The first coins featuring aircraft were issued by the Weimar Republic of Germany in 1930. The 3 Reichsmark and 5 Reichsmark coins featured the dirigible Graf Zeppelin and a total of 1,001,000 of the 3 Reichsmark coins were issued as well as 400,000 of the 5 Reichsmark coins. Since 1930, many countries have incorporated airplanes and other types of aircraft in their circulating and non-circulating legal tender coinage. At Black Mountain Coins we offer multiple examples of these airplane coins for your collecting enjoyment.
Fiji – Nadi International Airport – $5 – 2002 – Pick 105b – Crisp Uncirculated
” What General Weygand has called the Battle of France is over. The Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, This was their finest hour.” Winston Churchill House of Commons, June18th 1940
Netherlands Antilles – ALM Jetliner – 2 1/2 Gulden – 1970 – Pick 21a – Crisp Uncirculated
Marshall Islands – Battle of Britain Commemorative – $5 – 1990 – Folder – BU
Ukraine – Antonov An-124 Ruslan Cargo Airplane – 5 Hryven – 2004 – Mintage 50,000 – KM-337 – The Antonov An-124 Ruslan is a strategic airlift jet aircraft. It is the world’s largest ever serially-manufactured cargo airplane and world’s second largest operating cargo aircraft. First flown in 1982, civil certification was issued on 30 December 1992. It has an on-board overhead crane capable of lifting up to 30 tons of cargo, and items up to 120 tons can be winched on board. Since the type was initially designed for only occasional military use, original An-124s were built with a projected service life of 7,500 flight hours with possibility for extension. However many airframes have flown more than 15,000 flight hours. In response to complaints by commercial users, the An-124-100 version has been built since 2000 with an improved service life of 24,000 hours. Older airframes are being upgraded to this standard. Additional retrofitting is being performed to extend its service life to 40,000 flight hours.
Liberia – Attack on Pearl Harbor – Japanese Zero – Five Dollars – 2000 – BU – KM-651
Depicts four of the earliest prop-driven aircraft.
The Curtiss P-40 was the first fighter flown in action against the Japanese forces in Burma before the official US entry into WW2. As wartime experience in the P-40 mounted, Curtiss made many modifications. Engineers added armor plate, better self-sealing fuel tanks, and more powerful engines. They modified the cockpit to improve visibility and changed the armament package to six, wing-mounted, .50 caliber machine guns. The P-40E Kittyhawk was the first model with this gun package and it entered service in time to serve in the AVG. The last model produced in quantity was the P-40N, the lightest P-40 built in quantity, and much faster than previous models. Curtiss built a single P-40Q. It was the fastest P-40 to fly (679 kph/422 mph) but it could not match the performance of the P-47 Thunderbolt and the P-51 Mustang so Curtiss ended development of the P-40 series with this model. In addition to the AAF, many Allied nations bought and flew P-40s including England, France, China, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, and Turkey.
The American built Douglas C-47 Dakota was adapted from the DC-3 Dakota commercial airliner. It was named the Douglas C-47 Skytrain by the US Army, designated the R4D by the USN, and was commonly referred to as “Gooney Bird” by American troops. It was one of the most successful aircraft designed and built, and had great longevity. The last C-47 was retired from the American Air Force in 1975, however they continue to see commercial service all over the world.
The Wright Brothers, Orville and Wilbur, are generally credited with making the first controlled, powered, heavier-than-air flight on December 17, 1903. By 1905 they had developed their flying machine into the world’s first practical airplane, along with many other aviation milestones. Their feat is officially recognized by the F
Although it was the darling of the jet-setters, the Concorde proved to be a commercially non-viable form of transportation. This Brilliant Uncirculated crown would be a nice addition to any collection of aeronautic or world coins.
If your collection of world coins includes World War II commemorative issues, then this is the place for you! Listed on this site you will find dozens of world coins issued by a number of different countries, all of them with World War II themes. These 39 millimeter sized crowns are all in uncirculated condition and will make a very nice addition to any world coins collection.
This note is listed in Krause’s Standard Catalog of World Paper Money as Pick-21a.
Depicts Royal Air Force fighter in flight with larger than life British aviator behind.
Marshall Islands – To the Heroes of Pearl Harbor – $5 – 1991 – Brilliant Uncirculated – KM-35
Isle of Man – Man in Flight – Concorde – 1 Crown – 1994 – Prooflike – Descriptive Card
This note is listed in Krause’s Standard Catalog of World Paper Money as Pick-81.
France – Roland Garros – 10 Francs – 1988 BU – Silver – Box & COA 26mm 12g Silver. Mintage of 10,000. 100 Year Anniversary of Birth of French WWI Aviator
Issued in 2003 as part of the modern commemorative coin series from the United States Mint. This legal tender One Dollar coin has been authenticated, encapsulated and graded MS-69 by PCGS, one of the leading third party grading services.
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