1849 ‘Godless’ Florin

Specifications

Denomination: 1 florin
Series: Godless florin
Designer: William Wyon (obverse); William Dyce (reverse)
Years of issue: 1849
Composition: 92.5% Silver, 7.5% Copper
Weight: 11.3104 g
Diameter: 28 mm
Edge: Lettered
KM: KM-745
Mintage: 414000
Key mintages: One-year type. So-called 'Godless'/'Graceless' for omitting DEI GRATIA from the legend — VICTORIA REGINA only. KM745, S-3890. Mintage conflict: NGC lists 414,000, Chards lists 413,800. A 'Without WW' obverse variety is listed by NGC.

Melt value: $21.67silver $64.40/ozt, copper $0.44/ozt · prices as of Sep 16, 2026

CC BY 3.0 by JFS (Wikimedia Commons File:Godless_florin_1848.jpg). Type photo: both sides of an 1848 Godless-type pattern florin.

Victoria's first florin — the 1849 'Godless' type whose missing D.G. and F.D. sparked religious outrage and a one-year run.

History

The florin was introduced in 1849, valued at one-tenth of a pound, as a first step toward a decimal coinage (Royal Mint Museum, accessed 2026-09-16).
Its legend read simply VICTORIA REGINA 1849, omitting the customary D G (Dei Gratia, ‘by the Grace of God’) and F D (Fidei Defensor, ‘Defender of the Faith’) from the queen’s titles (Royal Mint Museum; Wikipedia, accessed 2026-09-16).
Dubbed the ‘Godless’ or ‘Graceless’ florin, it provoked wild rumour and religious outrage — fuelled by the fact that the Master of the Royal Mint, Richard Sheil, was a Roman Catholic (Royal Mint Museum, accessed 2026-09-16).
The issue was suspended, and in the House of Commons on 25 February 1850 Sheil took full responsibility, saying the omission was for aesthetic reasons; the engraver William Wyon had opposed the course (Royal Mint Museum, accessed 2026-09-16).
It was a one-year type: the full titles were restored on the next issue of 1852, and the ‘Godless’ type was not repeated (Royal Mint Museum; Royal Mint product page, accessed 2026-09-16).
The recorded mintage is 413,800 (Chards, accessed 2026-09-16).
The obverse — a Gothic-style crowned portrait of Victoria — was designed by William Wyon and the reverse, with crowned cruciform shields and the legend ONE FLORIN ONE TENTH OF A POUND, by William Dyce; the coin weighs 11.31 g, measures 28 mm, is .925 sterling silver with a milled edge (Royal Mint product page; Wikipedia; Heritage Auctions, accessed 2026-09-16).
Two varieties are recognised: WW-clear and WW-obliterated, referring to the treatment of Wyon’s initials on the obverse (Royal Mint product page, accessed 2026-09-16).

Specifications

composition
designers
diameter
edge
weight

Collector notes

Verify weight (11.31 g) and diameter (28 mm) against the sterling-silver specification; struck-in-silver counterfeits circulate, so buy certified or from established British-coin dealers (Heritage Auctions; Wikipedia, accessed 2026-09-16).
The WW-obliterated variety is the rarer of the two, listed as R2 (very rare) in the Standard Catalogue of English Milled Coinage — check the treatment of Wyon’s initials before pricing (GB Classic Coins, accessed 2026-09-16).
The accompanying photo is a type photo of an 1848 Godless-type pattern florin, not an 1849 circulation issue (Wikimedia Commons, accessed 2026-09-16).
Never clean a silver florin; abrasive cleaning destroys the patina and the value with it (guidance).
This is the one-year ‘Godless’ type — do not confuse it with the 1852-and-later Gothic florins that restored D G and F D (Royal Mint Museum, accessed 2026-09-16).