I don't collect coins and I don't fall over myself in the worship of British culture, but the literary contribution of JRR Tolkien to culture and religion is hard to overstate.

Even the secular British government recognizes the fantasy author's undeniable impact.

 

 

 

THAT is a beautiful coin.

Here's what The Royal Mint has said about the commemorative 2£ coin:

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 skillfully 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.

And here's what David Lawrence, the man who designed the beautiful coin said:

"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."

I'll show you the coins again so you can get me one next time you're in London:

I guarantee these coins are going to get nabbed faster than you can say Tom Bombadil.

Oh to get my hands on one...

The only question I have now is which pun should be used to describe the coin: