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NEW COIN CELEBRATES CHARLES DICKENS' LITERARY LEGACY
Stephen Pradier forwarded an article about a new coin honoring Charles Dickens.
It's a novel artistic approach - what do readers think?
-Editor
The Royal Mint has come up with a novel way to wish Charles Dickens a happy 200th birthday - a new coin with a portrait of the author made up of the titles of some of his most famous fictional works. The two-pound ($3.20) uncirculated collectible coin will be available via the Royal Mint's website for a price of 8.50 pounds ($13) starting this week, officials said. Coins designed for circulation will be available early next year to mark Dickens' birthday. The celebrated Victorian novelist was born two centuries ago on Feb. 7, 1812. The design released Tuesday shows a portrait by artist Matthew Dent that uses titles like "David Copperfield" and "A Christmas Carol" to form a silhouette of Dickens' face. "I wanted the design of the coin to reference both the immense contribution Dickens has made to British literature and his iconic portrait," Dent said. The portrait is based on a bust of the author on display at the Charles Dickens Museum in London. The edge of the coin is inscribed with the quotation "Something will turn up," associated with the ever-optimistic Wilkins Micawber character in "David Copperfield."
Dent has produced some groundbreaking designs for the Royal Mint before, and here's another tradition-breaker. I'd like to see one in person to capture the full effect. Does it work? I'm not so sure, but I appreciate the novelty.
-Editor
To read the complete article, see: Charles Dickens' 200th birthday celebrated with coin made up of portrait with author's titles (www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=52226)
Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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