2023 Republic of Cameroon 5000 francs CFA William Shakespeare - First Folio 400th Anniversary Ag

The First Folio is the first published collection of Shakespeare’s plays, produced seven years after his death. Originally itled “Mr. William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies,” it grouped the plays into their respective categories for the first time.

Edited and supervised by Shakespeare’s fellow actors and friends, John Heminges and Henry Condell, this groundbreaking folio presented 36 plays, including 18 previously unpublished works.

A folio is a large book made by folding printed sheets of paper in half, with each sheet forming four pages. The First Folio was the first folio ever published in England devoted exclusively to plays.

Globally recognized for its exclusivity, the original copy of the First Folio holds the record as the most expensive literature ever auctioned — selling for £2m in 2022 at Sotheby’s auction house in New York. Furthermore, a rare edition of the 1623 volume of plays sold at Christie’s for nearly $10 million in 2020.

In honor of this outstanding literary work, MINT XXI has created the William Shakespeare — First Folio 400th Anniversary coin. This precious collectible will serve you as a reminder of the incomparable literary legacy of England’s iconic playwright.