5 Pounds - Elizabeth II D-Day Landing 21.20, Gold Proof

Guernsey's relationship with D-Day is not merely commemorative — the island was the only British territory occupied by German forces during the war, liberated on 9 May 1945, nearly a year after the Normandy landings it had no part in launching. That occupation lasted four years and nine months, during which the island's population endured forced labor deportations, food shortages severe enough to require Red Cross intervention, and the construction of fortifications that still scar the coastline.

The Royal Mint struck this piece under contract, as Guernsey has no production facility of its own.