2020 Agatha Christie: 100 Years of Mystery Silver Proof £2 Coin

This is the 2020 Silver Proof Agatha Christie: 100 Years of Mystery Coin. This £2 coin was issued by The Royal Mint to celebrate the 100th anniversary since Christie's first novel 'The Mysterious Affair at Styles' was published. 

The coin is struck from 0.925 sterling silver and contains 0.356 troy ounces of the precious metal. 

Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie was born in Devon in 1890. Her first novel to be published was 'The Mysterious Affair at Styles' in 1920. Known as 'The Queen of Crime', Christie wrote 78 crime novels, many of which feature the popular characters Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot. 

Her books have sold over 2 billion copies around the world, making her the best-selling novelist in history. She also holds the Guiness World Record for the 'world's best-selling fiction writer'. Only the Bible and the works of William Shakespeare have sold more books than she has. 

Christie wrote the play 'The Mousetrap' which ran continuously on the West End from 1952 until March 2020, when Covid forced the production to stop temporarily. 

The obverse of the coin features the fifth coinage portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, designed by Jody Clark. 

The text reads:

ELIZABETH II • D • G • REF • F • D • 2 POUNDS

The reverse was designed by David Lawrence. It shows pieces of a puzzle, each containing a clue (poison bottle, dagger, pen and a gun) to solving a mystery. At the bottom is the 'missing piece' of the puzzle. 

The text reads:

100 YEARS OF MYSTERY 1920 2020

Agatha Christie's signature appears at the bottom.

The edge text reads "LITTLE GREY CELLS" which was one of Poirot's most famous sayings.