Granvyl Hulse writes:

Although Yossi Dotan quotes Richard Giedroyc's scepticism about the double florin (4 shillings, 1887 to 1890) as the "Barmaid's Grief", several things need to be borne in mind:

(a) For at least two centuries before 1887 there had not been a coin between the half-crown and crown (other than the clearly-marked 3-shilling Bank Tokens of 1811 to 1812).

(b) In 1887 we had new designs for all of our silver coins.

(c) With no internet, television or radio broadcasts, and large numbers of people being unable to read newspapers (whether illiterate or needing to "work all the hours God gave"), there would have been many people unaware of the new coin until too late.

(d) Crowns seem not to have been much in circulation as of shortly before 1887. Here are the mintage figures - dates (thousands) for the period 1823 to 1889: 1889 (1800), 1888 (132), 1887 (274), 1853 (0), 1847 (141+8), 1845 (158), 1844 (94), 1839 (0).

(e) In those days, pubs (like many other places) were very poorly/dimly lit.

(f) The then most recent crowns (1847 & 1853) had a "gothic" heraldic design, which was echoed in a simplified manner by the new double florin.

(g) The fact that Pistrucci's George-and-dragon reverse returned to the crown after an absence of over 65 years would surely have added to the confusion, because it thus bore no resemblance to the crowns already in circulation!

Meanwhile, the crowns of 1839 to 1845 - and most of those for 1847 - would have looked like this:

I must admit that I hadn't heard of the double florin as the "Barmaid's Grief" - I am much more aware of the "Barmaid's Horror", "Barmaid's Curse" or "Barmaid's Ruin". But these nicknames are because any shortfall would have been taken out of the wages. However, I am not aware of any (almost) contemporary information on the confusion.

The gold coins also changed design in 1887. However, this new sixpence was rapidly withdrawn because when gilded it could be passed as a half-sovereign if one did not look closely enough to distinguish the Garter motto from the inscription.

I am surprised at Yossi's story about the George IV sixpence, because no gold coins were ever issued with anything like the lion-and-crown design which he shows. And he is not quite right in stating that 1826-1829 "were the last years in which the sixpence was struck without denomination. Later issues clearly state the denomination" - the above-mentioned "withdrawn" 1887 sixpence is an exception, albeit the only one!

Maybe the gold plating on his sixpence was in connection with use in jewellery? Or maybe somebody was thinking of the the similarity of the earlier types of George IV sixpences to his half-sovereign?

By the way, to give some idea of prices, in 1887 best beer would probably have been 5 pence a quart - a crown would have bought some 24 pints, while in 1912 it would only have bought about 20 pints (at threepence a pint).

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
QUERY: SIMILAR COIN PAIRS - BARMAID'S GRIEF (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v19n35a29.html)