Silver Coin 5 Oz Pioneers of Aviation - Wright Brothers 2021 Proof

5 Oz Silver Coin with Pearl - Pioneers of Aviation - The Wright Brothers

This unique silver coin with an inner core of genuine mother of pearl is part of the "Mother of Pearl" series. Minted in the purest 99.9% silver, the 5 Oz (155.5 g) coin is being issued by the Solomon Islands State for 2021 as a tribute to the pioneers of aviation, including the brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright.

The inner green-tinted pearl set into the coin depicts the first Wright Flyer powered aircraft and portraits of the Wright brothers on its reverse. Closer to the right edge of the coin is Orville and in front of him is Wilbur. A closer look shows the pilot inside the plane and a man running to the left of him waving a cap. This scene is inspired by the famous 1903 photograph of the first flight. The illusion of a cloudy sky is aided by the brindle hue of the coloured mother-of-pearl. The inscription "THE WRIGHT BROTHERS" appears at the top. The edges of the image transition to the coin's silver rim, which bears the inscription "PIONEERS OF AVIATION" and the year of issue "2021".
The Wright Brothers' path to the first powered aircraft was through cycling. After graduating from high school in 1893, they set up a bicycle repair shop as well as a bicycle workshop of their own design. During the winter months, when their business was in a lull, this gave them plenty of time to come up with various inventions. Above all, they were intrigued by their first experiments with flying gliders. They began to supplement their knowledge from the available literature and in 1899 they completed a model of an experimental monoplane. In 1900 they moved to the settlement of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The local terrain and wind flow suited them in testing glider designs and learning the skill of piloting, which was necessary preparation for their plan to build a machine with an engine. The first powered biplane, the Wright Flyer, was built in 1903. The aircraft was controlled by wing curving and powered by a small engine and propeller of their own manufacture. The first take-off took place on 17 December 1903 in windy weather. The entire flight lasted only 12 seconds and a distance of 36.5 metres was achieved at a height of 3 metres. Three more launches followed on the same day, with the two brothers taking turns to reach greater heights and distances. The fourth of these was a real manned flight, when in less than a minute in the air the machine reached a distance of 279 metres.

The obverse shows a traditional portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by Ian-Rank Broadley and the inscriptions "ELIZABETH II", "SOLOMON ISLANDS", the face value and weight and fineness details.

The coin comes in a deluxe gift box along with a numbered certificate of authenticity in a limited edition of only 750 pieces for the entire world!

Mother of Pearl Series
Coins in this series go through a lengthy and sophisticated production process. The mother of pearl is extracted from the shells of the world's largest pearlfish (sea pearl) - the Pinctada Maxima, which can grow up to 30 cm in diameter. The oysters are farmed on pearl farms in perfectly isolated areas of the oceans off the coasts of Australia, Tahiti, Fiji, Indonesia and the Philippines. Their shells have a very thick inner shell made up of pearl. It takes up to 12 weeks to select the most beautiful pearl shells for the Mother of Pearl series. They are then shaped to the desired shape and ultrasonic waves are used to create a motif that is worked out in minute detail. To achieve the individual colouring, the pearl is soaked in a bath with the appropriate colour for a further 5 weeks. The mother-of-pearl core is then inserted into the coin using a complicated technical process.

This product is part of the following product sets: