Florin - 1908 Coat of Arms, Coin Type from Australia - detailed information

The Australian Florin is a silver coin which was used in the Commonwealth of Australia prior to decimalisation. It has the same dimensions and composition as the British pre-decimal florin, from which it is derived (for a time, the coins circulated in parallel and were interchangeable in Australia - but not in the United Kingdom). A Florin is equal to two shillings, or 24 pence, or one tenth of a pound.

The reverse of this first type of Australian florin coins features the 1908 Coat of Arms; it became obsolete almost immediately, since Australia received a new Coat of Arms in 1912. In 1938, a new design superseded this one - featuring the new Coat of Arms; the old type of coins remained in circulation. Unlike other denominations, some florin circulating commemoratives were also issued.

The coins were struck by four different mints; if they had mint marks for a particular year of issue, those are located under the date on the reverse:
- Royal Mint, 1910 - 1915, no mint mark
- Birmingham Mint (ex Heaton and Sons), 1914 - 1915, letter H
- Melbourne Mint, 1916 - 1936, letter M to 1919, then no mint mark
- Sydney Mint, 1924 - 1925, no mint mark

The coins were made of sterling silver (92.5%), weighing 11.31 g (0.3636 troy ounces) with an actual silver weight of 10.46 grams (0.3363 oz ASW).

After decimalisation on 14 February 1966, the florin was re-denominated as 20 cents and continued to circulate for a time, along with the new 20¢ coins which were the same size and weight (but made of copper-nickel). Even though they were practically withdrawn from circulation in 1966, the florin coins were never formally demonetised and are still legal tender.