5 Pounds - Elizabeth II Mulberry Harbours-Colored Poppy

Mulberry Harbour was the codename for the prefabricated temporary harbour system towed across the Channel and assembled off the Normandy beaches following the D-Day landings of June 1944. Two were built — one at Arromanches for the British, one at Omaha Beach for the Americans. The American structure was destroyed within days by a severe storm on June 19th; the British harbour at Arromanches handled over 2.5 million men and 500,000 vehicles before it was decommissioned.

Gibraltar issued prolifically in this period for the commemorative collector market rather than circulation. The colored poppy element follows a format the Royal Mint had pioneered in 1999.