Florin (Irish coin) Florin (Irish coin) The florin (2s) () coin was a subdivision of the pre-decimal Irish pound, worth of a pound. It was more commonly known as the two-shilling coin. The original minting of the coin from 1928 until 1943 contained 75% silver, a higher content than the equivalent British coin. It is believed that this was done so that the new currency would not be seen as a poor substitute to the British currency which circulated alongside. The silver coins are quite noticeable as they have a more "whitish" look than the later cupronickel variety that were minted from 1951,
Two pence (British decimal coin) legal tender only up to the sum of 20p; this means that it is permissible for a court to refuse payment of sums greater than this amount in 1p and 2p coins in order to settle a debt. The two pence coin was originally minted from bronze, but since 1992 it has been minted in copper-plated steel due to the increasing price of metal. By May 2006 the pre-1992 (97% copper) coins contained 3p worth of copper each. As of May 2006, about 2.55 billion such coins remained in circulation. However, The Royal Mint warned that tampering with coinage is