It might surprise fans to learn that Jane Austen was almost entirely unknown during her lifetime. Soon after she died, in 1817, aged just 41, her works, including Emma, Persuasion, and even Pride and Prejudice, all went out of print. It was only when her nephew, James Edward Austen-Leigh, released A Memoir of Jane Austen in 1870 that she was born again to a wider Victorian public. Soon the cult of Austen fans, sometimes known as ‘Janeites’, was established and, since then, The Jane Austen Society has developed branches across the globe.

This double-thickness Piedfort £2 coin is struck in fine silver to Proof standard in a Limited Edition Presentation of 2,500 coins.

Coin Highlights:

• A double-thickness Piedfort coin, struck in fine silver to Proof standard
• The first official UK coin to celebrate this great British writer
• Features a design approved by leading Jane Austen academic, Professor John Mullan
• Unique Regency-era coin design by Royal Mint graphic designer Dominique Evans, her first circulating coin design