Two Shillings (Florin) 1951, Coin from United Kingdom - detailed information

The pre-decimal florin (2s) was a unit of currency equalling two shillings, or one tenth of a pound sterling, or twenty-four pence. There were eight types of florin issued before this one: the so-called Godless Florin (1848 and 1849), followed by the Gothic Florin (1851 - 1887), the Jubilee Florin (1887 - 1892), a florin featuring three shields (1893 - 1901), the Britannia Florin (1902 - 1910), the first florin issue of King George V (1911 - 1926), the second florin issue of King George V (1927 - 1936), and the silver florin of King George VI (1937 - 1946).

In 1947, together with the rest of the silver coinage, the denomination was debased to copper-nickel; it retained the same design and continued to be issued with it until 1951. It was re-designed at the beginning of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.

When the currency became decimal in 1971, florins were re-denominated as ten new pence; they remained legal tender until 1993, when a smaller type of ten pence replaced them. Thus, a florin coin issued in 1951 was legal tender for 42 years.