1848 Victorian Godless Florin
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1848 - Coin of the Year -1848
Great Britain's First Decimal Coin
Although Great Britain went decimal in 1971, it started as early as 1848 with the issue of the florin shown. This, as a tenth of a pound, was the first step towards converting to decimal coinage over 100 years later. In fact ours is a pattern coin, as florins were not officially issued until the next year 1849. Patterns and proofs are produced for various reasons, one likely reason would be to undertake 'market research' and get public and other reaction to the new coin. When the coin was issued in 1849, it proved unpopular. The omission of the words "DEI GRATIA" meaning "by the grace of God", was criticised and the new florin was called "Godless and graceless", although it is in our opinion a very attractive coin. This adverse reaction possibly helped to delay decimalisation further.
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Reverse of 1848 Victorian Florin
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