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Mary Shelley: An Electrifying Author Inspired a Shocking Coin

By Sanjay Gandhi - October 17, 2024

A sketched portrait of author Mary Shelley. Courtesy of Shutterstock. Click image to enlarge.

The first Frankenstein film was shot in 1910 by famous inventor Thomas Edison and distributed by The Edison Manufacturing Company. Yes, that’s the same famous innovator who invented the incandescent light bulb in Menlo Park, and he developed the motion picture camera as well. In 2018, the film was restored by the Library of Congress and can be viewed on YouTube.

On November 21, 1931, the second rendition of the movie Frankenstein was released starring Boris Karloff. Actor Bela Lugosi, who played the eponymous caped lead in the 1931 thriller Dracula, was originally offered the role but turned it down. Frankenstein became the highest-grossing film of 1931, taking an astonishing $12 million dollars. More films, such as The Bride of Frankenstein and The Son of Frankenstein, became part of the franchise, which gained a cult following.

Yet, if it hadn’t been for a talented 20-year-old author from England, the world would have never been introduced to Frankenstein – the movie, the book, or the character.

The famous writer Mary Shelley was born Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin in London, England, on August 30, 1797. Mary was introduced to writing letters at an early age by her father, who was also a writer and inspired his young daughter to write poems. She had an above-average education throughout her childhood up to her mid-teenage years. In 1814, at the age of 17, Mary took the path of an adventurer with her husband-to-be Percy Bysshe Shelley. Mary Shelley, at this time, was also known as a prodigy poet who found herself on the outskirts of Geneva, Switzerland, in 1816. She crossed paths with John Polisario and Lord Byron that summer, and both of these individuals were writers who had some influence on Shelley’s future work.

The title page from the anonymously published Mary Shelley classic The Modern Prometheus or Frankenstein. Public domain image sourced from Wikimedia Commons. Click image to enlarge.

Torrential rains fell for many weeks that summer in Geneva, and most of Shelley’s days were spent indoors. It was at Lord Byron’s home during this period where she listened to German ghost stories read by various guests. In one nightly discussion by the fireplace, guests were challenged to write a short story that had a ghostly theme. Shelley had a restless night’s sleep; by the next morning, Frankenstein was taking shape. She finished her writings in 1817, which was titled The Modern Prometheus or Frankenstein, released anonymously in January of 1818.

In 2018, the Royal Mint commemorated the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s iconic novel by releasing coins in several metals. The first non-precious-metal coin that was made for collectors was a copper-nickel proof version struck in business-strike and proof finishes. A silver proof piedfort version with gold plating was struck in limited quantities with a mintage of 1,818 pieces. The gold proof version of this coin has the lowest mintage output, with 400 pieces emitted. Every coin that was issued in the series reads “A SPARK OF BEING” on the edge.

Shelley gives her recollection of the idea behind the Frankenstein character in a revised edition of the book from 1831. “Perhaps a corpse would be re-animated; galvanism had given token of such things: perhaps the component parts of a creature might be manufactured, brought together, and endued with vital warmth.”

2018 Great Britain Silver Frankenstein 2 Pound Piedfort, PCGS PR69DCAM. Courtesy of PCGS. Click image to enlarge.

Shelley would continue her literary journey by promoting the poems of her late husband, who had passed away in 1821. She wrote about family life during the pre-Victorian era and wrote several novels, becoming an accomplished biographer in several languages. Without Mary Shelley’s imagination and literary contributions, Frankenstein may not have ever come to life.

Out of all the metals within the periodic table of elements, silver is the best conductor of electricity. It’s rumored that a small group of people from the Royal Mint gathered for the occasion on a rainy night when the first silver piedfort Frankenstein coin was to be struck.

The mint master, who was given the honor of striking the first piedfort coin, pressed the button, and the coin press did not move. He pressed the button a second time to no avail. Frustrated, he backpedaled a step or two, moving away from the coin press. Suddenly, a spark of electricity emerged from the silver coin blank, the press became operational and minted the coin. The mint master stepped toward the coin press, carefully placed his two fingers around the edge of the glowing coin, turned to those in attendance, and said, “It’s alive!”

 
Article provided by PCGS at www.pcgs.com
 
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