Obverse. Photo © Royal Mint
  • 5 Pounds 2021, Sp# AW8, United Kingdom (Great Britain), Elizabeth II, Treasury of Tales, Through the Looking-Glass
  • 5 Pounds 2021, Sp# AW8, United Kingdom (Great Britain), Elizabeth II, Treasury of Tales, Through the Looking-Glass
  • 5 Pounds 2021, Sp# AW8, United Kingdom (Great Britain), Elizabeth II, Treasury of Tales, Through the Looking-Glass, Fold-out packaging
Description

As part of a new series of coins, Alice Through the Looking Glass coin is the second in The Royal Mint's Treasury of Tales series. In 2021, Lewis Carroll’s story about an inquisitive young girl called Alice will be celebrated on a UK coin for the very first time. The coin was also struck in a variety of denominations and metals including colourised copper-nickel, colourised silver proof, silver proof and gold proof.

Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (also known as Alice Through the Looking-Glass or simply Through the Looking-Glass) is a novel published on 27 December 1871 by Lewis Carroll and the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865). Alice again enters a fantastical world, this time by climbing through a mirror into the world that she can see beyond it. There she finds that, just like a reflection, everything is reversed, including logic (for example, running helps one remain stationary, walking away from something brings one towards it, chessmen are alive, nursery rhyme characters exist, and so on).

It was the first of the "Alice" stories to gain widespread popularity, and prompted a newfound appreciation for its predecessor when it was published.

Obverse

The fifth crowned portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II facing right, wearing the George IV State Diadem and drop earrings.

The George IV State Diadem, officially the Diamond Diadem, is a type of crown that was made in 1820 for King George IV. The diadem is worn by queens and queens consort in procession to coronations and State Openings of Parliament. The piece of jewelry has been featured in paintings and on stamps and currency. It can be seen in the Queen's Gallery at Buckingham Palace.

ELIZABETH II DEI GRATIA REGINA FIDEI DEFENSATRIX means Elizabeth II, by the grace of God, Queen and Defender of the Faith.

Engraver: Jody Clark

ELIZABETH II·D·G·REG·F·D·5 POUNDS·2021·
J.C

Reverse

Depicts Alice and Tweedledee and Tweedledum, based on the illustration of graphic humorist and political cartoonist Sir John Tenniel from the 1871 publication.

Tweedledum and Tweedledee are characters in Lewis Carroll's 1871 book Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. Their names may have originally come from an epigram written by poet John Byrom. The names have since become synonymous in western popular culture slang for any two people who look and act in identical ways, generally in a derogatory context.

Carroll, having introduced two fat little men named Tweedledum and Tweedledee, quotes the nursery rhyme, which the two brothers then go on to enact. They agree to have a battle, but never have one. When they see a monstrous black crow swooping down, they take to their heels. The Tweedle brothers never contradict each other, even when one of them, according to the rhyme, "agrees to have a battle". Rather, they complement each other's words, which led John Tenniel to portray them as twins in his illustrations for the book.

Engraver: Ffion Gwillim

THROUGH
THE LOOKING-
GLASS

Edge

5 Pounds (Crown)

5th portrait

Treasury of Tales
Through the Looking-Glass

Subscribe series
Sp# AW8
Characteristics
Type Commemorative Issue (Non-circulating)
Material Cupronickel
Weight 28.28 g
Diameter 38.61 mm
Thickness -
Shape round
Alignment Medal
Mint
Royal Mint

Related coins

5th portrait, Half-Ounce Silver Proof, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland

Treasury of Tales

Silver, 15.71 g, ⌀ 27 mm
5th portrait, Half-Ounce Silver Proof, Through the Looking-Glass

Treasury of Tales

Silver, 15.71 g, ⌀ 27 mm
5th portrait, One Ounce Silver Proof Coin, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland

Treasury of Tales

Silver, 31.21 g, ⌀ 38.61 mm