Austria 25 Euro Silver Niobium Coin 2007, Austrian Aviation
By 1912 only France held more world flying records than Austria. The beautiful turquoise blue 2007 edition of unique 25 euro Silver Niobium series pays tribute to Austria’s magnificent men and their flying machines, as well as to Austria’s contribution to aeronautics.
In 1907, Franz Xaver Wels flew several hundred metres with the kidney-shaped Zanonia glider. Igo Etrich developed the glider into a recognisable aeroplane called the Taube (the Dove) because of its bird-like wings and tail. With this machine, in 1910 Etrich’s colleague Karl Illner was able to make the first successful motorised flight in Austria, from Wiener Neustadt to Vienna and back. Both aircraft feature in the niobium core on the reverse of the coin, as does Illner himself waving from the cockpit of the Taube just before his historic flight. The silver outer ring bears the inscription “Luftfahrt in Österreich”, Aviation in Austria. The obverse shows a familiar view into the cockpit of a modern passenger aircraft, ringed by the country identification “Republik Österreich” and the 25 euro face value.
The 25 euro silver niobium coin has proven to be one of the most popular of all issues, anxiously awaited by coin collectors and connoisseurs alike. Struck in Special Uncirculated quality to a maximum mintage of 65,000 pieces.
Mint: Münze Österreich AG
quality: special uncirculated
collection: Silver-Niobium
face value: 25 Euro
date of issue: 28.02.2007
coin design: Thomas Pesendorfer & Herbert Wähner
alloy: Silver-Niobium; ring: Silber Ag 900; pill: Niob Nb 99,8; fine weight: 9.00 g; total weight: 16.50 g.
Ignaz "Igo" Etrich (December 25, 1879, Horní Staré Město, Trutnov, Bohemia – February 4, 1967, Salzburg, Austria), Austrian flight pioneer, pilot and fixed-wing aircraft developer.
Etrich Taube
The Taube was designed in 1909 by Igo Etrich of Austria-Hungary, and first flew in 1910. It was licensed for serial production by Lohner-Werke in Austria and by Edmund Rumpler in Germany, now called the Etrich-Rumpler-Taube.
The Etrich Taube, also known by the names of the various later manufacturers who build versions of the type, such as the Rumpler Taube, was a pre-World War I monoplane aircraft. It was the first military aeroplane to be mass-produced in Germany. As Imperial Germany's first practical military aircraft, the Taube ("dove") was used for virtually all military aircraft applications, as a fighter, bomber, surveillance aircraft and trainer from 1910 until the start of World War I in August 1914.
The Taube was very popular prior to the First World War, and it was also used by the air forces of Italy and Austria-Hungary. Even the Royal Flying Corps operated at least one Taube in 1912. On November 1, 1911, Giulio Gavotti, an Italian aviator, dropped the world's first aerial bomb from his Taube monoplane over the Ain Zara oasis in Libya. Once the war began, it quickly proved inferior as a serious warplane and as a result was soon replaced by newer and more effective designs.