2019 - Niue 25 NZD Set of four Gold Coins War Year 1944 - Proof

The Allies launched the largest offensive attack in 1944. Their goal was simple, but not easy - to help the Soviet Union and free Europe from Nazi tyranny. At the same time they continued the campaign in the South and in the Pacific. A complete set of four gold half-ounce coins from the free cycle War Year of the Czech Mint commemorates the 75th anniversary of the following key events:

• Battle of Monte Cassino - When the Allies stopped at the Benedictine monastery of Monte Cassino as they advanced through Italy, they had no idea that they would do one of the longest and hardest battles of the war for its ruins.
• Operation Overlord - The Allies went to occupied France after two years of preparation and conquered Hitler's Atlantic Wall thanks to their logistical background, technical superiority and skillful intelligence.
• Operation Market Garden - The monumental aerial and land invasion of Holland, which was to speed up the Allies' victory, still reminds that the German army was far from defeated in 1944.
• Battle of Leyte - The decisive encounter of the US and Japanese fleets on the Pacific Island of Leyte, where the Allies invasion of the Philippines began, became the largest naval battle in history.

Four coins were made by expert medal maker Mgr. Petr Horák. They present dynamic war scenes - Polish soldiers advancing to the smoldering ruins of an ancient Italian monastery, American rangers coming out of a landing craft to the beach in Normandy, Allied paratroopers leaping out of the Dakota aircraft over the Dutch countryside, and the US battleship USS South Dakota in the Philippines accompanied by the radar screen. The obverse side is common to all coins. It bears the neccessary elements of the island of Niue (the issuer who provides the Czech Mint with a foreign license to mint its own coins), which means the portrait and the name of the ruler Elizabeth II., the year of the issue 2019 and the nominal value of 25 DOLLARS (NZD). Relief of the obverse side is complemented by flags of states that participated in operations depicted on individual coins.

Each of only 99 sets of gold coins is stored in a thematic tin etui with a numbered certificate of authenticity. The illustration on the lid of the box bears the silhouettes of US soldiers attacking the beaches of Normandy, and the certificate is dedicated to Allied paratroopers who played a key role in both Overlord and Market Garden operations.