What thoughts go through a soldier's mind in themoments before battle? This riveting coin takes youaboard a landing craft where Canadian soldiers are peering over the ramp as they approach the coast of Normandy (France) on D-Day. Their mission: to establish a beachhead at Juno Beach. For months prior, Allied aircraft bombed German installations along the heavily defended coast in preparation for the arrivalof a massive invasion force—150,000 Allied troops that came ashore on June 6, 1944. Among them, 14,000 Canadians who secured their beachhead (Juno) before moving to capture German positions further inland. On D-Day alone, 359 Canadians lost their lives, and by the time Paris was liberated on August 25th, more than 5,000 Canadians had made the ultimate sacrificeto regain critical ground for the Allies in WesternEurope.

Honour the soldiers who fought the Normandy Campaign with this six-coin collection. Order today†.

• A SIX-COIN SET: Your D-Day Commemorative Collector Keepsake includes the following Canadian 2019 circulation coins:
• 5-cent
• 10-cent
• 25-cent
• $1
• Two different versions (engraved-only and selectively coloured) of the new $2 D-Day Commemorative circulation coin
• A SOLEMN TRIBUTE: Our special-issue $2 coin honours the soldiers who fought the Normandy Campaign, and turned the tide towards victory the following year.
• PERMANENT SECURITY FEATURE: Also included on the reverse of the $2 coins, the engraved maple leaves are both a symbol of Canada and a cutting-edge security feature thatensures the coin's authenticity.
• KEEP THE MEMORY ALIVE: Each $2 coin is a collectible tribute to our combatants of the Second World War, and a pledge to always remember.

Your riveting coin design by Canadian artist Alan Daniel is charged with tense anticipation as Canadian soldiers peer from their landing craft en route to Juno Beach. This compelling landing craft perspective extends beyond the inner core to the outer ring where naval and air forces support the Allied landings. D-DAY/LE JOUR J is above the soldiers' helmets. At the bottom, the words REMEMBER/SOUVENIR flank 2019.

• "D-Day" is military shorthand to ensure the dates for field missions remain secret. The letter "H" was also used for "hour", e.g. D-2 would mean two days before D-Day, while H+3 would indicate 3hours after H-Hour. It is unclear how the invasion of June 6, 1944 became known as "D-Day." Its official name was "Operation Neptune."
• Innovative tanks were developed to ensure victory on D-Day and throughout the Normandy Campaign. The Sherman DD couldswim; the Sherman Crab had chain mail that would spin to detonate mines and shred barbed wire; the Churchill Bobbin lay matting on sand; and the Churchill Fascine filled enemy trenches with brushwood.
• Supplying the troops after D-Day and throughout the Normandy Campaign was a massive undertaking. Portable dockingfacilities were built to ensure ships could deliverfood, medical supplies, weapons and troops to the European continent. A long underwater pipeline called"Pluto" (Pipe Lines Under The Ocean) was also built to carry fuel from England to Normandy.

• 80 kilometres of heavily defended Normandy coast was the target invasion zone on D-Day
• 5 German-occupied beaches code-named Sword, Gold (assigned to the British forces), Juno (Canadians), Omaha and Utah(Americans) were captured
• 450+ Canadians parachuted inland before dawn on June 6th to flank the landings 
• 14,000 Canadian troops came ashore as part of the 150,000 Allied assault force
• 10,000 sailors and 110 ships from the Royal Canadian Navy (including destroyers, corvettes, minesweepers, landing ships and landing craft) were among the 7,000 Allied vessels that supported the landings
• 55 Royal Canadian Air Force squadrons earned the Battle Honour Normandy 1944 as part of an Allied Air offensive that included 4,000 bombers plus some 3,700 fighters and fighter-bombers that attacked prior to D-Day, during the landings, and throughout the campaign
• 359 Canadians lost their lives on D-Day, with the total numberof Canadian fatalities rising to more than 5,000 bythe end of the campaign.

Order today†.

†Free standard shipping in Canada only.