Zehn britischen Florins

[villa66]

The 1849 British florin.

The first florin, at ten to the pound sterling—a first British move toward a decimal coinage. A more extensive decimal program had been considered, but for the time being, only this single new decimal denomination was introduced. (A “double-florin” would debut in 1887, but would be quickly discontinued in 1890 because of its unpopularity.)

Other names for the new denomination were also considered—“Centum,” “Decade,” even “Dime”—but “Florin” it became.

The florin eventually found great success and became a staple of British coinage, but its acceptance was not immediate. The 1849 florin had a problem beyond public unfamiliarity with the new denomination, and beyond its new crowned portrait of Queen Victoria (an oddity on British homeland coins): the new coin was Godless!

The absence on the new florin of the legend “Dei Gratia” (or its abbreviated form, “D.G”) gave the 1849 coin its popular nickname of the “Godless Florin,” and guaranteed its status as a one-year type. The florin got new life, however, in the “Gothic” type introduced in 1851.

A half century later, the British florin had become fixture of the Empire....

[villa66]

A tired 1900 florin. The worn surfaces of this coin are testament to the strength and velocity of the British Empire’s economy at the turn of the century and after, and in a round-about way, to its extreme reach as well. Homeland silver like this 1900 florin was current in British colonies in many of the far corners of the world, and it’s certainly possible that some of the fingers that wore this florin smooth belonged to a New Zealander, an Australian, or to a South African....

[villa66]

When this 1908 florin fell from a coining press at London’s Royal Mint, Imperial Germany and the British Empire were locked in a dead-serious naval race. HMS Dreadnought had joined the Royal Navy in 1906, and the Kriegsmarine bases at Kiel and elsewhere were filling up with Germany’s reply.

Britannia on this 1908 florin is most definitely a sea-going allegory, with a confident grip on Neptune’s trident and a pose that indicates she is clearly at home in the strong sea-breeze.

It doesn’t take much imagination to picture the German Kaiser looking at one of these “Standing Britannia” florins and being...well, being Kaiser Wilhelm. Perhaps a telegram to Kiel, or an additional conversation with Admiral Tirpitz....

[villa66]

A British florin of that terrible year, 1914. The dark, somewhat funereal surfaces of this British silver coin suggest the events of that August, and what followed. To clean this 1914 florin would be dishonest. The world fell into a hole when this coin was new, and this coin was a part of it....

[villa66]

A 1922 florin, struck after the war, and after Versailles. An inflationary firestorm was ready to overtake Germany; British silver was no longer sterling. It took some time to perfect a new alloy, however, and one of the common complaints against the .500 fine British silver coins of the immediate postwar was that they had a vague yellowish cast.

This particular florin—I think—provides an example of the improved appearance of the new coins beginning with some of the 1922 mintages. The 10% nickel component was removed and the alloy became simply 50% silver and 50% copper....

[villa66]

This newly-redesigned 1927 florin is found only as a proof. The alloy is also new, again, with the Royal Mint arriving at a very satisfactory mixture of 50% silver, 40% copper, 5% nickel and 5% zinc. The new florin (and the other redesigns of 1927) marked a fresh start for the silver coins of George V.

A fresh start of any kind would have been welcome in the Great Britain of the mid-‘20s. Britain had suffered a crippling general strike in 1926, but above all—always—was still the dark overhang of the late War. Memories of WWI had faded somewhat by the mid- to late-‘20s, and much of their immediacy was gone, but the War’s impact was permanent. The “Lost Generation” remained lost.

It has long been a commonplace to talk of the demographic disaster that was the First World War, but the reality demands our attention still—the tremendous human capital that Europeans buried during the years 1914-1918 simply cannot be comprehended....

[villa66]

But horrific as the losses of the First World War were, there was worse to come.

September, seventy years ago. This 1940 florin of George VI belongs to what British Prime Minister Winston Churchill christened so indelibly as “Their Finest Hour.” Britain was alone, and never Greater....

[villa66]

1946. Great Britain was safe. But the brief moment of triumph had come and gone. This bright 1946 florin was a citizen of the Peace.

For Britain and her Empire the postwar was a time of continuing adjustment. The 1946 coin was Britain’s last silver florin, and beginning in ‘47 the coin would be struck in copper-nickel (what the British call “cupronickel”).

During the next decade or so, florins and other British silver coins would be melted and their metal repatriated to the U.S., which had lent the U.K. large quantities of silver during the war. (From melted Morgan and Peace dollars, perhaps?)

The legend “IND IMP” was also soon to depart British florins, and Commonwealth coinage as a whole. India would soon gain its independence and King George VI would be the Emperor of India no longer...

[villa66]

A 1953 florin from the year of Elizabeth II’s coronation. The first British florins since the 1951 edition. (Elizabeth’s father had died early in 1952.) The 1953 florin is a one-year type because in the devolving Empire of the 1950’s, it was decided that “BRITT OMN” should be removed from British coins.

The reason? Because the phrase refers not to all the Britons (residents of Britain), but to all the Britains (lands belonging to Britain). It was a sentiment that seemed out of place in an era where the accent was on “Commonwealth” rather than “Empire.”

This particular 1953 florin is not a proof issue, but still it seems proper to mention here the spate of British proof sets at mid-century...1950, to mark the half century; 1951, to celebrate the Festival of Britain, and 1953, of course, to memorialize the new Queen’s coronation. The ’53 proof set would be Britain’s last until 1970, when a proof set was issued to mark the passing of the old monetary system based on 12 pence to the shilling, and 20 shillings to the pound.....

[villa66]

The old-style coin was down to its last decade when this 1964 florin was struck. 1964...The Beatles! And there they are on the cover of the Daily Mail 1965 Yearbook, which also reports that for “87,000 people a cruise proved the perfect holiday in 1964...you can cruise to New York and back for less than 1d a mile—cruising in terms of [Pounds/Shillings/Pence] is cheaper than hopping on a bus.”

Which meant that for Britons who travelled via ocean liner to the 1964 World’s Fair in New York (the Queen Mary or the Queen Elizabeth, perhaps?), a 1964 florin like this one would have bought about 25 miles (40km) at sea....

[villa66]

Britain’s new-style “florin,” and the ultimate expression of the evolution begun by the original florin of 1849—at ten to the pound sterling—here is Great Britain’s 1968 10-new pence. When these coins entered circulation in ’68, decimalization was still years away (1971).

In 1982 the “new” was dropped and the “10-new pence” became, simply, the “10-pence.”

The old-style florin, the 10-new pence, and the 10-pence all circulated together until 1992, when Britain introduced a new, smaller 10-pence coin. The old coins were then withdrawn and demonetized.

v.

[KarlAntonMartini]

Splendid! Thank you! Grüße, KarlAntonMartini