Benin – Fokker 100 Aircraft – 1000 Francs CFA – 2003 – Proof Silver Crown – Color – The Fokker 100 is a medium size twin-turbofan airliner. Low operational costs and almost no competition in the 100-seat short-range class made it a best seller when it was introduced in the late 1980s, but improved models of the competing Bombardier CRJ200 and Embraer ERJ 145 aircraft affected sales and the Fokker corporation became insolvent. Production ended in 1997 with 283 airframes delivered. Today, many Fokker 100s still remain in service with airlines around the world.

Benin – Lockheed Orion Aircraft – 1000 Francs CFA – 2002 – Proof Silver Crown – Color – The Lockheed Orion was a single engine passenger aircraft built in 1931 for commercial airlines. It was the first airliner to have retractable landing gear and was faster than any military aircraft of that time. It was the last wooden monoplane design produced by the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation.

Benin – Douglas DC-4 Aircraft – 1000 Francs CFA – 2004 – Proof Silver Crown – Color – The Douglas DC-4 is a four-engine, propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960s in a military role. From 1945 on, it has become the workhorse of civil aviation, with many aircraft still operating all over the world.

Congo Republic – Airbus A-300 Aircraft – 500 Francs – 2002 – Proof Silver Crown – Color – The Airbus A300 is a short- to medium-range wide-body aircraft. Launched in 1972 as the world’s first twin-engine wide-body, it was the first product of the Airbus consortium of European aerospace companies, wholly owned today by EADS. The A300 ceased production in July 2007, along with the smaller A310.

Congo Republic – Douglas DC-2 Aircraft – 1000 Francs – 2004 – Proof Silver Crown – Color – The Douglas DC-2 was a 14-seat, twin-propeller airliner produced by the Douglas Aircraft Corporation starting in 1934. It competed with the Boeing 247. In 1935 Douglas produced a larger version called the DC-3, which became one of the most successful airplanes in history.

Congo Republic – Junkers JU-52 Aircraft – 100 Francs – 1995 – Uncirculated Crown – Color – Nicknamed “Tante Ju” (Auntie Ju) and “Iron Annie” by Axis and Allied troops, the Junkers Ju-52 was the most famous German transport of the war. The Ju-52 was built of corrugated metal skin and paid little attention to beauty, features of a typical Junkers design. Parts and pieces stuck out of the airframe, and the corrugated skin, though much stronger than fabric and metal tubes, created stronger air resistance. In April 1931, the originally single-engine Ju-52 prototype was fitted with three engines. Performance improved tremendously and production of the new model immediately began. The Ju-52 served as an airliner for many nations. Finland, Spain, Sweden and Germany were just a few. It served as a mail carrier in China, and, fitted with floats, hauled lumber in remote places in Canada. Its most common work, however, was done with the German Lufthansa. Equipped with luxuries like a typewriter and oxygen masks, the Ju-52 could fly from Berlin to Rome in eight hours over the Alps, an impressive feat for contemporary aircraft, let alone an airliner. The military potential of the Ju-52 was not overlooked by the Luftwaffe. It entered service as a troop transport and bomber. In the Spanish Civil War, the Ju-52 ferried some 10’000 Moorish troops from Morocco to Spain, and bombed Madrid while, quite embarrassingly, some Lufthansa Ju-52s were in the airport serving as airliners. Later in World War II, the Ju-52 served in every theater in which Germany participated. It dropped paratroopers in the Netherlands, Crete and later the Ardennes. It carried supplies to beleaguered troops in North Africa, Stalingrad and the Baltic states. The Ju-52 was slow and very lightly armed against fighters. As a result, it suffered horrible losses in almost all actions, especially over Crete, the Mediterranean and Stalingrad. Many types of replacement were built, but none was as popular or reliable as good old Auntie Ju. Right until the end of the war the Ju-52 was still soldiering on to help stave off defeat. The last Ju-52s went out of service with the Swiss Air Force in the late 1980s

Togo – McDonnell-Douglas MD-81 Aircraft – 1000 Francs – 2003 – Proof Silver Crown – Color The MD-80 was the generic name given by McDonnell Douglas to an improved version of the popular Douglas DC-9 family which included the MD-81, MD-82, MD-83, MD-87, and MD-88. Based on the DC-9 Series 50, the MD-80 was initially known as the DC-9-55 and later as the DC-9 Super 80. It was not until 1983 that the design was christened the MD-80 to reflect the merger of Douglas into McDonnell Douglas. All together, 1,194 MD-80s were built before the line was discontinued in 1999.

Togo – Airbus A-319 Aircraft – 1000 Francs – 2001 – Proof Silver Crown – Color – The Airbus A320 is a short-to-medium-range commercial passenger airliner, manufactured by Airbus and is the only narrow-body aircraft in their product line. First delivered in 1988, the A320 pioneered the use of digital fly-by-wire flight control systems in a commercial aircraft. With more than 4,000 A320s built, it is the second best-selling jet of all time after its primary competition, the Boeing 737.

Togo – DeHavilland DH-89 Aircraft – 1000 Francs – 2004 – Proof Silver Crown – Color – The De Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide was a British short-haul passenger airliner of the 1930s. Designed in late 1933 as a faster and more comfortable successor to the DH.84 Dragon, it was in effect a twin-engine, scaled-down version of the four-engine DH.86 Express. It shared many common features with the larger aircraft including its tapered wings, streamlined fairings and the Gipsy Six engine, but it demonstrated none of the operational vices of the larger aircraft and went on to become perhaps the most successful British-built commercial passenger aircraft of the 1930s.