5 Pounds - Elizabeth II The Battle of Trafalgar

Issued to mark the bicentenary of Trafalgar, this coin appeared in a year saturated with commemoratives from across the British Isles and Crown Dependencies — Guernsey, Jersey, and the Royal Mint all produced competing issues for the same event. The battle itself, fought on 21 October 1805, cost Nelson his life within hours of securing the decisive Franco-Spanish defeat that ended Napoleon's invasion threat permanently.

Guernsey's proximity to France gave the Channel Islands particular reason to mark the occasion; French occupation had been a living memory within the islands as recently as 1945.