1/2 Sovereign - Elizabeth II Battle of the Atlantic

Gibraltar has issued commemorative half sovereigns under Royal Mint-equivalent authority since the 1990s, exploiting its status as a British Overseas Territory to produce legal tender coinage outside the constraints of the Royal Mint's own program. The Battle of the Atlantic series taps into genuine local history — the Strait of Gibraltar was one of the most contested chokepoints of the entire campaign, with Axis submarines and aircraft targeting Allied convoys attempting to resupply Malta and North Africa throughout the early 1940s.

The seventy-year anniversary framing for this 2016 issue marks roughly the end of the Atlantic campaign in May 1945.