George V Florin Question.

[Garrett 76]

Hi everyone

I picked up a nice George V Florin at the coin fair on the weekend and have a question.

I was trying to grade it (using the nice new illuminated loupe I also picked up) and noticed that the lions on the reverse showed (what I thought was) disproportionate wear.

However looking at a few examples at the Nobles website it appears to be common.

The pic below is from an aUnc Nobles auction piece (my cheapo camera has not arrived from eBay yet to photograph mine).

Mine is not quite this nice but the lions look a bit the same. Closest to the garter star at the top is more worn, and the lion closest to the date at the bottom is more worn.

Has anyone else noticed this in this reverse ?

cheers Garrett.

[Nicholas 51]

It's in the strike. Slightly uneven and not quite fully struck up. It's very prevalent in the Victorian coin reverses especially the sovereigns. It's usually one of the first place I'll look...

[VickySilver 830]

Flat G5 hair & brow/moustache or shield details, you pick 'em. These do suffer, esp. in his florins but the answer already posted.

[Garrett 76]

Thanks for the information guys !

Very interesting, you're right Vicky, my obverse is quite nice but the lions have suffered....

Nicholas, do you like George V British coins ?

As a youngster I never bothered seeing as we had our own coinage from 1910, but since coming back to collecting I found I like post 1910 British coins, especially George V.

cheers

Garrett.

[Peckris 579]

Hi everyone

I picked up a nice George V Florin at the coin fair on the weekend and have a question.

I was trying to grade it (using the nice new illuminated loupe I also picked up) and noticed that the lions on the reverse showed (what I thought was) disproportionate wear.

However looking at a few examples at the Nobles website it appears to be common.

The pic below is from an aUnc Nobles auction piece (my cheapo camera has not arrived from eBay yet to photograph mine).

Mine is not quite this nice but the lions look a bit the same. Closest to the garter star at the top is more worn, and the lion closest to the date at the bottom is more worn.

Has anyone else noticed this in this reverse ?

cheers Garrett.

Yes - the 3 leopards are usually small even on florins and halfcrowns. Tom Jones to see them weakly defined, especially the faces. However that example you've posted has also had some rubbing to it, and you can see that most on the hind-quarters of the leopards and the shield, where the metal shows a lighter colour than the rest of the coin.

It's actually quite a common feature on George V reverses up to 1926 : the bronze suffers equally with Britannia's face and chest taking quite a hit. The problem is caused by the particularly high profile of GV on the obverse. I did a series of pictures showing how this causes 'ghosting' and weak reverse spots, and I attach the picture I did for the florin, from my BU 1914 example. (The red line shows where the edges of the GV bust are on the obverse.)

I'm glad you show an interest in George V. It's a fascinating reign, with lots of numismatic interest exceeded only by that of George III in the milled era.

[Garrett 76]

Thanks Peck, that's all interesting information and much appreciated.

Nice florin, looking good for it's 100th birthday.

cheers Garrett.

[Peckris 579]

Thanks Peck, that's all interesting information and much appreciated.

Nice florin, looking good for it's 100th birthday.

cheers Garrett.

You're welcome. Yes, I've had that GV florin since the late 70s, having bought it from Windsor Coins who were still trading in the early Noughties, its proprietor - John Dunkerton - in the process of handing the business over to his son. JD also sold me a BU 1940 penny at its then book price. I was very chuffed indeed later to discover that it was the scarcer Reverse A (single exergue line), which though included in Freeman wasn't generally included in price guides back then or in dealer lists.

[ozjohn 652]

The wear on the lions in the top shields of George 5th florins dated between 1911 to 1919 is typical and probably due to the deep strike on the obverse of the coin which can been seen as ghosting on the reverse as well. After 1919 it seems to improve as the head of the king is struck in a lower relief.