16 Dec, 2022
2022/12/16 21:47:17 (GMT) Greenwich Mean Time, London, Dublin, Lisbon, Casablanca, Monrovia
J. R. R. Tolkien £2
2023 marks 50 years since the death of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit author, J. R. R. Tolkien.
To commemorate his work and achievements, a new £2 coin will be issued, featuring his famous monogram on the reverse design.
The reverse will also bear the inscription “1892 JRR TOLKIEN 1973 WRITER · POET · SCHOLAR”.
The edge inscription will read, “NOT ALL THOSE WHO WANDER ARE LOST” – a quote from The Fellowship of the Ring.
https://changechecker.org/2022/12/16/2 ... ced-upcoming-50p-2-and-5sYou should be able to buy these from the Royal Mint, or if you live in the UK and still use coins then you might find one.
https://www.royalmint.com/shop/denominations/two-pounds/
29 Dec, 2022
2022/12/29 7:25:55 (GMT) Greenwich Mean Time, London, Dublin, Lisbon, Casablanca, Monrovia
29 Dec, 2022
2022/12/29 11:08:45 (GMT) Greenwich Mean Time, London, Dublin, Lisbon, Casablanca, Monrovia
Wow, it looks beautiful. :)
29 Dec, 2022
2022/12/29 13:49:07 (GMT) Greenwich Mean Time, London, Dublin, Lisbon, Casablanca, Monrovia
Annnnd they're already showing up on the 2nd hand market
Seller: big_dave_2014
(7439)
Ended Mar 7, 2023
This item ended more than 90 days ago
29 Dec, 2022
2022/12/29 13:53:32 (GMT) Greenwich Mean Time, London, Dublin, Lisbon, Casablanca, Monrovia
I think the coin by itself will be about £10 plus postage from the Royal Mint and I think they ship worldwide.
29 Dec, 2022
2022/12/29 17:06:19 (GMT) Greenwich Mean Time, London, Dublin, Lisbon, Casablanca, Monrovia
...would definitely be nicer with the portrait of Tolkien rather than Charles

29 Dec, 2022
2022/12/29 19:43:50 (GMT) Greenwich Mean Time, London, Dublin, Lisbon, Casablanca, Monrovia
Some more info from the Royal Mint
Tolkien passed away in 1973 although, 50 years later, the father of modern fantasy fiction still has a palpable influence on the genre. His trademark monogram, encircled by a runic pattern skilfully created by the artist David Lawrence, will forever grace this commemorative UK £2 coin. ‘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.
“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.
“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.”
David Lawrence
Never heard of the poem officially being called "The Riddle of Strider", don't think it really has a name. He could have used Runes instead of abstract shapes, but I think he has done a very good job overall.
https://www.royalmint.com/annual-sets/ ... -and-work-of-jrr-tolkien/
29 Dec, 2022
2022/12/29 19:51:25 (GMT) Greenwich Mean Time, London, Dublin, Lisbon, Casablanca, Monrovia
Trotter wrote:
Never heard of the poem officially being called "The Riddle of Strider", don't think it really has a name.
Ya, that's completely made up.
29 Dec, 2022
2022/12/29 20:39:20 (GMT) Greenwich Mean Time, London, Dublin, Lisbon, Casablanca, Monrovia
It's called The Riddle of Strider in the "Songs and Verse" index that used to be included in the back of LotR, I think compiled by Baillie.
29 Dec, 2022
2022/12/29 21:09:34 (GMT) Greenwich Mean Time, London, Dublin, Lisbon, Casablanca, Monrovia
ibid wrote:
It's called The Riddle of Strider in the "Songs and Verse" index that used to be included in the back of LotR, I think compiled by Baillie.
What volume/edition is that in?