at 400 dots / inch
at 400 dots / inch
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This coin is a 1943 Irish florin - 2 shillings. Like all Irish coins of this period it was struck in the English Royal Mint which was then in London. The 1943 halfcrowns and florins were struck in normal circulating quantities but not issued. In the early 1950s the unissued coins were remitted back to the Royal Mint for melting, as the Central Bank of Ireland had decided to change the metal from the .750 silver standard to cupro-nickel. A small number of both denominations escaped into circulation. The florin being, by far, the rarer of the two. This coin is in Uncirculated (UNC) condition. It has only the minimum of bag marks from the minting, bagging and transport that all modern circulation coins go through. These coins are rare in this condition. There are four examples reported in this condition. One unusual feature of 1943 florins is that there are 4 examples known in Uncirculated (UNC) condition, but virtually none in the range between VF and UNC. Almost all the other examples are in no better than Good Fine (GF) condition. I have known a number of collectors who have passed up on the opportunity to by an example in Fine (F) condition because they expected that they would get an opportunity to buy a nice Very Fine or Extremely Fine example. I have called this specimen 2. It has a diagnostic mark in the field above the back of the salmon's head. It is the mark from contact with the milled edge of another coin. I have called the Kaitcher example specimen 1. It has a hairline scratch from the field in front of the dorsal fin up to the edge teeth and then anticlockwise along the teeth about as far as the end of the dorsal fin. I have photos of specimens 1 and 3 as well (specimen 4 has not changed hands publicly in recent years) and will upload both of these photos in due course. Hit your back button to return to the page you came from or select : |