Horses
USA - Delaware State Quarter


Obverse
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Reverse
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Coin Details

  

Set Details
Coin Description: 2S 1934-35 VICTORIA & MELBOURNE
Grade: NGC MS 62
Owner: brg5658
 
Set Category: Thematic & Topical Coins
Set Name: Horses
Slot Name: USA - Delaware State Quarter
Research: See NGC's Census Report for this Coin

Owner's Description

Purchased on 11/1/2013. On June 21st 1934 it was announced in the "Argus" (the Melbourne daily newspaper) that arrangements had been made between Centenary officials, representatives of the British Treasury, and the Commonwealth Government for a special commemorative florin (2 shillings) to be struck for the occasion. In particular, the centenary of the first two permanent settlements in Victoria, Portland Bay in 1834 and Melbourne in 1835. A limited number of 75,000 coins were to be struck for the Centenary Council, and were to be sold and distributed at a shilling over face value with the profits going to the Council. The costs for the production of this coin were borne by the Centenary Council itself which included the provision of a special die which cost approximately 100 pounds (the average weekly wage in 1934 was just 4 pounds so this was no small expense). As of 15 February 1935, only 11,000 of the 75,000 coins that had been minted had been sold. This lack of sales became a burden, and the Centenary Council were told soon after that the remaining unsold coins would be melted down in 6 weeks time if they had not been sold. Sales were further hindered due to the great depression; however, a local department store put in a request for 30,000 coins. This was "Foy and Gibson", with the coins to be given out in customers' change along with a commemorative paper bag to store their special coin. These days both types of "Foy" bag, the Melbourne and Perth command high premiums (often more than the value of a Centenary florin) even without a coin inside. Eventually, a total of 21,000 coins were melted down leaving a surviving mintage of the 1934-5 Centenary Florin at 54,000 coins. That's the history of the coin in a nutshell but what about the design on the coin? The obverse was the effigy of George V by Percy Metcalf which was used on New Zealand and Canadian coins but only on the Centennial Florin in Australia. This design was also used in other Commonwealth countries at the time. The reverse featured a horse and rider by George Kruger Gray, a young Victorian gentleman grown to manhood indicating a strong future for the state. The torch he bears symbolizes progress and enlightenment. This Australian centenary florin is 28.5mm in diameter and weighs 11.31grams. It is manufactured from 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper. These key date commemorative coins have a high catalogue value and beware of a lot of counterfeit types out there. ============================================= Shortly after I started my horse-themed collection some 3 years ago, I systematically thumbed through my Krause Standard Catalog of World Coins and I added to my list the 1934-35 Australia (Melbourne/Victoria) Centenary Florin. In late 2012 I spotted a superb example of the Centenary Florin in a Heritage Auction, graded by NGC as MS66. The strike was better than anything I had seen before, but the final hammer + buyer’s premium on that coin topped $14,000!!! I assumed I must be missing something! I took to the internet, and found an article by an Australian numismatist that clarified why the price of that particular coin went so high; it was quite clear that the coin hiding in the unassuming NGC MS66 holder was in fact a “specimen” version of the issue -- the tell-tale signs being the completely full details on the head and wreath of the rider, together with the clearly visible left nipple of the rider. The last week of October 2013 an example of this coin showed up on eBay as an auction with a starting price of $450. It was in an NGC holder with a grade of “MS62? assigned. I added it to my watch list, and checked out the pictures in a bit more detail. Lucky for me, the seller’s images were actually quite good quality. Good enough to see that this coin had exceptional head wreath detail on the reverse. Needless to say, I ended up winning the MS62 NGC Florin for $503, only the 2nd bidder on the coin. Two days after I purchased it, I did go back to download the original eBay photos, and noticed (and almost didn’t believe) what I thought might be a left nipple on the rider. I was in disbelief, and told myself it must be an optical illusion -- I was sure I’d just purchased a nicely struck low-end MS coin, nothing more. The coin arrived in my hands on November 4th, and sure enough under magnification it was clear that I had gotten more than I paid for -- it was a specimen example of the Centenary Florin!!! I immediately took some detailed images of the coin, looked for die markers, and even tracked down the email address of the Australian Numismatist who had written the 2007 article I had read on the subject (T. Vincent Verheyen). After several exchanges of emails, I was told that my coin was “most definitely a specimen”, of which there were currently around 15 known -- in the notes of one of the specimen examples in the National Museum-Victoria, it was hinted that there were possibly as many as 100 specimens struck. No way was I going to entertain selling the coin, but for insurance reasons I inquired as to the auction value of such a coin in the Australian market -- I had guessed maybe $4,000. Again, I was wowed when I was advised it would probably bring $10,000 in an Australian auction!!! My jaw dropped, but I knew I had a keeper. This coin is now one of the "crown jewels" of my horses set.

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