A £2 coin commemorating the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944, seen as a crucial turning point in the Second World War, has been launched by the Royal Mint.
The Mint said the coin was designed as a tribute to those who planned and participated in the epic landing operations on June 6, 1944.
Portsmouth will be the centre for British commemorations during the week of Monday, June 3.
The commemorative £2 coin, designed by the Royal Mint’s graphic designer Stephen Taylor, takes inspiration from military maps to depict the strategy taken by the Allies to land on five Normandy beaches.
The coin represents the huge scale of the operation, which is often cited as the day that turned the tide of the Second World War and was an all-out assault by land, sea and air, the Royal Mint said.
With a huge invasion force, the Allies stormed five beaches – code named Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword. Overcoming a series of defences known as the Atlantic Wall, the Allies were able to secure a foothold on the continent and begin the liberation of occupied Europe.
Created in association with Imperial War Museums (IWM), the commemorative coin is not going into general circulation and is available to buy from the Royal Mint’s website, with prices ranging from £10 for a brilliant uncirculated version to £845 for a gold proof coin.
Nicola Howell, director of the consumer division at the Royal Mint, said: ‘The D-Day landings is one of the most significant events in our nation’s history, and it’s important that we remember the instrumental impact that the landings had on the outcome of the Second World War.
‘Seventy-five years on, our commemorative £2 coin is a fitting tribute to the significance and scale of the operation, and is an important recognition of the bravery of those that made D-Day possible.’
A donation from every D-Day coin purchased from the Royal Mint goes to IWM to help them continue its work.
