The Lord of the Rings Author J.R.R. Tolkien To Be Honored With Coin From the Royal Mint

The Royal Mint has announced that it will release a commemorative coin in 2023, "Celebrating the Life and Work of JRR Tolkien." Tolkien was the author who told the legendary saga of Middle-earth in his books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. His monogram is featured on one side of the coin, encircled by Tolkien's name, the years of his birth and death, and the words "writer," "poet," and "scholar." Artist David Lawrence created a runic pattern inspired by the line, "Not all those who wander are lost." The line quotes the poem 'The Riddle of Strider', which appears in Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring.

"JRR Tolkien's monogram is an elegant creation: a mysterious symbol redolent of alchemical signs and magical scripts," Lawrence says in a statement. "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."

He continues, "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 work continues to be celebrated 50 years after his death. In 2022, publisher HarperCollins released a new edition of The Silmarillion, Tolkien's book chronicling Middle-earth's creation and history, that features the author's illustrations of his world. That book is a follow-up to 2021's The Lord of the Rings Illustrated Edition, which reprinted Tolkien's seminal fantasy trilogy with Tolkein's illustrations. HarperCollins also published a new volume titled The Fall of Numenor, which collected all of Tolkien's writings about the Second Age of Middle-earth.

The Fall of Numenor's release is timely as Prime Video debuted its The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power streaming television series in 2022. The adaptation of Tolkien's world takes place during Middle-earth's Second Age. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers film, the middle chapter in Peter Jackson's epic cinematic adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, and Best Picture Academy Award-winning The Return of the King will do the same in 2023.

The rights to Middle-earth have become split between three companies. Amazon produces The Rings of Power, which is filming its second season in the United Kingdom. Warner Bros. Pictures, which made The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, maintains the rights to those films and has the animated movie The War of the Rohirrim in the works. Embracer Group purchased Middle-earth Enterprises in 2022. That gives the media holding company the rights to make video games, and perhaps more, based on The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

Fans can register their interest in the Celebrating the Life and Work of JRR Tolkien commemorative coin at the Royal Mint website.

[Correction: A previous version of this article mistakenly stated that Tolkien's profile is featured on one side of the coin. It is King Charles' profile. The article has been corrected.]