The D-Day 80th Gold Penny First Strike Parachuted Edition

You have the opportunity to own an extremely rare D-Day anniversary coin – The D-Day 80th 9 Carat Gold Penny First Strike Parachuted Edition.

A limited edition run of just 995 solid gold pennies are being struck to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day. We have been able to secure the first 250 of these to be struck for a mission of their own - to be flown and parachuted on a special 80th anniversary flight.

Flown in an original Dakota aircraft

The first 250 gold pennies to be struck will be set aside, carefully packaged and transported to North Weald airfield in Essex on June 2^nd, where they will be distributed between a number of parachutists - many ex-military.

As part of the largest gathering of Dakotas since WWII, a fleet of Douglas C-47A Skytrains will take off for Carentan in Normandy, the scene of heavy fighting around D-Day. Once over Carentan and carrying the coins in their uniforms, the team of ex-miltary parachutists will make an historic jump, re-enacting the jumps made by thousands of allied soldiers on D-Day.

Limited edition presentation

Once landed, each coin will be collected and carefully re-housed in a special tamper proof capsule and placed in a deluxe Presentation Case with a Certificate of Authenticity – confirming it as one of the 250 coins to be flown and parachuted.

Each Jersey Gold Proof Penny has been struck from 9 Carat Gold and has been fully approved by Buckingham Palace and His Majesty the King.

This is a moment in history perfectly captured in this limited edition coin release. It’s surely one of the most important collectibles being issued this year, and one that any serious coin and military collector will be keen to own.

About the aircraft:

The C-47 was vital to the success of many Allied campaigns during WWII. In Europe, the C-47 and a specialised paratroop variant, the C-53 Skytrooper, were used in vast numbers in the later stages of the war, particularly to tow gliders and drop paratroops. More than 50,000 paratroops were dropped by C-47s during the first few days of the D-Day campaign in June 1944.

About 2,000 C-47s (received under Lend-Lease) in British and Commonwealth service took the name "Dakota", possibly inspired by the acronym "DACoTA" for Douglas Aircraft Company Transport Aircraft. The C-47 also earned the informal nickname "gooney bird" in the European theatre of operations. Other sources attribute this name to the first aircraft, a USMC R2D—the military version of the DC-2—being the first aircraft to land on Midway Island, previously home to the long-winged albatross known as the gooney bird which was native to Midway.

Specifications