United Kingdom 1994 Silver Proof 'Piedfort' D-Day Commemorative 1944-1994 Fifty Pence Coin. This fifty pence coin weights 27.00 grammes, measures 30.00 millimetres in diameter and struck in Sterling (.925) Silver. Boxed with the Royal Mint Certificate of Authenticity. This coin was issued to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Europe. Plans to liberate Europe began in earnest in the spring of 1943. Under the Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D Eisenhower, the air, sea and land might of Britain, the Commonwealth and the United States as well as units from virtually every occupied country in Europe was to form the largest invasion force ever seen. By the spring of 1944 more than three million men had gathered in southern England in readiness for the Normandy landings. It was realised that an invasion was likely in the summer of 1944 but the exact date and location remained one of the best kept secrets of the War. Thus Operation Overlord, one of the most difficult military operations ever undertaken, was able to begin just after midnight on 6 June 1944 - in the first hour of the day that would forever be known as D-Day. The Allied invasion force filling the sea and sky and heading for Normandy on 6 June 1944 is vividly captured on this splendid commemorative coin. The design was created by award winning sculptor John Mills and was inspired by his boyhood recollections of that historic day. Looking up at the sky he saw it filled with distinctively marked planes and realised that the invasion of France was underway. Raphael Maklouf's much acclaimed portrait of Her Majesty the Queen graces the obverse. Piedfort coins are struck using thicker than normal blanks. As their name suggests, they have close associations with France where, from the twelfth century, they were apparently used by the King as presentation pieces. GRADE: As issued by the Royal Mint in Pristine condition with Certificate of Authenticity.
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