The same day that the New Zealand Mint launches a new coin in its flagship Star Wars series of gold and silver coins, it also debuts the newest release in its flagship Disney series, Classic Disney. Longer running than the three-release Star Wars Classic range, this latest coin represents the sixth coin on the market, following on from Steamboat Willie, the 80th anniversary of Donald Duck, Daisy Duck’s 75th, Scrooge McDuck. and the 75th anniversary of Dumbo, the newest anniversary to be commemorated is the 65th of one of Disneys greatest animated movies, Alice in Wonderland.
No surprises on the specifications, the standard ¼ oz gold coin and a 1 oz silver. There have been 1oz and 1kg gold, and 1kg silver versions in the past, but these seem to be the exception rather than the rule and there’s no indication we’ll see such versions of this coin. A nice clean strike, free of colour or inserts, it’s another fine design of an iconic movie. Both are packaged in a great quality wooden box, one the NZ Mint uses for most of its gold output but is employed for the silver also in this case. The gold ¼oz will retail for US$600 and the silver at US$80.
Clean struck like the previous releases, the reverse-side design is, like the Yoda coin released today, slightly different between the gold and silver versions. Fundamentally the same, instead of incorporating the whole image on the much smaller gold coin, the mint has slightly cropped the artwork to keep as much size and detail as possible. It works superbly on the Yoda coin, and works here as well, although not as successfully in our view as it does make more profound changes than the Star Wars coin did. It could be argued that either is the better looking coin however, so no criticism overall. Available to order now, the coins will ship from 26 April. Definitely a good one for the Disney crowd.
MINTS DESCRIPTION
The classic Disney movie Alice in Wonderland, was an animated version of Lewis Carroll’s famous story of Alice and her adventures after falling down a rabbit hole.
Following a White Rabbit, she meets such strange creatures as a talking doorknob, who helps her through a keyhole into Wonderland; Tweedledum and Tweedledee, who tell the story of “The Walrus and the Carpenter”; and the Mad Hatter and the March Hare celebrating an unbirthday at their tea party. Finally Alice has a showdown with the Queen of Hearts and her army of playing cards. The whole thing becomes such a nightmare that Alice awakens from her dream to the recitations of her sister and the purring of her cat, Dinah.
REVERSE: This fully engraved coin features the famous illustration of Alice at the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, with the eccentric Mad Hatter pouring Alice a cup of tea. The words “65th Anniversary” are engraved on the coin.
OBVERSE: This features the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
PACKAGING: The 65th Anniversary of Alice in Wonderland 1 oz Silver Coin comes presented in a high-quality wooden inner coin case and beautifully themed outer coin packaging, illustrating the much loved characters from the film Alice in Wonderland. The Certificate of Authenticity sits within the coin case.
THE BOOK (1865)
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (commonly shortened to Alice in Wonderland) is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice falling through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures. The tale plays with logic, giving the story lasting popularity with adults as well as with children. It is considered to be one of the best examples of the literary nonsense genre. Its narrative course and structure, characters and imagery have been enormously influential in both popular culture and literature, especially in the fantasy genre.
Dodgson’s tale was published in 1865 as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by “Lewis Carroll” with illustrations by John Tenniel. The entire print run sold out quickly and Alice was a publishing sensation, beloved by children and adults alike. Among its first avid readers were Queen Victoria and the young Oscar Wilde. The book has never been out of print and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has been translated into at least 174 languages.
(Source: Wikipedia)
THE MOVIE (1951)
Alice in Wonderland is a 1951 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and based on the Alice books by Lewis Carroll. The 13th of Disney’s animated features, the film premiered in New York City and London on July 26, 1951. The film features the voices of Kathryn Beaumont as Alice, Sterling Holloway as the Cheshire Cat, Verna Felton as the Queen of Hearts, and Ed Wynn as the Mad Hatter.
Walt Disney first attempted unsuccessfully to adapt Alice into an animated feature film during the 1930s. However, he finally revived the idea in the 1940s. The film was originally intended to be a live-action/animated film, however, Disney decided to make it an all-animated feature in 1946. The theme song of the same name has since become a jazz standard.
While the film was critically panned on its initial release, the movie proved to be ahead of its time and has since been regarded as one of Disney’s greatest animated classics, notably one of the biggest cult classics in the animation medium, as well as one of the best film adaptations of Alice.
(Source: Wikipedia)
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