New £2 Coin Commemorates the Life and Work of George Orwell

The coin will be issued to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the writer's death.

A new £2 coin has been released to commemorate the life and literary legacy of George Orwell.

The coin, which is available from this week, marks the 75th anniversary of the writer's death.

Orwell, who was born in 1903 in British India as Eric Blair, is best known for his novels Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four.

The coins have been designed around the theme of totalitarianism, a subject which Orwell explored extensively in his writing.

The author volunteered in the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s, where he was severely wounded in the fighting.

His experience in the war shaped many of his later political views, especially his hatred of totalitarianism.