Literary figures are one of our favorites to discover as part of our blog series covering Whitman Publishing’s 100 Greatest Women on Coins. Author Ron Guth takes us through this series, helping us to explore the stories and myths behind some of the most famous women on coins from around the world. This entry follows three sisters whose writings have become engrained in the fabric of literature that we continue to study, showcasing their genius dating back all the way to the 1800s.
#29 – The Brontë Sisters
Charlotte, Emily, and Anne, better known as the Brontë sisters, were considered literary giants. Charlotte, the oldest, was born in 1816, Emily in 1818, and Anne in 1820, in the small town of Thornton in West Yorkshire, England. Charlotte, most notably known for Jane Eyre, wrote four novels and poems. Emily wrote poems and just one novel. However, that novel was Wuthering Heights. Anne, the youngest, was responsible for the works of well-known novels Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. She also wrote poems.
Their first work, published in 1846, was a collection of poems. They all wrote under male pseudonyms as female authors struggled to get their work published. Charlotte was Currer, Emily was Ellis, and Anne was Acton. Their last name also changed to Bell. All three sisters published their novels in 1847 with their pseudonyms. Even though readers suspected that these works were indeed written by women, they were able to keep their cover.
Both Emilly (30) and Anne (29) passed in 1848, and Charlotte would continue to write novels as Currer Bell. She published Shirley in 1849 and Villette in 1853. While Charlotte would pass in 1855 at the age of 38, her first novel, The Professor, would finally be published in 1857.
The Brontë sisters were commemorated in 2001 as part of The Victorian Age coins series issued by Gibraltar. The obverse features the late Queen Elizabeth II while the reverse depicts Anne, Emily, and Charlotte. The portraits used for the image on the coin came from a painting of the sisters that was done around 1834 by their brother, Branwell.
Collecting difficulty of the 2001-dated coin, according to author Guth, is easy. It is the only coin that shows all three of the sisters together.