COPYRIGHT AND THE NEW ZEALAND HOBBIT COINS

As anticipation for Peter Jackson's latest Tolkien epic "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" reaches a fever pitch around the world, fans in New Zealand will soon be able to use (or just collect) commemorative coins stamped with the faces of Gandalf, Bilbo Baggins and Gollum.

The coins, some of which will be minted from pure gold, will be legal tender in the country, although their face value (ranging from NZ $1 to NZ $10) will be only a fraction of what they'll go for, AFP notes. (The most expensive coin, made from one ounce of pure gold, retails for NZ$3,695, or $3,020 in U.S. dollars.)

The coins, which will be released on Nov. 1 in advance of the movie's Nov. 28 premiere, are being minted by the New Zealand Post "to mark this moment in cinematic history." They are, according to the Post, "the only official legal tender commemorative coins from Middle-earth."

OK, here's a close up. It's hard to read, but I think it's a copyright symbol and the letters WBEI, which I guess stand for Warner Brothers Entertainment Inc. The copyrights for the film and characters of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series are owned by Warner Brothers. Is this the first coin to include the copyright symbol? What exactly does this mean - could Warner Brothers hassle numismatists for publishing images of the coins? Now that they're publicizing the film they certainly want as many outlets as possible to mention it, but will there be trouble further down the line? -Editor

To read the complete article, see: Hobbit Currency To Be Legal Tender In 'Lord Of The Rings'-Obsessed New Zealand (www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/10/hobbit-currency
-legal-tender-in-lord-of-therings-obsessed-new-zealand_n_1955717.html)

Wayne Homren, Editor

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web