"The time has come to deal the enemy a terrific blow in Western Europe".
General Montgomery's message to his troops, June 1944.
Fifty years ago, the land, sea and air might of Britain, the Commonwealth and the United States together with units from virtually every occupied country in Europe formed the largest invasion force ever seen to make an assault on the fortified beaches of the enemy-occupied France.
The Allied Invasion of Europe was undoubtedly the greatest amphibious operation ever undertaken in the history of warfare. Almost from the fall of France in 1940 plans began for her liberation and by the Spring of 1944 more than three million troops had assembled in southern England in readiness for the landings on Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword, the five Normandy beaches which covered a fifty-mile front between Le Havre and Cherbourg. The successful assault on the five beaches, the fierce battles that followed and the Allied breakout into France led to the victorious liberation of Paris on 25 August. By September most of France was free and within a year western Europe, too, was free.
For virtually the whole period of the Second World War, Guernsey and the rest of the Channel Islands were under German occupation, their peaceful pre-war existence shattered by the deprivations of war. although the Normandy landings did not mean immediate freedom, they knew that this was the beginning of the end of their terrible ordeal.
T commemorate the courage, determination and co-operation showed by so many nations in their mutual pursuit of freedom for Europe, the Royal Mint has been authorised by the States Treasury of Guernsey to strike a limited number of four-coin gold proof collections.

Designs and Specifications
All coins bear reverse designs by Dutch sculptor and medallist Willem Vis and portray powerful scenes illustrating the magnitude of the landings, the conflict and the rage that was the battle for France.
The £100 coin portrays Allied troops disembarking from an amphibious landing craft into the chill waters of a Normandy beach. Weighed down by equipment and holding their rifles high they wade towards the shore. Above appears a cameo portrait of Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister of the day.
A paratrooper pulling in his parachute is featured on the £50 coin. In the background, the sky is filled with gliders and planes dropping further units from the huge airborne army.
The £25 coin features a portrait of the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied forces, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, symbolically standing in front of a small part of the greatest invasion fleet in history, discharging vehicles, equipment and men onto the sands of the Normandy beaches.
the £10 coin features a Sherman Hedgecutter and its crew advancing through the ruins of a liberated French village.
On all four coins the surrounding inscription reads 50TH ANNIVERSARY NORMANDY 1944-1994, with the denominational value of the coins.
Each shared obverse bears Raphael Maklouf's elegant portrait of Her Majesty the Queen, now used on all Guernsey's circulating coinage.
Only 500 of these sets have been issued for worldwide distribution.
R de L. Holmes, Deputy Master (Chief Executive)

Technical Specifications

Denomination	Diameter	Weight	Fineness	Gold Content
Ten Pounds	16.50	3.1300	.999	0.1005
Twenty Five Pounds	22.00	7.8100	.999	0.2509
Fifty Pounds	27.00	15.6100	.999	0.5014
Hundred Pounds	32.69	31.2100	.999	1.0025
Complete 4 Coin Set		57.7600	.999	1.8553

Prices & Availability

Date	Description	Mintage	Issue £	Availability	Price £	Price $
1994	50th Anniversary Allied Invasion of Europe	500	£995	Yes	£1825	$Ask

Postage & Packing
UK Registered Post (Special Delivery) £9 per order
EU Insured Post £10 per order
USA Airmail $10 per order
USA Insured Shipping $20 per order

See Also - Guernsey Gold Doubles

Other Guernsey Coins
For Guernsey coins in silver or base metal, or Guernsey coin sets other than gold, please look at the Guernsey Coins page of our original website.

Guernsey Silver and Base Metal Coins
For silver and base metal coins of Guernsey, please look at our original Chard Coins website.

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