Sir Elton John honoured by Royal Mint on new commemorative coin, rarest version costs Rs 64 lakh – art and culture

Piano extraordinaire, Sir Elton John is being honoured by Britain’s Royal Mint with a commemorative £1,000 gold coin paying tribute to the decorated British singer-songwriter. The coin, designed by artist Bradley Morgan Johnson, depicts the pop legend’s distinctive straw boater’s hat, and fashions his trademark glasses out of a pair of musical notes.

“It really is a fabulous honour to be recognised in this way,” John, 73, said. “The last few years have contained some of the most memorable moments of my career, and this is another truly humbling milestone on my journey.”

The coins in the collection are quite heavy on the pocket with the cheapest coins having a face value of £5 but selling for £13, and the rarest version, a one-kilo gold proof coin has a face value of £1,000 (Rs 93,283), but the selling price is £68,865 (Rs 64,20,182).

A one ounce gold and silver coins from the new competitive Elton John coin collection released by Britain’s Royal Mint.
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via REUTERS
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A one ounce silver proof coin’s reverse from the new competitive Elton John coin collection released by Britain’s Royal Mint.
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via REUTERS
)

John, who was knighted in 1998, is the second artist to be commemorated under the Royal Mint’s Music Legends series after rock band Queen, which was issued in January.

ALSO SEE| PHOTOS: Royal Mint celebrates singer Elton John with new commemorative coin

He has sold more than 250 million records, with hits like “Candle in the Wind”, “Your Song” and “Bennie and the Jets”. John has been forced to postpone a lengthy farewell world tour, Farewell Yellow Brick Road, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Royal Mint’s Clare Maclennan said in a BBC report, “Elton John is without a doubt a British music legend and is recognised as one of the most successful singer-songwriters of his generation. We are delighted to honour Elton’s significant contribution to British music on a UK coin.”

The Royal Mint also said it was working with John to create a special one-off collectors piece to be auctioned later in the year, to raise money for charity at a time where many in the sector are struggling. This isn’t the first time that the knighted rocker has received such an honour, in September 2019 Britain’s Royal Mail released a new collection of stamps that honoured and celebrated the veteran rocker’s contribution to music. A total of 12 stamps were released, of which eight featured images of his most popular album covers and the other four marked moments from his memorable live performances over the course of his more than 50-year-old career.

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