5 Pounds Golden Jubilee of Police Day

Egypt's National Police Day, observed on January 25th, marks the 1952 Ismailia massacre, in which British forces killed dozens of Egyptian police officers who refused orders to surrender their weapons and barracks. The date carried enough nationalist weight that it was declared a public holiday — and, fifty years later, provided the occasion for this issue. It later became the rallying point for the January 25, 2011 uprising, lending the commemoration an irony its designers could not have anticipated.