1 Florin - George V 1st issue (1911–1919)

One row for each year the 1 Florin - George V 1st issue was struck. Prices are medians of verified sold listings matched to that year from the listing: circulated is worn condition up to Extremely Fine, uncirculated is About Uncirculated or better. A count in brackets means fewer than three sales behind the figure; a grey figure marked "type" is the median across every year, shown where that year has no sale of its own yet; years with no sales yet fill in as sales are recorded. Most types have been searched year by year only since October 2026, so later years are still filling in. Use the grade table below for a price by condition across all years.

About the 1911 1 Florin - George V 1st issue

The 1911 1 Florin - George V 1st issue is a circulating 1 florin coin issued from 1911 to 1919, struck in 92.5% silver. It weighs 11.31g and measures 28.5mm across. Reverse design: Crowned cruciform shields around central Garter star, sceptres with national emblems in angles, denomination above, divided date below.

Mintage figures are recorded for 9 years between 1911 and 1919, 123,615,500 coins in all. 1913 is the scarcest date, with 4,545,200 struck. It is no longer legal tender (withdrawn 1993), so its value is to collectors only.

Common questions

History and design

The florin was one of the silver coins whose designs were set by a royal proclamation of 23 January 1911, published in the London Gazette the next day and in force from 1 January 1911. Florins were struck every year from 1911 to 1919 in sterling silver, 92.5% fine, the alloy used for the florin since its introduction in 1849.

Coin Hunter's year pages give 123,615,971 florins for the nine dates. Output was modest before the war, with 1913 the lowest at 4,545,278, then rose sharply: 21,252,701 in 1914 and 29,211,792 in 1918. The Royal Mint Museum explains that gold vanished from circulation during the war and demand for silver coin rose to fill the gap, straining the Mint's capacity.

The war also pushed up the price of silver. By the autumn of 1919 it was close to the level at which striking silver coin would be uneconomic, and the Silver Coinage Act of 1920 cut the fineness to .500. The 1919 florin is the last of the sterling issue.

The proclamation describes the reverse as four crowned shields arranged in the form of a cross, with four sceptres in the angles springing from the Star of the Garter in the centre, the words ONE FLORIN and the date. Wikipedia, citing Linecar, says this was developed inside the Royal Mint and was meant to recall the 1887 double florin. It replaced Edward VII's standing Britannia, which the Royal Mint Museum notes had found its critics.

The obverse is Bertram Mackennal's uncrowned portrait of the King facing left, signed BM on the truncation, with GEORGIVS V D G BRITT OMN REX F D IND IMP. The Royal Mint Museum calls the portrait attractive but technically unsuited to coinage, because its high relief caused ghosting. The edge is milled.

Collecting notes

Tony Clayton describes Mackennal's original portrait as being in fairly high relief, so the King's head is where wear shows first on a circulated coin. Clayton lists a 1911 proof alongside the currency dates. No recognised varieties or mint errors are documented for this type.

Because the 1920 to 1926 florin keeps the same design in .500 silver, the date is the only quick way to tell sterling from debased coins. These florins no longer circulate: the Royal Mint Museum records that florins were withdrawn when the old-sized 10p ceased to be legal tender at the end of June 1993.