2016-07-28 Thu

The Czech Mint is going to release a 2016 Niue Island gold $5 coin to mark the sinking of Germany’s Bismarck battleship. It is the first of the four-coin set commemorating famous battles of 1941.

After the Bismarck sank HMS Hood, Sir Winston Churchill ordered his men to sink Bismarck. This task was accomplished on 26th and 27th May 1941 off the coast of Brest, France. Bismarck and Tirpitz were the largest battleships ever built by Germany or any European power.

Bismarck destroyed the battlecruiser Hood at the Battle of the Denmark Strait and forced HMS Prince of Wales to go back. Britain’s Navy used Fairey Swordfish biplane torpedo bombers from the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal to destroy the steering gear. The next morning after a round of attacks by the British fleet, the ship sank killing more than 1000 Germans on the Ship.

The reverse shows Bismarck under the attack of the British Navy and the Royal Air Force. The inscription reads DER UNTERGANG DER BISMARCK which translates to “the destruction of the Bismarck”. The obverse features the common portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, the face value, year date and issuer’s name.

Other planned coins of the series commemorate Siege of Leningrad, the Battle of Tobruk and the attack on Pearl Harbour.

Mintage of this coin is limited to 200 pieces.