Melbourne produced this coin, and Melbourne had been the city where the Australian Parliament had met—until it moved to the new Parliament House in Canberra, which this coin celebrates. Parliament House opened on 9 May 1927, which was also the release date for this commemorative florin.
But “Parliament House” was always only “temporary” or “provisional” Parliament House, pending the construction of a permanent structure when a proper location could be decided upon. Fifty years was its projected life, but it had to go on a bit longer than that. The new building opened on the 61st anniversary of the old, 9 May 1988. And then a couple of decades later, “Old Parliament House,” the subject of this 1927 florin, became—on 9 May 2009—the “Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House.”
Something special about this 1927 florin—aside from its terrific design (and terrific too from a technical standpoint)—is its date, which is somehow reminiscent of an engraved loving cup or some other celebratory silver piece.
But note the dash that follows “1927,” which foreshadows the dot added after the date (“for balance”) on the 1937 Canadian 5-cent and Britain’s 1937 Scottish-reverse shilling, all of which were Kruger-Gray designs.
Did I mention the look that is so suggestive of engraving? Because—or so I have read—each of these 1927 Canberra florins has its date not struck, but engraved.
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