My son just sent me a message about the new UK H G Wells commemorative coin with the comment "can I just note that the big walking machine on the coin has four legs?"

For those unfamiliar with "The War of the Worlds", the appropriate passage is

Perhaps we should blame it on the new math?

Observant fans of HG Wells have questioned how a new coin from the Royal Mint commemorating The War of the Worlds author could be released with multiple errors, including giving his "monstroustripod" four legs.

The £2 coin is intended to mark 75 years since the death of Wells, and includes imagery inspired by The War of the Worlds and The Invisible Man.

Unfortunately, it strays from Wells's vision of his creations. "As someone who particularly likes one of his very famous stories, can I just note that the big walking machine on the coin has fourlegs? 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?"

Science fiction novelist and professor of 19th-century literature Adam Roberts, who is author of a biography of Wells and vice president of the HG Wells Society, also criticised the depiction ofthe Invisible Man, shown in a top hat; in the book he arrives at Iping under a "wide-brimmed hat".

"It's nice to see Wells memorialised, but it would have been nicer for them to get things right," Roberts said. "A tripod with four legs is hard to comprehend (tri: the clue is in the name), andWells's (distinctly ungentlemanly) invisible man, Griffin, never wore a top hat ... I'd say Wells would be annoyed by this carelessness: he took immense pains to get things right in his own work -inviting translators of his book to stay with him to help the process and minimise errors and so on."

Asked about the errors, a spokesperson for The Royal Mint said, "We have created a new £2 coin to celebrate the life and works of HG Wells. The coin depicts scenes from famous works such as War ofthe Worlds and the Invisible Man as imagined by designer Chris Costello." Costello has said he was inspired by "vintage HG Wells book covers and movie posters".

David adds:

To read the complete article, see:
HG Wells fans spot numerous errors on Royal Mint's new £2 coin(https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jan/05/hg-wells-fans-spot-numerous-errors-on-royal-mints-new-2-coin)

Chris Costello, the coin's designer, insisted he was intentionally reinterpreting imagery from Wells' works for a modern audience.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
The UK's new HG Wells coin features numerous errors -- including afour-legged tripod (https://www.kitv.com/story/43135640/the-uks-new-hg-wells-coin-features-numerous-errors-including-a-four-legged-tripod)

To read the complete article, see:
Fans of H.G. Wells Cry Foul Over Errors in Commemorative Coin(https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/07/world/europe/hg-wells-coin-royal-mint.html)