1343 Edward III Florin ('Double Leopard')

Maker: Royal Mint (England), Edward III
Year: 1343-1344
Rank: 57 of 100

1343 Edward III Florin ('Double Leopard')

1343 Edward III Florin ('Double Leopard') by Royal Mint (England), Edward III (1343-1344) is ranked 57 in the FLOAT 100 for Coins. It sold for $646,416 on 29 June 2006. One of the great medieval English rarities — a short-lived gold experiment; only three specimens exist.

What is it, and why is it in the FLOAT 100?

One of the great medieval English rarities — a short-lived gold experiment; only three specimens exist.

Gold double florin (6 shillings), 'Double Leopard', three known (two in the British Museum)

What is the best-sourced number for it?

Figure: $646,416
Kind: Realized at auction
Date: 29 June 2006

Spink London auction 6013, The Hilary F Guard Collection, lot 301, sold 29 June 2006 — the third known specimen and the only one in private hands (the other two are in the British Museum), found by a detectorist in southern England. Spink's own press release states it 'realized GBP 480,000 (incl. buyer's premium)' and set a then-world-record for a British coin; Spink's lot page shows the hammer as GBP 400,000 against a GBP 100,000-150,000 estimate, and Antiques Trade Gazette confirms the date. Figure here is the GBP 480,000 with-premium total at 1.3467 USD/GBP (2026-08-06); hammer alone would be $538,680. Lot matches the identifier exactly: gold Double Leopard of 6s 0d, 6.986g, N.1105 / S.1476. Press figures of 'GBP 460,000' conflict with Spink's own number and are not used.

This is a realized sale. Somebody paid it. Source.

How this is made

The figure: One reference price, taken from a named public source and shown with its own kind. FLOAT does not average it with anything or adjust it for time.
Realized or not: A realized price is a completed sale. A market asking price and a price-guide value are not sales, and are labeled as such wherever they appear.
Why no grade ladder: Most FLOAT 100 entries are individual objects. There is one of this, so there is no population and no spread across grades to show.
Archive: 2026-08-08