Lord of the Rings "currency" coins

[Patattack]

I've seen these things all over eBay, and I've always been a little intrigued...Apparently there's a fairly extensive set of non-canon currency from all over Middle-Earth, with origins including Hobbits, Dwarves, Orcs, Rohan, Elves, etc...

In any case, I've always been a big fan of interesting coins, and I was wondering if anyone owned any of these coins and could tell me what you think of them. Any chance the creator hangs out around here?

 

[Kaylee]

I have some of the "Shire Post" pence.. 1402 series I think*
Some copper, both weathered and not weathered, as well as a small silver piece.
The silver and the weathered copper are the prettiest.

They're okay.. a little crude, but that's what I'd expect for a "Middle Earth" made coin.
I wasn't sure about the mix of tengwar for the text and arabic numerals - perhaps a better tolkien scholar than I could say what character set would be appropriate for the Shire?

The Rohirric silver pennies looked interesting, though I didn't get any then.

The Elvish leaves.... just didn't really look Elvish to me. I can't say why. I'd love to see Jasmine Watson give the idea a try though.

-K


*oops - I see they're gone from the site. Must have gotten a nastygram from Tolkien's estate. Pity. Anyhow, a wayback machine check on shirepost.com for a year or two back should you what they looked like. They're prolly the same as you saw on eBay, but um... there used to be more available.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Patattack @ Apr 2 2007, 06:13 PM) [snapback]1453888[/snapback]</div>

I've seen these things all over eBay, and I've always been a little intrigued...Apparently there's a fairly extensive set of non-canon currency from all over Middle-Earth, with origins including Hobbits, Dwarves, Orcs, Rohan, Elves, etc...

In any case, I've always been a big fan of interesting coins, and I was wondering if anyone owned any of these coins and could tell me what you think of them. Any chance the creator hangs out around here?
[/b]

 

[Patattack]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Kaylee @ Apr 2 2007, 07:34 PM) [snapback]1453954[/snapback]</div>

I have some of the "Shire Post" pence.. 1402 series I think*
Some copper, both weathered and not weathered, as well as a small silver piece.
The silver and the weathered copper are the prettiest.

They're okay.. a little crude, but that's what I'd expect for a "Middle Earth" made coin.
I wasn't sure about the mix of tengwar for the text and arabic numerals - perhaps a better tolkien scholar than I could say what character set would be appropriate for the Shire?

The Rohirric silver pennies looked interesting, though I didn't get any then.

The Elvish leaves.... just didn't really look Elvish to me. I can't say why. I'd love to see Jasmine Watson give the idea a try though.

-K


*oops - I see they're gone from the site. Must have gotten a nastygram from Tolkien's estate. Pity. Anyhow, a wayback machine check on shirepost.com for a year or two back should you what they looked like. They're prolly the same as you saw on eBay, but um... there used to be more available.
[/b]

I just think they're really well-designed...and the fact that they're a little crude might even make it more interesting. I agree, the Elvish leaves are a bit off...first of all, they don't even look like coins to me; second, holly doesn't seem like the most Elvish of leaves..I'd have expected something with a bit more organic curves than sharp points. All the other ones look neat to me, though. Real shame the site isn't selling them...maybe I oughta pick up those ones on eBay while I still can. :unsure

 

[Kaylee]

Well, Holly does have a particular significance. Remember that ruin the Fellowship marched past on the way to the Mountains? That was an old city of Hollin, the human name for an elven kingdom that used to exist there - they traded with and were on somewhat friendly terms with the dwarves of Moria, before the Balrog was uncovered. I think Galadriel even lived in Hollin a time.

Anyhow, "Hollin" comes from Holly, which was very common there at the time.

So - using Holly makes sense for an old elven coin, though I do think the elves would have taken greater care in even their most mundane creations, and would have made a more elegant design.

-K (who probably should go and read the Silmarillion again.... )

 

[Patattack]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Kaylee @ Apr 2 2007, 08:36 PM) [snapback]1454013[/snapback]</div>

Well, Holly does have a particular significance. Remember that ruin the Fellowship marched past on the way to the Mountains? That was an old city of Hollin, the human name for an elven kingdom that used to exist there - they traded with and were on somewhat friendly terms with the dwarves of Moria, before the Balrog was uncovered. I think Galadriel even lived in Hollin a time.

Anyhow, "Hollin" comes from Holly, which was very common there at the time.

So - using Holly makes sense for an old elven coin, though I do think the elves would have taken greater care in even their most mundane creations, and would have made a more elegant design.

-K (who probably should go and read the Silmarillion again.... )
[/b]

Well, that all makes sense. Sorry, I don't have a fantastic mind for details.