4744) "Frankenstein" - a novel by Mary Shelley - an English Romantic Novelist , United Kingdom (UK): "Gothic Horror Coin Series": The Royal Mint UK has brought out 1oz - 2 Pounds (Silver) & 100 Pounds Gold Bullion Coins: Date/Year of Coin issue: 2026:
Gothic Horror Coin Series:
About Mary Shelley — Life, Works, and Legacy:
- Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (born Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English Romantic novelist best known for her Gothic and early science‑fiction novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818)
Early Life and Education:
- Mary was the only daughter of William Godwin, a radical political philosopher, and Mary Wollstonecraft, a pioneering feminist writer and author of "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman". Her mother died 11 days after giving birth to her.
- Mary was raised by her father in an intellectually stimulating but emotionally challenging household.
- At age four, her father married Mary Jane Clairmont, bringing two step‑siblings into the home; Mary had a strained relationship with her stepmother.
She received no formal schooling but was self‑educated through reading and intellectual circles.
Romantic Relationship and Marriage:
At 17, Mary ran away with Percy Bysshe Shelley, a married Romantic poet, in 1814.
- They travelled through Europe, faced financial hardship, and endured the deaths of two of their children. After Percy’s wife Harriet’s suicide in 1816, Mary and Percy married in London.
Literary Career:
Mary Shelley’s most famous work, Frankenstein (1818), was conceived during a summer with Lord Byron and others at Geneva, where Shelley proposed the idea
She also wrote novels such as "Valperga", "The Last Man", "The Fortunes of Perkin Warbeck", "Lodore", and "Falkner", as well as short fiction, essays, travel writing, and biographical works.
She edited and promoted Percy Shelley’s poetry and was a key figure in Romantic literary circles.
Personal Life and Losses:
Mary and Percy had four children; three died in infancy. Their only surviving child, Percy Florence Shelley, was born in 1819
Percy died in 1822 in a boating accident near Viareggio, Italy
Mary later lived in England, devoted to her son and her writing, but suffered from illness, likely a brain tumour, and died in London in 1851 at age 53
Legacy:
Mary Shelley is remembered as a pioneering author whose Frankenstein remains a cornerstone of Gothic literature and early science fiction.
Her life’s experiences—themes of creation, loss, and responsibility—infused her work, and she continued to write and publish for decades after Frankenstein’s success
Key facts:
Born: 30 Aug 1797, London, England
Died: 1 Feb 1851, London, England
Notable work: Frankenstein (1818)
Spouse: Percy Bysshe Shelley (1816–1822)
Children: 4 (3 died in infancy).
Gothic fiction:
In the 20th century, Dracula became regarded by critics as a seminal work of Gothic fiction. Scholars explore the novel within the historical context of the Victorian era and regularly discuss its portrayal of race, religion, gender and sexuality.
Gothic fiction, often referred to as Gothic horror (primarily in the 20th century), is a literary aesthetic of fear and haunting.
The name of the genre is derived from the Renaissance-era use of the word "gothic", as a pejorative term meaning medieval and barbaric, which itself originated from Gothic architecture and in turn the Goths.
About Frankenstein:
"Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus" is an 1818 Gothic novel written by English author Mary Shelley.
It tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature from different body parts in an unorthodox scientific experiment.
Shelley started writing the story when she was 18 and staying in Bath, and the first edition was published anonymously in London on 1 January 1818, when she was 20.
Her name first appeared in a French translation published in Paris in 1821.
Shelley travelled through Europe in 1815, moving along the river Rhine in Germany, and stopping in Gernsheim, 17 kilometres (11 mi) away from Frankenstein Castle, where, about a century earlier, Johann Konrad Dippel, an alchemist, had engaged in experiments.
She then journeyed to the region of Geneva, Switzerland, where much of the story takes place. Galvanism and occult ideas were topics of conversation for her companions, particularly for her lover and future husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley.
In 1816—at the suggestion of Lord Byron—Mary, Percy, John Polidori and Byron himself, each agreed to try writing a ghost story.
After thinking for days, Shelley was inspired to write Frankenstein after imagining a scientist who created life and was horrified by what he had made.
Literary influences which inspired her to write "Frankenstein":
- Shelley's work was heavily influenced by that of her parents:
Her father was famous for his "1793 book Enquiry Concerning Political Justice" and her mother was famous for the "1792 essay A Vindication of the Rights of Woman".
Her father's novels also influenced her writing of Frankenstein. These novels included - "Things as They Are; or, The Adventures of Caleb Williams" (1794), "St. Leon", and "Fleetwood".
- All of these books were set in Switzerland, similar to the setting in Frankenstein.
- Some major themes of social affections and the renewal of life that appear in Shelley's novel stem from these works she had in her possession.
- Other literary influences that appear in Frankenstein are "Pygmalion et Galatée" by Madame de Genlis, and "Ovid", with the use of individuals identifying the problems with society. Ovid also inspires the use of Prometheus in the book's subtitle.
- The influence of John Milton's "Paradise Lost" and Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" are also evident in the novel.
One of the best known works of English Literature:
- Frankenstein is one of the best-known works of English literature. Infused with elements of the Gothic novel and the Romantic movement, it has had a considerable influence on literature and on popular culture, spawning a complete genre of horror stories, films, and plays. Since the publication of the novel, the name Frankenstein has often been used to refer to the monster.
- Darkly atmospheric, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein helped shape both Gothic horror and modern science fiction.
Even after two centuries when it was first published, the novel continues to captivate readers more than 200 years later and has inspired countless adaptations across books, film, television and theatre. At the heart of the story is Frankenstein's monster, a terrifying yet tragic creation that remains one of literature's most enduring characters.
The Bullion Coins:
The Frankenstein Design:
- For the Second Coin the Royal Mint has taken the Reverse design of William Webb, whose reverse places the creature front and centre, broad shouldered and staring straight out at the viewer.
The design frames the Gothic creature with dramatic lightning and the apparatus of his creation, and on the gold version it highlights the visible stitching that has defined the character on page and screen for two centuries.
- The legend reads "FRANKENSTEIN’S MONSTER".
- Victor Frankenstein is the scientist; his creation is never given a name in Shelley’s novel.
- Generations of film posters have blurred the two, but the Royal Mint has kept the distinction, with the fineness and weight set along the right periphery and the year 2026 at the base.
For enhanced security, the coin’s reverse includes microdots whilst guilloche engraving features on its obverse.
A precious collector’s piece that brings the undead Count Dracula to life on metal
Coin Series Theme: Gothic Horror
Coin Theme: Frankenstein 2026 1oz Silver Bullion Coin
Denomination: £2
Metal Composition/Alloy: 999 Fine Silver
Diameter/Size: 38.61mm
Reverse Designer:
Obverse Designer: Martin Jennings
Year of issue: 2026
Pure Metal Type: Silver
Pure Metal Content: 1 Troy Oz
Packaging: Single Coin Capsule
Mintage: 50,000 pcs
A precious collector’s piece that brings the undead Count Dracula to life on metal
Coin Series Theme: Gothic Horror
Coin Theme: Frankenstein 2026 1oz Gold Bullion Coin
Denomination: £100
Metal Composition/Alloy: 999 Fine Gold
Diameter/Size: 32.69mm
Reverse Designer:
Obverse Designer: Martin Jennings
Year of issue: 2025
Pure Metal Type: Gold
Pure Metal Content: 1 Troy Oz
Packaging: Single Coin Capsule
Mintage: 5,000 pcs
Gothic Horror Coin Series:
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