Flight | Diomedes Ancient Coi

The Atlantic had been conquered by Lindbergh in 1927, but the west-east route taken by the young American aviator was more favourable because of the winds. The first successful crossing east-west by air was actually accomplished prior to this by the German airship LZ 126 in October 1924, however the challenge to complete the journey westward in a fixed wing aircraft remained. Many aviators had already lost their lives in the attempt, such as the Frenchmen Nungesser and Coli, who disappeared in 1927. The feat was first achieved in April 1928 by a Junkers W 33 monoplane which flew between Ireland and Greenly Island in Canada piloted by Hermann Köhl accompanied by an Irish co-pilot, James Fitzmaurice and Baron von Hünefeld, who was the challenge sponsor.

This medal celebrates the later crossing from Paris to New York in September 1930 by Dieudonné Costes and Maurice Bellonte in a Breguet XIX specially modified for this type of attempt. Equipped with a 600-horsepower Hispano-Suiza engine and carrying more than 5,000 litres of fuel they made the crossing in 37 hours and 18 minutes, landing at the Curtiss Fielf airfield in New York where they were greeted by a crowd which included Charles Lindbergh and the ambassador of France. They were therefore the first to fly directly from mainland Europe to the USA.

The medal was engraved by Louis Desvignes, a listed sculptor born in 1908 in Creusot, France. He studied under Vernet, H. Dubois and Auban and was member of the Society of French Artists, exhibiting at the Salon des Artistes Français, where he obtained an honourable mention in 1907. The question mark on the medal reflects the name of their aircraft the Point d’Interrogation, hopefully not representing any doubts on their ability to complete the flight!

This large medal depicts a Blériot XI. The frame of the approx. 7 m long monoplane was made of ash wood, which was braced and held together by means of steel wires; the wooden framework of the wings, which was 7.80 m long, was covered with fabric; two bicycle wheels served as chassis, and there was also a small rear wheel.

Françoise Montagny was a distinguished early-20th century French medallist working with the Paris Mint, notable for aviation-themed designs, and is listed in Volume III/263-264 of the Catalogue Illustre des Medailles de la Monnaie de Paris. The blank cartouche on the reverse suggests that this medal was intended to be presented as an award and be further engraved, or as souvenir of one of the French concours, the first of which had taken place in Rheims in 1909.

The medal was produced by Monnaie de Paris in 1912 and depicts a Bleriot XI monoplane, which was the first aircraft to successfully cross the English Channel, piloted by Louis Blériot on July 25, 1909. This achievement marked a major milestone in aviation, proving the viability of powered flight over long distances and challenging natural barriers. Its success demonstrated the potential for military and commercial aviation and spurred global interest in aircraft development. The figure about the aeroplane is often described as Genius, traditionally appears on medals as a classical figure drawing on Greco-Roman iconography and here illustrated as a winged lady representing inspiration, speed, and intellect. A Paris landscape stretches out below.

An example of this medal can be found in the British Museum collection, Ref: 1985,0329.36.

In the early days of flight in Europe increases in height and distance that could be achieved by aeroplanes, which were often constructed by pilots themselves, was measured in feet. The first monoplane that achieved successful flight managed only 40 feet on March 18, 1906. Lord Northcliffe, a powerful British newspaper magnate played a significant role in promoting aviation during its formative years by offering cash prizes to achieve ever more aeronautic innovation. On July 25th 1909 in a 37 minute flight in a Bleriot XI monoplane, Louis Bleriot made with a somewhat rough but triumphant landing near Dover Castle and claimed the £1000 prize offered by the Daily Mail.

France was undoubtedly the leader in the earliest days of aviation and after the flight David Lloyd George, chancellor of the Exchequer, said, "Flying machines are no longer toys and dreams, they are established fact. The possibilities of this new system of locomotion are infinite. I feel, as a Britisher, rather ashamed that we are so completely out of it."

This medal was designed by Charles Desvergnes for the Aeronautique Club de France. He won in 1889 the First " Grand Prix de Rome " and the Silver Medal of the Paris 1900 Universal Exhibition. The medal is a blank however we can date from an example in the Smithsonian Air and Space museum, which is inscribed on the reverse “Aviation fortnight at La Bate de Seine 25 August to 6 September 1910.” There are other examples also having this inscription. It was therefore a medal produced as, or was at least used as, a prize or souvenir of the French concours in Paris the year after Bleriot's ground-breaking flight.

The Bate to Seine was an aviation meeting comprising multiple competitions and prize events over two weeks. This included a 3‑day challenge to fly between Le Havre and Trouville and back, with 15-minute stops or five laps, highest-number-of-crossings wins. It was won by Hubert Latham and the constructors prize was won by Louis Bleriot (Latham had attempted the first crossing of the English Channel, flying an Antoinette IV, but was forced to ditch in the sea due to engine failure)

Charles Lindbergh flew the Spirit of St. Louis from Roosevelt Field on May 20, 1927, landing safely in landed at Le Bourget Aerodrome 33 hours and 30 minutes after leaving New York, making him the first pilot to fly trans-Atlantic solo. The plane was a custom-built, single-engine monoplane designed for long-distance flight. The risks of such a flight in the early days of aviation should not be underestimated. Just weeks before Lindbergh’s flight the French aviators Nungesser and Coli had attempted the same route but had disappeared over the Atlantic and were never found. Note that the Atlantic had been crossed before in 1919 by Alcock and Brown in a Vickers Vimy, but this was not solo and was Newfoundland to Ireland rather than spanning the mainland continents.

The US Congress authorized the creation of a gold medal to be presented to Lindbergh. This resolution also included a provision for the US Mint to strike up to 10 million bronze replicas of the medal for public distribution. Any profits over $500,000 were to be spent on aviation research. It is difficult to date this example of the replica medal they were produced over such a long period, however later ones have US Mint inscribed on the edge (this example does not). It does however show some patina loss which is not expected of the early medals. The medal has the name of the engraver, Laura Gardin Frazer, on the obverse together with 'Act May 4 1928', which was the date the Congressional resolution to issue the medal was passed. If you have very good eyesight you may make out the word 'sculptor' below the name of the engraver.

Laura Gardin Frazer was by this time a celebrated sculptor and artist who has been active with the US mint. In addition to the Lindberg medal she engraved the George C. Marshall and Benjamin Franklin Congressional Medals of Honour. Her husband, James Earle Fraser, was responsible for the design of the iconic buffalo nickel.

This commemorative bronze medal was engraved by the French artist J. Holy for the Aero Club de Cannes. It dates from the mid-1920s. The club was originally founded in 1907 (or 1909), making it among the oldest flying clubs in France. The medal is potentially struck by Monnaie de Paris as there is a Bronze mark on the edge with an anciliary symbol, but it is not possible to determine if this is a cornucopia (used by the mint + Bronze prior to 1950). I have not been able to find any information on the engraver.

The Italian Air Force (Aeronautica Militare Italiana) was officially established on March 28, 1923 as an independent service branch of the Royal Italian Armed Forces. This made Italy one of the first countries in the world to create an autonomous air force. Italy was a pioneer in military aviation, being the first to use of aircraft in combat (during the Italo-Turkish War (1911–12) in Libya). This medal was minted in 1933 (year XI of the Fascist Era) to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the foundation of the Regia Aeronautica. On the obverse depicts Benito Mussolini decorating a flag, on the reverse a flight of planes with the phrase “This wing will no longer be broken” (Quest'ala nonsara piv' infranta).

The medal was designed by Publio Morbiducci who designed several aviation-related medals, particularly during the Fascist era in Italy (1920s–1940s), when aviation achievements were strongly promoted by the regime as symbols of technological and national prowess. This signature can be seen on the bottom left field of the reverse. Publio Morbiducci (1889–1963) was an Italian sculptor, medallist, and painter, best known for his public monuments, portrait sculpture, and commemorative medals. He was active mainly in the first half of the 20th century and was one of the most prominent Italian medallists of his time. His work was often associated with the official art style promoted by the regime—grand, idealized, and heroic.

Herbert John Louis Hinkler, known as Bert Hinkler, was an Australian aviator born in Bundaberg, Queensland. He moved to England in 1913 to pursue aviation, working for the Sopwith Aviation Company. On the outbreak of war in 1914 he joined the Royal Naval Air Service, earning the Distinguished Service Medal. After the war he became a test pilot for A.V. Roe & Co. and developed aviation instruments still used decades later

In February 1928, Hinkler completed the first solo flight from England to Australia, flying a lightweight Avro Avian biplane. He took off from Croydon, England, on February 7 1928 and landed in Darwin on February 22, 1928, covering roughly 11,000 miles in just under 16 days. This accomplishment shattered the previous record of 28 days and captivated both the British and Australian public, making Hinkler a national hero.

In 1933 he attempted another solo flight from England to Australia to break a speed record. Tragically, his plane crashed in the Tuscan mountains of Italy, where he was later found and buried with full military honours.

This medal celebrates his 1928 flight. The obverse has his image and the reverse shows a map tracing his flight path, with the inscription LONDON TO DARWIN XVI DAYS and PRAEPETIBUS PINNIS AUSTRALES VECTUS AD ORAS “Carried by swift wings to the southern shores”. It was designed by Charles Douglas Richardson, an English artist who migrated to Australia in1858, serving two terms as the President of the Victorian Artists' Society (1918-1925, 1926 -1931).

The Reliability Flight on the Upper Rhine, also known as the Prince Heinrich Flight after Prince Heinrich of Prussia took over the patronage from 1913 onwards, was a reliability competition for German aircraft that was held from 1911 to 1914. This medal celebrates the first year of the competition. Unfortunately, it’s not signed and so we don’t know who engraved it but we do know that it was minted by Stuttgarter Metallwarenfabrik Wilhelm Mayer & Franz Wilhelm e.K. A similar medal was minted in 1912 for the second running of the competition.

The competition served to test the latest German aircraft models under practical conditions and was mainly military oriented. The course of the competition followed the Rhine from Baden Baden to Darmstadt in 600 km sections. Officers of the German Army and the Imperial Navy as well as German civilians were eligible to participate, provided they were nominated by an association organized in the German Aviation Association. The aircraft had to have been built in Germany and meet the requirements of a military aircraft. While civilians were in the majority among the participants in 1911, the ratio was reversed in the following years.

The most successful pilots were awarded well-endowed prizes in several categories. The person who covered the entire distance in the shortest time won the Kaiser Prize as the main prize.

Due to adverse weather conditions at Baden-Baden in 1911, the reliability flight did not start until 21 May, one day late. The competition was later overshadowed by a tragic accident. when Charles Laemmlin died in the crash of his biplane on May 23.

Although Costes and Bellonte are frequently credited with the first east-to-west transatlantic crossing in 1930, this was due to their flight being from Paris to New York i.e. from continental Europe. This German medal celebrates the earlier 1928 flight Ireland to Canada by Von Hünefeld, Hermann Köhl, and James Fitzmaurice in a Junkers W 33, named the Bremen. The dispute on precedence mirrors that of the earlier west-to-west crossings, where Alcock and Brown accomplished the crossing from Canada to Ireland in 1919, a full eight years before Charles Lindburgh’s more celebrated crossing in the Spirt of St Louis from New York to Paris.

The Dublin to Greenly Island, Labrador, Canada flight, against the prevailing winds, took around 36 hours to complete. According to The Old Currency Exchange, Greenly Island was "small, barren and rocky. It was fortunate for the crew that the airplane landed in a peat bog. The relatively soft landing saved them but damaged the plane. The Bremen crew did not depart the island for two weeks as they attempted to repair the aircraft." Von Hünefeld was the pilot, with Fitzmaurice acting as a relief pilot and observer, rather than a dedicated navigator. You sometimes see the flight sponsor, Von Hünefeld, described as the navigator however he was not a trained aviator or navigator in a technical sense.

The medal has the edge marking Bayer. Hauptmünzamt Silber 900 f. indicating minting at the Bavarian Main Mint and was designed by Philipp Kittler, a noted sculptor and medalist active around the turn of the 20th century. Many of his works remain on public display in Nuremberg and surrounding cities. The medal reverse has a poetic or somewhat archaic German expression conveying resilience, translated “Despite all forces, to persist”.

How very Germanic that the medallist decided to omit the Irish co-pilot James Fitzmaurice! Fitzmaurice was born in Dublin in 1898 and served in the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War. After the war, Fitzmaurice returned to Ireland, where he joined the Irish Air Corps following the establishment of the Irish Free State. Fitzmaurice Place in Portlaoise is named in his honour.

Fortunately, in 1928 the Prussian mint produced a medal celebrating the same even and this one included Fitzmaurice.