Tolkien Coin

So, I found out about this from a friend, and then managed to get a copy through the help of another friend. Many thanks to both.

This new commemorative (actual money value: two pounds) shows Tolkien's iconic initial on one side and King Charles on the other (the first coin I've seen showing the new monarch). Three words describing Tolkien appear near the bottom, and their choice is interesting: 

Writer

Poet

Scholar

I don't think anyone wd disagree with the first,* and the third is equally appropriate. It's interesting, therefore, to note, that in the accompanying folder that holds the coin Tolkien is described as a Philologist. I suspect the replacement of "Philologist" by "Scholar" on the coin itself is due to the fact that most people don't know what a philologist is. 

The middle term, Poet, is also an interesting choice, and the one I think wd surprise Tolkien the most (albeit pleasantly so). 

https://www.royalmint.com/shop/limited-editions/tolkien/ 

There's said to be another inscription on the rim of the coin, but since I can't get the coin out of its holder without damaging the latter, I'll have to take this on faith. The rim-inscription is said to read  Not all those who wander are lost, Bilbo's riddle about Strider, which has become the iconic Tokien quote these days. 

Based on some of the descriptions I saw online I originally thought the coin had tengwar on it, but now that I can take a closer look at it I have to say this seems not to be the case. Pity: to have an invented language/script appearing on a real-world coin wd have introduced an interaction between real-world and secondary world.

--John R.

--current reading: Thr Secret Commonwealth

*Unless they disapprove of Tolkien altogether. Some do.