Royal Mint launches illiterate HG Wells coin with four-legged Martian tripod (news).
The War of the Worlds and The Invisible Man were the two HG Wells tomes chosen to celebrate the life of the original science fiction author by the Royal Mint for their new just released coin (along with a nod to the Time Machine with a little sun-dial detailing around the edges).
However, the new £2 coin, created to mark the 75 years point after the death of Wells, has caused ire among fans of Wells’ work because the Royal Mint oddly created the tripod of the Martian war machine with four legs – as opposed to the boringly traditional three.
Four legs bad. Three legs good?
Apologies to Animal Farm.
This is a new commemorative HG Wells £2 coin for 2021.
Now, as someone who particularly likes one of his very famous stories, can I just note that the big walking machine on the coin has four legs?
Four legs.
The man famous for creating the martian TRIpod.
FOUR
LEGS
?????? pic.twitter.com/HKFCgajGGL— HolBolDoArt🏳️🌈 (@HolBolDoTweet) January 4, 2021
2021 off to a good start as the Royal Mint releases a HG Wells commemorative coin depicting a Martian tripod with FOUR legs. #wtf #scifi @RoyalMintUK pic.twitter.com/coX2rKP16x
— Colin Maxwell (@MaximizedComics) January 5, 2021
Martian tripods on a new coin!
The War Of The Worlds author HG Wells is featured among 5 commemorative coins announced by the Royal Mint – also includes the Queen’s 95th birthday
Read more https://t.co/Be2CUePrIs https://t.co/5nBZINjvqW#Mars #HGWells #scifibooks #collectibles pic.twitter.com/PW4iovI0oM
— The Martian Diaries 👽The War Of The Worlds Sequel (@martiandiaries) January 4, 2021
Looks like they actually know what they are doing. From the Royal Mint site :
“My design takes inspiration from a variety of machines featured in the book – including tripods and the handling machines which have five jointed legs and multiple appendages. The final design combines multiple stories into one stylized and unified composition that is emblematic of all of H.G. Well’s work and fits the unique canvas of a coin.”
Is this the right decision? I admit it seems odd at first. But your headline is a bit misleading to call them illiterate.