NEW SILVER COINS

Southland Times, Issue 20396, 27 January 1928, Page 8

NEW SILVER COINS

POSSIBLE RETURN OF CROWNS. FLORIN DESIGN IMPRESSIVE. The Royal Mint began to distribute the specimen sets of the new silver coins on December 7. Large numbers of the special sets at 15s for the six coins—crown, halfcrown, florin, shilling, sixpence and threepence—or one guinea with red leather case, had been ordered, while several applications had been made by banks on behalf of large firms and others for a supply of crown pieces for the payment of wages. It is understood that if there is an adequate demand for them crown pieces, which are very profitable to the Treasury in the way of seignorage, will be available for issue in the usual way this year. Now that the actual coins and not merely their photographs are available critics are likely to find that the crown is a betterlooking piece than had been expected and that the vigorous treatment of the heraldry on the reverse of the half-crown, which, owing to the large size of the shield, is clearly apparent, makes up in part for the absence of any crown over that shield, says the Times. The new florin is an immense improvement over the old and its design of boldly crowned sceptres seems to be reminiscent of the splendid gold nobles issued during the Wars of the Roses. Some people will wonder whether the lion on the shilling is meant to be wearing a full-bottomed wig like that of Mr Speaker, or whether he is merely meant to have a mane of more than Assyrian curliness, and the public will have to judge whether it will take the six acorns on the sixpence and the three on the threepence to its heart.