Florin 1927 - Parliament House, 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 the regular circulating Australian florin coins of the time features the 1908 Coat of Arms.

In 1927 though - for the first time - an Australian circulating commemorative coin was issued. This coin was struck to commemorate the opening of the new Parliament House in Canberra in 1927, hence it is known as the Parliament House Florin or the Canberra Florin. Two million coins were made, and were first issued on 09 May 1927. The coins were extensively saved by people at the time and are today much more available than the regular florin issue of 1927.

Apart from being the first Australian commemorative coin, the Canberra Florin is also remarkable for being the only Australian coin having a shortened version of the crowned effigy of King George V by Bertram Mackennal.

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 Even though they were practically withdrawn from circulation in 1966, the florin coins were never formally demonetised and are still legal tender.