Florin 1934-1935 Centenary of Victoria, Coin 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.

This is the second Australian circulating commemorative coin (after the Canberra Florin). This coin was issued to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the colony and state of Victoria (founded 1834) and the foundation of the city of Melbourne (founded 1835); hence it is known as the Melbourne Florin. 75,000 were struck and sold at a premium (they were priced at three shillings, for a face value of two shillings), but only 54,000 were sold since many people could not justify such an expense during the Depression; the 21,000 which remained unsold at the end of the event were melted.

The bold art deco reverse design of the coin, by George Kruger Gray, features the centenary logo of an equestrian figure, slightly modified to fit the circular format of a coin (the logo was set in an oval).

The Melbourne Florin is also remarkable for being the only Australian coin having the crowned effigy of King George V by Percy Metcalfe, and also the only Australian pre-decimal coin with an obverse legend in English (all the others were in Latin).

Being a collector issue, these coins never really circulated. The denomination was withdrawn from circulation after decimalisation on 14 February 1966 but was never formally demonetised and these coins are still legal tender.