V.E. Day was declared on 8 May 1945, but Guernsey's liberation came a day later — 9 May — when German forces on the island formally surrendered. The Channel Islands were the only part of the British Isles to fall under Nazi occupation, enduring nearly five years of German administration beginning in June 1940. That distinction gives Guernsey a particular claim to this anniversary that most British commemorative issuers lack.
The KM#374.1 designation distinguishes this copper-nickel proof from a companion silver issue struck the same year.
V.E. Day was declared on 8 May 1945, but Guernsey's liberation came a day later — 9 May — when German forces on the island formally surrendered. The Channel Islands were the only part of the British Isles to fall under Nazi occupation, enduring nearly five years of German administration beginning in June 1940. That distinction gives Guernsey a particular claim to this anniversary that most British commemorative issuers lack.
The KM#374.1 designation distinguishes this copper-nickel proof from a companion silver issue struck the same year.