The Commonwealth of Australia 1932 Florin, struck to specimen quality at the Melbourne Mint. One of two coins purchased from the Melbourne Mint for the State Collection in 1932 and unique in private hands.

1932 Specimen Florin. Striations are noted on the reverse, particularly near the date.

John Sharples, Curator of Numismatics, Museum of Victoria wrote the preface to the July 1988 Spink Catalogue. The paragraph relating to the '32 florin is repeated below.

"The offering of Australian coins struck for circulation is not large but includes a specimen 1932 florin, one of two purchased from the Melbourne Mint for the State Collection in 1932".

The 1932 Florin is to silver coin collectors what the 1930 Penny is to copper coin collectors.

In fact the two coins have much in common. Both have a meaningful date and were struck during the Great Depression. And both, as a consequence of the financial climate, have a tiny mintage. 

The 1932 Florin is the super-star of the Australian florin series.

Australia was ravaged by a thirty per cent unemployment rate in 1932 at the height of the Great Depression. As a consequence there was minimal requirement for circulating coinage, and the 1932 florin was the only silver coin struck in that year in a minuscule mintage of 188,000.

Most examples are found today well circulated. The notion that coins could be saved or kept as a collectible was nonsensical given the economic circumstances. Any coin that came into a family's hands was used.

1932 Specimen Florin. We note the smoothness of the surfaces and the uniformity of the edge denticles.