thru 1892. 1887 seems to be the easiest date with the rest uncommon especially in the higher grades. I can understand this for 1891 and 1892 as they are low mintage years however 1887 thru 1890 should be fairly easy as they are of mintages of over a million. When you look on Ebay for these dates there are plenty of double florins but the normal florins are very thin on the ground with the exception of 1887.Does anyone know the reason for this? I have heard that double florins were unpopular at the time as they could be confused with a crown even though the reverse was completely different. Even so I cannot see anyone wanting to hoard an unpopular coin I would have thought they would pass them on asap. Any way there seems to be plenty of double florins except for 1892 as none were issued and very few florins for the other years. I do have a high grade 1892 which I obtained many years ago but 1889 - 1891 in high grade elude me.

[Mr T]

I would think the 1887 coins survive in reasonable numbers because they new designs commemorating whichever Jubilee it was, whereas subsequent years were nothing special and thus weren't held onto.

[1887jubilee]

Don't forget there are several different 1887 double florins. Say about 25 but I don't want to make life too difficult for you early on. I had the impression there were 11+ maundy =15 coins in the 1887 series but now I know of over 300! I must admit this includes the patterns, proofs, specimens and toy money by Lauer but still it is daunting to build a collection.

[ozjohn]

1 hour ago, Mr T said:

I would think the 1887 coins survive in reasonable numbers because they new designs commemorating whichever Jubilee it was, whereas subsequent years were nothing special and thus weren't held onto.

True but when it comes to halfcrowns with the exception of 1892 the other dates are fairly common whereas in the case of florins this is not true. As mentioned initially in the post the double florins are common although some with different 1s may be rarer also I cannot see people hanging on to what was considered to be an unpopular coin.

 

[shagreen]

First year of issue i.e. 1887 coins are always held on to hence more available now and in better condition, the other years you mention would have circulated more and hence been caught by the massive withdrawal of 925 fine silver in the 1920's onwards

[Mr T]

22 hours ago, ozjohn said:

True but when it comes to halfcrowns with the exception of 1892 the other dates are fairly common whereas in the case of florins this is not true. As mentioned initially in the post the double florins are common although some with different 1s may be rarer also I cannot see people hanging on to what was considered to be an unpopular coin.

 

Hm, it's odd that it doesn't apply for the half crowns - perhaps portions of the florins were sent to overseas colonies, but not in large enough numbers to have an impact on overall rarity?

[Mr T]

Actually as I think on this some more, it seems like the same thing happens with florins and half crowns of George V. I rarely see any decent florins for sale (if at all) and they seem expensive for what they are when I do, while half crowns seem more plentiful and cheap in comparison.

[ozjohn]

Mr T.  I think the mint quality of the florins is probably the worst for the reign with most UNCs looking like GVF or worse which may help to explain the difference you have described.