Newbie with a Gothic Florin

[Guest Billie]

Hello, please forgive me if I leave out any essential details. I've always been interested in coinage and my old boyfriend gave me this beautiful coin when I was a teenager. Being a silly girl I wore it in a tiny metal case round my neck for a long time but stopped when I realised it had damaged the surface. Please don't scold me I've felt awful about it for 8 years and I still regret it. It was in poor condition before but yes I have made it worse. I hate myself for it, the stupid things we do because we love someone.

It's a 30mm diameter florin, The Obverse has 'victoria d:g: britt: reg:f:d:' with numerals 'mdcccl' then what appears to be '.r.rii' (I don't understand the r's, if someone could explain?). There's also a nip in the rim. This is the most damaged side, the plat and her ear is completely worn off.

The Reverse- 'one florin' and 'one tenth of a pound' surrounding four sheald which appears to be the same as the 1964 and 1965 reverse. Again the centre is worn.

The coin is beautifully oxidised or was until the damage caused by me wearing it. Now either side has a silver area in the centre.

I would love to know what it is worth and if I'm right in guessing the numerals are 1852?

Thank you for perusing my post. x

[Peter 615]

Hi Billie

We would need to see a picture to ascertain the condition and date...However if the platt and ear are worn it is low grade.

The coin is sterling silver (92.5% silver) so it has bullion value....the value would be only a few £ at best.

Never mind it must have sentimental value

PS What happened to the boyfriend?

[Peter 615]

Hi Billie

We would need to see a picture to ascertain the condition and date...However if the platt and ear are worn it is low grade.

The coin is sterling silver (92.5% silver) so it has bullion value....the value would be only a few £ at best.

Never mind it must have sentimental value

PS What happened to the boyfriend?

[Guest Billie]

PS What happened to the boyfriend?

He's long gone, but never forgotten, I bet the rest of his coin collection is more valuable than this bit though.

It does have alot of sentimental value, I think it's best I don't put photos up, it might make me very sick if I found out it was valuable before I damaged it. I'm looking to find a jewelery maker to encase it in glass so I can wear it again...without damaging it this time.

Thanks for your help. x

[Red Riley 2]

Hi Billie,

I think you might have mis-read 'r's for 'x's which makes this an 1872 florin - actually the commonest of the bunch, but having said that, in decent condition they all have a reasonable value. Obviously would need to see the coin to give an opinion. There are various wheezes to restore that lost patina - if you have all the time in the world, leave it on the window sill for a year or two to catch the full sunlight with perhaps a gentle rub with a licked finger on the affected parts. Across the Atlantic, collectors often bake them in potatoes - I just say that for what it's worth, I've never tried it!

An interesting (well to me anyway) point about these coins is that they have a tiny die number just below the bust - some are said to be worth more than others.

Edited March 16, 2010 by Red Riley

[Peckris 579]

PS What happened to the boyfriend?

He's long gone, but never forgotten, I bet the rest of his coin collection is more valuable than this bit though.

It does have alot of sentimental value, I think it's best I don't put photos up, it might make me very sick if I found out it was valuable before I damaged it. I'm looking to find a jewelery maker to encase it in glass so I can wear it again...without damaging it this time.

Thanks for your help. x

To be honest, although the coin is probably not worth very much (except to you), the story that goes with it is really vivid and interesting. You could do a lot worse than write it up ("A Decade in the Life of a Victorian Florin" or "Love Token" or something like that), then you could earn money twice over from an article :

1) Include all the relevant coin information emphasising it a bit more than the romance, and offer it to Coin News

2) Change the article to emphasise the romance more than the coin stuff, and send it off to one of those magazines like Chat or My Weekly - it will not be a subject they commonly deal with, and you might get lucky

Make sure you get a photo or a scan to send with both versions.

[Peckris 579]

PS What happened to the boyfriend?

He's long gone, but never forgotten, I bet the rest of his coin collection is more valuable than this bit though.

It does have alot of sentimental value, I think it's best I don't put photos up, it might make me very sick if I found out it was valuable before I damaged it. I'm looking to find a jewelery maker to encase it in glass so I can wear it again...without damaging it this time.

Thanks for your help. x

To be honest, although the coin is probably not worth very much (except to you), the story that goes with it is really vivid and interesting. You could do a lot worse than write it up ("A Decade in the Life of a Victorian Florin" or "Love Token" or something like that), then you could earn money twice over from an article :

1) Include all the relevant coin information emphasising it a bit more than the romance, and offer it to Coin News

2) Change the article to emphasise the romance more than the coin stuff, and send it off to one of those magazines like Chat or My Weekly - it will not be a subject they commonly deal with, and you might get lucky

Make sure you get a photo or a scan to send with both versions.