Before I ask my question, I will just tell you a bit about myself. I just signed up here at these forums today and I don't actually collect coins, and know nothing about collecting them. Today when I was searching on ebay, I ended up looking at some coins, and thought it would be nice to purchase some. I came across the Lord of the Rings coins, and being a LOTR fan, I thought they would be really nice to own. I tried searching online for more information about the coins, but was unsuccessful. So that is why I'm here. The coins I'm wondering about are like the "Antique Shire Penny" and "Dale Town Copper Penny" and a couple others. I'm wondering when these were made and if there have been any that have been made to resemble them or something. I guess I'm wondering more about authenticity of the coins I'm looking at and the history of where they came from. So if anyone has any information they could share with me, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
There are several versions of these coins being made by various mints. But the official versions which have been approved by New Line Cinema, and the official Licensee New Zealand Post are being struck by the British Royal Mint. These coins are legal tender in New Zealand. You can obtain information about these coins here - BRM LOTR coins or here - LOTR coins There are other legal tender coins being minted by the Isle Of Man. Information on them can be found here - Pobjoy Mint There are several other versions of these being made ( I assume under license but am not sure ) by various other entities. But these are little more than medalions and are not coins. It would be wise to make sure of exactly what it is you are purchasing before doing so.
shire coins superstar, i believe the coins to which you refer were produced privately by the owner of this site: www.shirepost.com. His earliest coins were most interesting and attractive, but the lawyers for the owners of the Tolkien estate shut him down. The whole story, about production, and about his legal issues are presented on that site.
I also like the Shire coinage (& related) produced bt Tom Maringer(sp?) who runs that site and his own Mint. Many of the coins are simply inspired! He was shut down,but I believe he's back in business under a slightly different url (like shairepost.com)to beat out the movies lawywers.I think the whole thing was bs for profit by the movie producer's,who don't seem to understand free publicity is good. Irregardless,the shire coinage is cool,and I recommend the series to anyone interested in the LOTR's trilogy. Oh, you might also be interested in Tom's forum located on his shirepost website. http://shirepost.com ~ Jim
