November 5, 2015 – On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII, Coin Invest Trust, on behalf of Cook Islands, created a classic commemorative coin. It celebrates a condition which we must not take for granted.
Cook Islands / 1 Dollar / Gold .9999 / 0.5 g / 11 mm / Mintage: 15,000.
The obverse shows the Ian Rank-Broadley portrait of Queen Elizabeth II as well as her name, the title of the issuing nation and the nominal value.
The reverse depicts a map of Europe. In the top left, a flying dove facing right, an olive branch as the symbol of peace in her beak. Below, the inscription 70 YEARS OF PEACE / 1945 – 2015.
Colonel General Jodl signs the instruments of unconditional surrender in Reims on 7 May 1945.
At 11 p.m. on 8 May 1945, the German Instrument of Surrender, which had been signed by General Jodl the day before at General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s headquarters in Reims, took effect. It ended a war which by then had cost more than 55 million human lives.
Borders of the occupation zones in Germany, ca. 1947. Photograph: 52 Pickup / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/deed.de
The Allies – the US, Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union – were committed to prevent something like this from ever happening again. With the Berlin Declaration they heralded a new beginning on 5 June 1945.
German chancellor Angela Merkel and the President of France, Francois Hollande. Photograph: Garitan / https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.de