Sir Ian McKellen became one of cinema's most recognisable wizards when he played Gandalf in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy. But in 2003, his connection to Middle-earth went a step further: Gandalf's face appeared on an official New Zealand coin.
And while having his character immortalised on legal tender was an extraordinary honour, McKellen's reaction was characteristically playful. He was far more interested in imagining people spending the coins than preserving them as valuable collectibles.
Gandalf really did appear on New Zealand currency
In November 2003, New Zealand celebrated the success of The Lord of the Rings with a collection of commemorative coins featuring characters from the films.
The 50-cent pieces included Gandalf, Frodo, Aragorn, Gollum, Saruman and Sauron. Produced by the Royal Mint, the coins were officially recognised as legal tender in New Zealand, where Jackson had filmed his fantasy trilogy.
McKellen discussed the unusual tribute in a November 2003 interview with The Guardian, explaining that he regarded the portrait as an image of Tolkien's wizard rather than a celebration of himself.
He was particularly amused by the thought of Gandalf becoming part of everyday shopping. Imagining a customer paying for sweets, he joked about shopkeepers asking for "a couple of Gandies".
There was just one problem with that fantasy. Although the coins could legally be used as money, their collectible value made it unlikely that anyone would casually hand them over at a shop.
That distinction is important: these were commemorative coins, not replacements for New Zealand's ordinary 50-cent pieces. The country's postal service still lists the original 2003 collections in its official historical coin archive, including sets containing nine and eighteen uncirculated 50-cent coins.
McKellen also had a surprising Lord of the Rings collection at home
The coins weren't the only unusual pieces of Middle-earth merchandise that delighted the actor.
During the same Guardian interview, McKellen revealed that he owned a complete collection of promotional Lord of the Rings glass goblets released by Burger King.
The glasses featured characters from the films and had illuminated bases. According to McKellen, the lighting could make an ordinary glass of water resemble a rather more sophisticated cocktail.
Better still, these weren't collectibles he simply kept on a shelf. He explained that visitors to his London home were regularly served drinks in the illuminated goblets.
His affection for the merchandise wasn't a one-off joke, either. In a January 2002 question-and-answer session on his official website, McKellen had already defended the Burger King promotion after a fan criticised the commercialisation of Tolkien's work.
Rather than dismissing the merchandise as cheap advertising, McKellen argued that popular stories inevitably become part of commercial culture. He even compared the use of Tolkien's characters in advertising with the long history of Shakespearean characters appearing on consumer products.
He also confirmed that he owned the illuminated glasses and used them to decorate his dining table.
More than two decades later, the two anecdotes offer a particularly entertaining glimpse of McKellen's relationship with his most famous role: an actor whose wizard was important enough to appear on national currency, yet who was perfectly happy to enjoy the novelty of a fast-food promotional drinking glass.
