COINS commemorating a legendary war hero are being launched by the Royal Mint as part of a new collection.

Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia, helped lead the Arab revolt against the Ottoman Turks during the First World War.

He later joined the Royal Tank Corps based at Bovington Camp and lived at Clouds Hill under an assumed name. He died following a motorcycle crash in Dorset in May 1935 at the age of just 46.

His portrait will be depicted on precious metal £5 coins in gold and silver as part of a six-coin set marking the war.

Nicola Howell, the Royal Mint's director of consumer business, said: "We are honoured this year to be reflecting on the wartime work of T.E. Lawrence, and focusing on other poignant First World War themes from 1918, one hundred years on."

Sculptor David Cornell designed the coin. He said he chose to show Lawrence in his Arabian headdress "flowing down to almost become part of the desert itself".

Born in North Wales in 1888, Lawrence joined the army in 1914 and by December was posted to Cairo, Egypt, as a liaison and map officer. He was assigned to the role as he had previously worked as an archaeologist and photographer, making him familiar with the region.

After almost two years in Cairo, he began to undertake dangerous missions inside enemy territory in Arabia, following the Arab Revolt against Ottoman Turkey in June 1916.

His story reached a new worldwide audience through 1962 film Lawrence Of Arabia, starring Peter O'Toole.