The 1909 Florin was produced with the intention for it to be issued as a regular Australian circulating coin. Only one
uniface trial was produced and is currently held by the Royal Mint
in London.
(Triton Technologies International Ltd, 2009)
The reverse of this piece features a map of Australia with some major
rivers marked and the inscription 'AUSTRALIA' centred on the design. The
legend
states 'ONE FLORIN - TWO SHILLINGS.' The obverse of the uniface trial
is obviously blank however it was planned that the obverse would feature the official effigy of King Edward VII with a typical
Latin inscription.
(The Express and Telegraph, 1909)
It was intended for an identical map design to also be used on the new Sixpence although no trials appear to have been
created.
Depictions of the Florin and Sixpence designs displayed in the Sunday Times on the 29th of August 1909.
The map obverse attracted substantial media for its novelty with many
arguing both in favour of the innovation and against it. In parliament Sir John Forrest and Prime Minster Andrew Fisher argued
extensively about the designs - the newspaper 'The World's News' stated that "...bickering about the design of the proposed Australian silver coinage shows that the artistic susceptibilities of such connoisseurs as Sir John Forrest and Mr. Fisher are almost as divergent as their political views."
(The World's News, 1909)
The article sides against the map design stating "It would surely be an advantage for Australian coins to conform to the general principles of of coinage in all countries, and to stamp a map of Australia on the reverse... is a departure from all precedent."
Such criticisms were clearly headed as in 1910 the new Australian silver coins featured a simple Coat of Arms design on the
reverse.
In the early 1970s a number of double sided re-strikes of the 1909 uniface florin were unofficially produced by the notorious
forger David Gee. He had used an obverse die created from an Edward VII two pound coin stolen from the NSW State Library
and a die produced from 1909 Florin electrotypes stolen from the Royal Australian Mint. They feature the uncrowned bust of
King Edward VII on the obverse and the Australian map reverse design.
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