Fans attack Royal Mint over errors on HG Wells commemorative coin

‘That coin is an embarassment', said one fan

The new commemorative coin (Treasury)

A new coin honouring science fiction writer HG Wells has been criticised by fans for featuring numerous errors.

The £2 coin was released on Monday to mark 75 years since the death of the author and includes imagery inspired by The War of the Worlds and The Invisible Man, two of his most famous works.

Social media users have taken the Royal Mint to task over the accuracy of his “monstrous tripod” and invisible man.

“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,” wrote artist Holly Humphries.

“How many people did this have to go through? Did they know how to count?”

Another user wrote: “HG Wells is one of my fave authors. And War of the Worlds is one of my favourite books.

“That coin is an embarrassment. Doesn't get the Martian TRIpods or even the invisible man’s hat right. Scrap it and start again”.

Stephen Baxter, vice president of the Wells Society and author of The Massacre of Mankind, an official sequel to The War of the Worlds , said he thought Wells would have been “very flattered by the coin, but infuriated by that non-tripod!

“It’s not just the extra leg but the stiffness of it,” he told the Guardian.

“In the book itself, he [Wells] has a sideswipe at the ‘stiff, stilted tripods’ depicted in an early ‘pamphlet’ on the war - in fact he was talking about clumsy illustrations in the newspaper serialisation of the book, its first publication. ‘They were no more like the Martians I saw than a Dutch doll is like a human being.’ Take that!”

Professor Anthony Rees felt the criticism was unreasonable, however, writing: “Unjust criticism of @RoyalMintUK over HG Wells new coin with 4-legged tripod.

“Martians more likely to undergo mutation from high radiation exposure. Over 123 years pod-gene duplication distinctly possible.

“More stable 4-legged tetrapod would be under high selection pressure…#HGWells cognoscenti clearly not following the science!!”

A spokesperson for the Royal Mint told The Independent: “We have created a new £2 coin to celebrate the life and works of HG Wells. 

"The coin depicts scenes such as the machines in War of the Worlds and the Invisible Man.”

Chris Costello, designer of the HG Wells £2 coin said: “The characters in War of the Worlds have been depicted many times, and I wanted to create something original and contemporary.

“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 stylised and unified composition that is emblematic of all of HG Well’s work and fits the unique canvas of a coin.”