Two Pounds 2025 George Orwell, Coin from United Kingdom - detailed information

The bi-metallic £2 coin is the largest circulating coin denomination of the Pound Sterling. It was introduced in 1998 (earlier two pound coins were made of Nickel brass, were intended as commemorative, and did not circulate much). Being bi-metallic means that the coin comprises two separate components of differing alloys; the outer ring of the coins is made of Nickel-Brass (76% copper, 4% nickel, 20% zinc) and the inner circle is CuproNickel (75% copper, 25% nickel).

The Royal Mint maintains a "definitive" style of the £2 issued annually, as well as a large variety of one-year circulating commemorative types.

In 2017, the mint also started issuing some Non-Circulating Legal Tender (NCLT) £2 coins for collectors. These are included in the annual mint sets or are issued separately, but are not released into general circulation. Their themes celebrate important anniversaries or people, as well as iconic aspects of British culture and history.

This commemorative £2 coin celebrates the life and legacy of British author George Orwell and portrays key themes of his writings on the reverse.

George Orwell was one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century. Active during a time of great societal and cultural change, his plain style of writing, underpinned by originality and wit, resonates with readers of his various works to this day. Born Eric Blair on 25 June 1903 in Motihari, Bengal, George Orwell spent his early years as a child of the British Raj, as his father served the British Empire by working as an Opium Agent in the Indian Civil Service. For publishing his books, the writer chose a professional pseudonym that combined the name of the reigning British monarch and a local river.

Animal Farm (1945), one of Orwell’s best-known works, and indeed arguably one of the greatest literary pieces of the twentieth century, was a satire of the Soviet Revolution, in which the major figures of the regime are caricatured as farmyard animals. “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others” - this quote from the book is a comment on the hypocrisy of governments that proclaim the absolute equality of their citizens but give power and privileges to a small elite, and is still true today in our "modern" society.

Orwell’s final (and best known) novel was 1984, set in a fictitious post-revolution Great Britain, was an immediate international success that satirises totalitarian political systems and explores the corruption of power. It spawned several neologisms that have become part of mainstream modern language, such as "Big Brother", "the thought police", "doublethink" and "newspeak", and is still taught on school curriculums to this day.

The designer says:
“With phones and cameras being everywhere in your house, and being listened to by advertisers on your phone, you are really aware of how you’re being surveyed - and that’s what 1984 is all about. It’s about living in a culture where everything is looked at and you are constantly under pressure to conform. That’s why the eye [in the design] isn’t a realistic eye; it doesn’t have eyelashes and things like that because I wanted it to be monocular. It’s almost like a camera lens staring at you all the time, unblinking.”