Royal Mint reveals new £2 collectable coin in honour of JRR Tolkien
The UK's original coin maker unveils unique Tolkien coin to commemorate the writer and scholar
The Royal Mint has launched a new £2 collectable coin to honour the life and work of writer, JRR Tolkien, best known for his fantasy novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
To mark 50 years since the death of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, the UK's oldest company unveiled the unique coin as part of its 2023 annual set. It has already gained popularity among customers with some 24,500 registered.
Designed by David Lawrence, the coin symbolises Tolkien’s prominent career as professor of English language and literature at Oxford University.
The Royal Mint said it combined traditional minting techniques with modern technology to carefully craft out the intricate runic pattern. The design used in crafting the coin reflects Tolkien’s love for Anglo-Saxon scripts.
The words “NOT ALL THOSE WHO WANDER ARE LOST”, a quote from the poem ‘The Riddle of Strider’, which features in Tolkien’s ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’, serves as the coin’s edge inscription.
It is bordered with micro-words which reads ‘1892-JRR Tolkien- 1973’ at the top and ‘Writer-Poet-Scholar’ at the bottom, centred with the monogram of the writer’s initials.
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Rebecca Morgan, director of commemorative coins at The Royal Mint said: “As the original maker of coins in the United Kingdom, we are honoured to commemorate JRR Tolkien’s long-standing career.”
“Our master craftspeople have worked carefully to create a coin which is a testament to arguably one of the greatest authors, poets, scholars, and philologists in our history.”
The accomplished scholar, philologist, father of modern fantasy fiction and maker of Middle-earth, is best known for creating the seminal fantasy novel The Hobbit in 1937 and the immensely popular The Lord of the Rings in 1954–55.
Browse the Tolkien coin collection Shop the limited edition £2 coin
£2 coins are considered to be one of the most favoured denominations among collectors in the UK, since its introduction in 1998.
It has seen over 50 reverse designs, including a coin commemorating Jane Austen and the work of William Shakespeare.
Visitors can now strike their own JRR Tolkien £2 collectable coin which is available in gold, silver, and piedfort proof silver, as well as brilliant uncirculated, in The Royal Mint Experience, South Wales.
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