20 Euro silver coin set Reaching for the Sky, Austria 2021

Since time immemorial humans have dreamed of flying like a bird. Countless misguided and tragic attempts to do so were made over the centuries but it was not until the desire to recreate the flapping of birds’ wings was set aside that any real progress was made.

Reaching for the Sky

With Otto Lilienthal, known as the ‘flying man’, being the first person to make a successful flight with a glider in the late 19th century, aviation subsequently developed at an astonishing speed in the 20th century. In 1907, Paul Cornu’s ‘Flying bicycle’ reached a height of 30 cm for a duration of 20 seconds, yet just 40 years later the rocket-powered Bell X-1, piloted by Charles ‘Chuck’ Yeager, broke the sound barrier on 14 October 1947.

This fascinating four-coin series celebrates the story of manned flight, from the first fearless pioneers to the crowded skies of today, making stopovers at the most important stages in the history of air travel by looking at legendary aircraft, from the Junkers 52 to Concorde. It might have come in many different shapes and sizes, but the dream of flight eventually became reality.