1934-35 Melbourne Centenary (Trial) Florin Value

The Centenary Florin is the scarcest commemorative with a total

Mintage

The number of coins struck of a particular designation

mintage of 75,000 and only 54,000 being sold, the remainder being returned to the Melbourne

Mint

a facility that produces coins

mint to for re-melting (Coin Web, 2007). They were sold for an

Issue price

The price a collector coin is sold to the public at the time of issue

issue price of 3/- to help fund the Melbourne Centenary celebrations (Coin Web, 2007). The coin is often sold with a Foy & Gibson bag, from either Melbourne or Perth. The Melbourne bag in top condition is very scarce while the Perth bags are rare in any condition (Coin Web, 2007).

According to correspondence between the Deputy

Mint master

the controller of a mint

mint master at the Royal Mint, Melbourne and New Zealand dealer, H. G. Williams, no

Proof

A coin struck from specially prepared dies to strike a superior quality coin not intended for circulation

proof Melbourne Centenary florins were issued (Verheyen, T, V, 2008), however orders between dealers were filled out for early

Business strike

A coin struck for circulation

business strikes which display

Proof-like

A coin that resembles the appearance of a proof coin of the same type, often resulting from being struck from the same dies

proof-like characteristics. This explains why the coins previously identified as being

Proof

A coin struck from specially prepared dies to strike a superior quality coin not intended for circulation

proof were frequently imperfect with H. G. Williams outlining in correspondence with the

Mint

a facility that produces coins

mint that a customer of his rejected a Melbourne Centenary florin as being faulty (Verheyen, T, V, 2008).

These

Proof-like

A coin that resembles the appearance of a proof coin of the same type, often resulting from being struck from the same dies

proof-like strikes are still much scarcer than typical

Business strike

A coin struck for circulation

business strikes and thus as with most

Proof-like

A coin that resembles the appearance of a proof coin of the same type, often resulting from being struck from the same dies

proof-like issues, do command strong premiums, however they are not as scarce as once thought. There are two identified

Proof-like

A coin that resembles the appearance of a proof coin of the same type, often resulting from being struck from the same dies

proof-like

Die

A cylindrical punch with an inverted impression of a coin's design used to strike the coin

dies, each with a flat, wire

Rim

The edge around a coin, often with beading or denticles

rim, unlike the

Business strike

A coin struck for circulation

business strikes which have a beveled

Rim

The edge around a coin, often with beading or denticles

rim.

Die

A cylindrical punch with an inverted impression of a coin's design used to strike the coin

Die type I can be identified by a matte

Relief

The raised part of a coin's design

relief and mirror

Fields

The open, exposed areas of a coin's design

fields, while

Die

A cylindrical punch with an inverted impression of a coin's design used to strike the coin

Die type II can be identified by less reflective

Fields

The open, exposed areas of a coin's design

fields and a smoother

Relief

The raised part of a coin's design

relief (Verheyen, T, V, 2007).

NOTE: Beware of forgeries, while many poor forgeries produced from fresh and inaccurate dies are easy to detect, a recent influx of accurate examples have spilled onto eBay with tens of thousands of dollars paid large quantities of fakes. eBay has yet to co-operate in their removal citing insufficient evidence. These are identifiable by a very soft central strike most likely caused by the production of the working die with a coin used as the master die thus insufficient detail passed onto the master die, and then onto the working die.

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