An Overview of Australian KGVI Florins

— Appearance & Value — Low Mintage(s) — Key Date(s) — Typeset Options —

– click on a photo to view the full image –

KM# 40 (1938-45)

KM# 40a (1946-47)

KM# 48 (1951-52)

Appearance & Value

There are three basic coin types in the Australian KGVI florin series, each featuring the iconic kangaroo & emu design on one side.

For a discussion of pricing, see

• Which are the most valuable Australian florins?
• Blog posts – coin pricing info

Mintmarks

In addition, within the WWII era, are 3 ‘S’ mintmarked dates – coins were produced by the San Francisco mint and sent over.

They differ in the design of the ‘heads’ side – after 1947, “IND:IMP.” no longer appeared.

Another significant change was the reduction in the amount of silver used in each – from 1946 they are 50% Ag.

None were made in 1948-50, all the coins produced from 1946-52 were 50% silver, so it’s 6 coins per troy ounce ASW for those later coins… with the 1945 and earlier all sterling silver (.925, 3 coins to the ounce).

There was a commemorative in 1951, which does not have the kangaroo/emu.

All nice coins to look at in good grade and there are a few that stand out for one reason or another…

Low Mintage Year…rumours!

Production of these florins varied greatly, as many as 37 M in 1947 and the 3 lowest :

• 1939 = .63M
• 1938 = 2.99M
• 1942s = 6M

(source: Renniks 30th Ed)

The heavy rumour is that many of the coins from 1945 were melted down to make the reduced fineness 1946 run which required 23 million odd coins! ( much higher than earlier runs ) ; so the actual number of ’45s is smaller… and it is harder to find than its mintage numbers would suggest…

1st of the series

Despite having a low mintage of around 3 M, the 1938 is not as sought after as the lowest mintage 1939, which is the key date and can be a relatively expensive item.

Typeset Options

Typeset collectors would need an example of each.

The options for the earlier type (KM# 40) don’t necessarliy have to include the mintmarked dates, although that’s one possible avenue…

The other two types are each restricted to a two year period, one from 1946-47 and the other from 1951-52. Both of these are only half silver…but…

…certainly I still like to nab them, so long as they’re not completely clapped out!

Happy Collecting!