1934 Australia Florin

Comments: Issued to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of Victoria (1834) and the foundation of Melbourne (1935). The coins were sold at a premium of one shilling to help finance the celebrations. 75,000 were struck, but at the end of the event 21,595 remained unsold and were melted. It features the centenary logo of an equestrian figure, slightly modified to fit the circular format of a coin (the logo was set in an oval).

 

Toward the end of the celebrations, the majority of the 75,000 coins that were struck remained unsold, so in 1935, a local department store in Melbourne - Foy & Gibson - purchased 30,000 of these centenary florins (which would have otherwise been melted down) to give out in their customers’ change during the Melbourne centenary celebrations. These florins were distributed at all of their Victorian stores: Melbourne, Collingwood, and Prahran. These ’Centenary Florins’ were given out in little paper bags, which are seldom seen even in poor condition. It is estim