George Orwell £2 coin: The Royal Mint releases design to mark 75 years since author's death

The reverse or tails design of the Royal Mint coin pays tribute to 1984, a dystopian novel centred around the character of Winston Smith

A new £2 coin has been released by the Royal Mint to mark 75 years since the death of George Orwell.

The coin's design pays tribute to Orwell's dystopian novel 1984, which is set in a society controlled by totalitarian rule and mass surveillance.

The reverse of the coin features an image of a camera lens, surrounded by the quote "Big Brother is watching you."

The coin's edge inscription reads: "There was truth and there was untruth."

The coin is available to buy in brilliant uncirculated, gold proof and silver proof versions from the Royal Mint's website at 9am on Wednesday, January 15 with prices starting at £17.50.

From January 20, visitors to the Royal Mint Experience in Llantrisant, South Wales, will also be able to strike their own George Orwell £2 collectable coin.

Orwell, whose real name was Eric Blair, was a British novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic.

He is best known for his dystopian novels Animal Farm (1945) and Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949).

Orwell's work is often used to describe destructive regimes where the truth is being distorted and personal freedoms are being eroded.

The term "Big Brother" is also commonly used to describe situations where people lack privacy or where they are being severely controlled.