Royal Family News: Mint Launches Harry Potter Coins Featuring King Charles and Queen Elizabeth
Royal Family news reveals that the Royal Mint is releasing a Harry Potter coin collection featuring images of Queen Elizabeth II and her son, King Charles III. Read on and we’ll fill you in on the details.
Royal Family News: Coins Will Feature Harry Potter Characters
Royal Family news reveals that according to Yahoo! News, the Royal Mint unveiled the commemorative coins in celebration of 25 years since J K Rowling’s book Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was first published. The hugely popular book was initially published in 1997 by Bloomsbury Publishing.
The Yorkshire Evening Post reports that the coins will feature characters from the wizarding world, including the Boy Who Lived himself. Also featured will be Albus Dumbledore, The Hogwarts Express, and the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The Price
Some of the coins will reportedly feature an enchantment feature which will reveal a lightning bolt with the number 25, to mark the anniversary, when the coin is rotated in the light. According to Mirror UK, Prices range from £11($12.35) for a brilliant uncirculated 50p to £5,215($5,854) for a £200($224) denomination gold Harry Potter coin. A color version of the Harry Potter 50p is available for £20($22.45).
Chief Commercial Officer for the Royal Mint, Nicola Howell, said that as the official maker of UK coins the Royal Mint is “delighted to make a spellbinding coin collection to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone” (via PR Newswire).
Word From the Designers
Illustrator and designer of the Harry Potter coin collection, Jim Kay, who created the first fully illustrated edition, discussed producing the coin, saying, “It hasn’t really sunk in yet. It is the same for most aspects of publishing – because you are on your own all of the time in a studio, none of it quite seems real until you see the book on a shelf in a shop. Then you think ‘oh yeah! I did that!’ This is completely new to me though, a coin!”
The designer who created the artwork for the coins, Ffion Gwillim, called the Harry Potter illustrations “so iconi9c and recognizable” (via Metro UK).
J K Rowlings’ Road to Success
Initially, the author J K Rowling was an unknown commodity and the manuscript had been rejected by several publishers. The book, which contained 60,000 words, had been deemed to be too long to work as a book for children.
Fast forward to now and the book series has sold over 500 million copies. This record makes Rowlings’ creation the bestselling book series – ever. The book has been translated into over 80 languages around the world. Be sure and stay up to speed on this and all royally related stories. Return here often for more Royal Family news and updates.