The Boeing 747 five dollar is part of the Flying Through Time collection of
proof, silver five dollar coins struck by the Royal Australian Mint. The other issues are the S.25 Sandringham,
the Avro 504K, the Airbus A380, the De Havilland DH86 and the Lockheed Constellation L749. The
reverse of this coin, designed by Wojciech Pietranik, includes two images of the Boeing 747 viewed from different
angles. Included at the base of the design is the
legend
5 DOLLARS with the
legend
around the top, AVIATION HISTORY - BOEING 747. The obverse features
the Ian Rank-Broadley portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, crowned, facing right, with earrings and is surrounded by the legend
ELIZABETH II AUSTRALIA 2010. This coin along with the other three to complete the set was originally boxed in pairs sets
or they could be obtained by subscription to the ROYAL AUSTRALIAN MINT.
When the Boeing 747 was launched in 1970, it was the largest passenger plane in service. Originally penned as a full-length
double-decker, it was altered to be a wide body construction due to safe evacuation issues. It quickly became the aircraft
for other manufacturers to endeavour to compete with but it was only with the advent of the Airbus A380 some 35 years later
did this occur. Over the years many variants of the 747 'Jumbo Jet' were produced to suit the specific needs of various customers
such as shipping firms and in one case the plane had also caught the eye of the US military and was used as part of Air Force One
(Flightlevel 350, 2013)
. Even NASA found a use for it adapting it to carry the space shuttle while in the middle east it is favoured as
VIP transportation for high level dignitaries.
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