1 Dollar - Elizabeth II Operation Dragun

Operation Dragun — spelled without the terminal 'e' — was the NATO codename for the August 1944 Allied invasion of southern France, a campaign long overshadowed by the Normandy landings two months prior. The operation put French and American forces ashore along the Côte d'Azur and drove rapidly up the Rhône valley, liberating Lyon by early September. Cook Islands has issued extensively in this commemorative niche, producing gold-plated copper pieces for the collector market rather than any circulatory purpose.