Politics
New Through The Looking-Glass £5 coin to celebrate 150 years since Lewis Carroll’s iconic book
THE Royal Mint has launched a new £5 coin celebrating 150 years since Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass novel was published.
The £5 crown is based on Sir John Tenniel’s original illustrations of the book, which was the sequel of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
PAThe Royal Mint has launched a new £5 coin celebrating 150 years since Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass novel was published[/caption]
It shows the moment Alice runs into mischievous characters Tweedledum and Tweedledee.
Sadly, the new coin won’t go into circulation meaning you won’t find it in your spare change anytime soon.
To get your hands on it, you’ll need to buy it on the Royal Mint website.
Prices start from £13 for a brilliant uncirculated piece in a £5 denomination and range up to £2,440 for a £100 gold proof coin.
PAThe Royal Mint has teamed up with a bakery chain to launch limited-edition cakes[/caption]
What do you do if you’ve got a rare coin?
FIRSTLY, you need to make sure the coin is legit and not counterfeit.
Around one in every four old £1 coins were thought to be fake, according to The Royal Mint, so there are probably more fakers in your spare change then you realise.
The Royal Mint is unable to value a coin but it can confirm whether it is real or not. They will usually supply you with a letter to confirm this.
Once you’ve found out whether the coin is real or not, you have a number of options – either selling it through a coin dealer, at auction or on eBay.
You can look at eBay’s recent sold prices to get an indicator of how much your coin usually goes for on the site.
To celebrate the launch, the Royal Mint has teamed up with EL&N Cafe to create a limited-edition Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland cake selection.
These designs are based on the Queen of Hearts from the original book and will be available at its bakeries across London.
It comes after a coin depicting the scene where Alice meets the Cheshire Cat was released last month.
Both coins were created by the mint’s designer Ffion Gwillim and sculptor Emma Noble.
Clare Maclennan, a director at the Royal Mint, said after the last release: “Inspired by Sir John Tenniel’s original illustrations, the beautiful £5 crown has been crafted to the finest quality, combining traditional minting skills with innovation in design technology.
“I’m sure the Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland range will become a popular choice for collectors, capturing the imagination of people of all ages, and to launch at the awe-inspiring Victoria and Albert Museum during the 150th anniversary of Through the Looking-Glass is a fitting celebration.”
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