The 1946 florin

Statistics
Designation | F46M.5D
Mint | Melbourne
Mintage | 23,222,000

The 1946 florin occurs in two varieties. The common variety is illustrated below. The 6 in the date is the same as that on the 1956 florin. The second variety has a 6 with a larger circle, like those on the florins of the sixties.

1946 saw a reduction in the silver content of Australian coins. This and subsequent florins were 50% silver, 40% copper, 5% zinc and 5% nickel.

Reverses
| F46M.5D.1 Common variety. Small circle in 6, just like that of the 1956 florin. Alternating thick and thin rim denticles, 76 of each.
| F46M.5D.2 Scarce variety. Large circle in 6. Other than the shape of the 6, the reverse is identical to that of the common variety.

Enlargements of the date
| F46M.5D.1 6 has a small circle. Same 6 as on the 1956 coin.
| F46M.5D.2 6 has a large circle like those on the 196X coins.

I suggest that the 6 on the more common variety is really an inverted 9.

9 punch used as a 6?
| To demonstrate the idea, I imaged a 1946 florin. Then I cut out the 9, rotated it to match the original 6 and then pasted the inverted 9 over the original 6. As you can see, there is a strong similarity between the original and pasted-over images. To get the shading right, I actually imaged the florin twice. The second time the florin was inverted. The 9 was cut from the second image, rotated and pasted onto the first.

[ Home Page | Australian coins | Florins ]

Most recent revision: 2nd June 2001
Copyright ©2000-2002, Triton Technologies International Ltd, all rights reserved.