John Ronald Reuel Tolkien wrote 'The Hobbit' in 1937, followed by the high-fantasy fiction 'The Lord of the Rings' in 1954-55-- the rest, as they say, is history. The stories were not only hugely popular back then, but they are also widely read and appreciated even today. JRR Tolkien passed away in 1973 and 50 years since then, he is aptly regarded as the father of modern fantasy fiction. And now, celebrating Tolkien's life and works, the Royal Mint is releasing a new commemorative UK £2 coin in his honour.
On one side of the new UK £2 coin is Tolkien's trademark monogram, his name, profile, and year of birth and death inscribed. On the other side, is a picture of UK's King Charles III. Tolkien's famous quote from the poem ‘The Riddle of Strider’, which reads: 'Not all those who wander are lost', is also seen on the coin's edge inscription.
Photo: Royal Mint
The coin is created by artist David Lawrence. “JRR Tolkien’s monogram is an elegant creation: a mysterious symbol redolent of alchemical signs and magical scripts. It also had a certain gravitas. I quickly saw that this had to be central to the design. Something ring-like and circular was obviously needed to contain and frame the monogram," Lawrence said in a statement on the Royal Mint's website.
He added, “I created several roundels to contain the monogram. Eventually, these were whittled down to abstract shapes; versions containing tortuous intertwined serpents were interesting, but they were somehow distracting and lacked gravitas. I created the abstract shapes from scratch, choosing a couple of fonts that have a slightly quirky, magical look, whilst remaining fully legible.”
Tolkien's commemorative UK £2 coin will be released on August 21, 2023 by the Royal Mint.
