I bought a few pieces of a very special 747... is there a coin equivalent?

airplanenut

In July of 2000, I took my first ride on a 747-400, from Newark to Tel Aviv. It was also my first flight on an 747 that I was old enough to remember. I’d fly 4X-ELA one more time, from Tel Aviv to JFK, in December 2001. El Al retired the plane a few years ago and scrapped it more recently. So naturally, when the opportunity presented itself, I bought a few pieces cut from the plane. They shall reside next to my model of the plane.

I'm trying to think of the coin equivalent--acquiring a reminder (or piece) of something sentimental and very specific. The obvious answer is to buy a specific coin you held long ago, but let's pretend that's too expensive--it's not as though I could have bought the whole 747 (but how cool would that have been!)

The two best examples I can think of (which I've done) are:

1- In the summer of 2007, I was consigned a large number of medals from the SM Damon collection, which had been recently auctioned after spending the better part of a century in a safe deposit box in Hawaii. The medals were beautiful, and the money I earned selling them helped pay for my flight training. I decided to buy one medal of the bunch as a reminder of the whole group.

2- When the Eliasberg world gold collection was sold (late 2004 or early 2005) I bought a common-date Australian sovereign because it was a design I liked and wanted anyway, and it was one of the few Eliasberg coins I could afford. I thought (and still do) it would be neat to have a piece from his collection, however meager it may be compared to some of the incredible rarities it also held.

What else is there, and what have you done?

...and pictures that date back to the mid-2000s...

Jzyskowski1

Well I know people collect the retired dies from coin presses
Saw some with an x carved into them

PerryHall

People collect "relic coins and medals" such as the medal showing the USS Constellation made from copper from the original ship. Another example is the restrike coins made from some of the gold bars recovered from the SS Central America.

Tibor

When I traveled with my parents in the sixties and seventies we would go to several
large U.S. and European cities. In the display windows of different airlines and tourist
companies they would display airplanes similar to the ones you're showing here. Some
only a couple of feet in length. There were two that I can still picture today. At the British
Airways office they had a 10-12 ft. model of the SST. Lufthansa had a Boeing 747,
one near the same size. Both suspended by wire in the display window. I would love to
have had a few of those to look at in my bedroom. Thanks for the memories.

SkyMan

I like to collect coins and medallions (and also flown bills) that flew on specific manned spaceflights. I've got two flown bills, three flown coins and six flown medallions.

Here's a Gemini 11 Fliteline gold plated medallion glued to an explanatory sheet of paper signed by Pete Conrad. Dick Gordon was a friend of mine, and at an event we were both volunteering at about 10 years ago I got him to sign an 8" X 10" picture. I asked him if he could remember what he was thinking at the time of the picture, and this is what he wrote. I paired the picture and the medallion and framed them together. Here is a picture of them before they were framed.

MsMorrisine

I second retired dies

airplanenut

@Tibor said:
When I traveled with my parents in the sixties and seventies we would go to several
large U.S. and European cities. In the display windows of different airlines and tourist
companies they would display airplanes similar to the ones you're showing here. Some
only a couple of feet in length. There were two that I can still picture today. At the British
Airways office they had a 10-12 ft. model of the SST. Lufthansa had a Boeing 747,
one near the same size. Both suspended by wire in the display window. I would love to
have had a few of those to look at in my bedroom. Thanks for the memories.

I remember those! I’ve seen lots of them in various sizes in my offices, as well… some really cool ones included. I don’t collect the big ones, but I’ve got quite a few…

These 747s are the really special models

Lakesammman

Fun concept! Took my 1st 747 ride to Fairbanks, Alaska in the mid 1970's. Pan-AM was flying there and making a killing on freight for the AK pipeline - I think there were 10 passengers on board, at the most. Didn't have a chance to get to the upper lounge until a couple years ago on a British Air flight to London.

I have a couple coins like you - here are 2 - Swedish coin from the Eliasberg collection and a Baldwin-Kohler horseman struck on a 1844 large cent - unique and a fun memory of once having a nice Pioneer collection.

JBK

I have a piece of a B52 bomber that was scrapped under a 1980s arms control treaty.

It took a few letters to various officials, one of whom (then-Chairman of the JCS, Gen. Colin Powell) got the ball rolling.

Coin-related opportunities would be as noted - "made from" medals, or coins from a specific hoard or collection.

SaorAlba

Like the OP I have a side interest in aviation. I've also collected a bit of memorabilia along the way, aircraft skin etc. Unfortunately I overcame my desire to fly about five years ago and only fly if I absolutely have to. I've flown in vintage aircrafts like the Ford Trimotor and the Douglas DC-3, also Soviet aircraft etc.

Barberian

Is this stuff worth anything?

I could have grabbed a USED ejection seat from a B52 (called "Buzz One Four") when I lived in a remote cabin in western Maryland. A B52 carrying two 9 megaton nuclear warheads and 5 crew members lost a stabilizer in a blizzard and crashed in western MD in 1964 near where I once lived. This launched a huge search for the crew members and the warheads. Two made it out alive, two died of exposure, and one died in the crash. Years later, my landlord found one of the ejection seats while hunting and hung it up in a tree on the property. People would drive to my (his) remote cabin just to see the seat fastened to an old maple tree.

https://buzzonefour.org/

There is a numismatic puzzle to the story as well. One of the crew members who died carried a lucky silver dollar that according to this site, was dated "1944" for when Major Payne and his wife were married. It couldn't be a US silver dollar, so I wonder what it was. The coin was found but subsequently lost after the Air Force issued a check to the widow for $1.

gumby1234

This is awesome

Zoins

@airplanenut said:
I bought a few pieces of a very special 747...
[...]
What else is there, and what have you done?

Congrats on the great original skin from a special plane!

The 747 is an amazing plane! I had some nice flights on it.

I bet you paid a lot more than this person

BryceM

This is a rather inexpensive gift-shop token made from recycled copper cladding from the USS Constitution. After hearing that I had lived in the Boston area for several years, a patient of mine was kind enough to gift this to me.

Zoins

@PerryHall said:
People collect "relic coins and medals" such as the medal showing the USS Constellation made from copper from the original ship.

@BryceM said:

This is a rather inexpensive gift-shop token made from recycled copper cladding from the USS Constitution. After hearing that I had lived in the Boston area for several years, a patient of mine was kind enough to gift this to me.

Great token @BryceM! I have the older one but would like to pick up this one as well.

I collect letters too.

This one is from US Navy Fleet Admiral Chester William Nimitz

Zoins

This is one of my favorite WWI items from back when common citizens gave loans to the US Government to go to war.

This is the only one I've ever seen that is unholed.

JBK

@Barberian said:
Is this stuff worth anything?

I could have grabbed a USED ejection seat from a B52 (called "Buzz One Four") when I lived in a remote cabin in western Maryland. A B52 carrying two 9 megaton nuclear warheads and 5 crew members lost a stabilizer in a blizzard and crashed in western MD in 1964 near where I once lived. This launched a huge search for the crew members and the warheads. Two made it out alive, two died of exposure, and one died in the crash. Years later, my landlord found one of the ejection seats while hunting and hung it up in a tree on the property. People would drive to my (his) remote cabin just to see the seat fastened to an old maple tree.

https://buzzonefour.org/

Let's see....an ejection seat from a famous (infamous?) plane crash. Was it worth anything.....Only if you consider lots of $$ to be "something".

There is a slim chance you'd have to haggle with Uncle Sam over ownership, but in any case a collector or a museum would want something like that.

ricko

Being former Navy, and also having been aboard the U.S.S. Constitution at one time when in Boston Shipyard, a forum member retrieved a piece of the deck, removed during a refurbishment, and sent it to me. It is a prized memento of our Naval history and my Navy service. Cheers, RickO

airplanenut

@Zoins said:

@airplanenut said:
I bought a few pieces of a very special 747...
[...]
What else is there, and what have you done?

Congrats on the great original skin from a special plane!

The 747 is an amazing plane! I had some nice flights on it.

I bet you paid a lot more than this person

That was super cheap, but they really get you with the parking

DrBuster

Cool plane bits.

I was at a conference in Dallas at SW headquarters a few years ago. They had some model planes hanging from the ceiling for all the types in the fleet. And the flight sim room was huge, like a football field with full size cockpit simulators.

SaorAlba

I've been through Amsterdam - Schiphol airport more than a few times on my way to and from Ukraine - there was a cool store that sold aviation memorabilia, models etc in the airport. I always wanted to buy something, but I was always in a hurry or there when the store wasn't open.

airplanenut

@SaorAlba said:
I've been through Amsterdam - Schiphol airport more than a few times on my way to and from Ukraine - there was a cool store that sold aviation memorabilia, models etc in the airport. I always wanted to buy something, but I was always in a hurry or there when the store wasn't open.

Plenty of places to buy those models online 🙂

ms70

Being an aviation enthusiast and remembering when the 747 entered service, I sadly never got a ride in one. I do remember the first time I saw one over Sandy Hook, NJ coming out of JFK. I did get quite a few rides in DC-10s but no L-1011s. The three jumbo jets were a big deal back in the day when you had roomy seats, great food service, and friendly flight attendants.

d9lowe

The only time I flew in a 47 was from LA to Sydney Australia about 8 years ago. When i was booking my tickets, i had a choice between a 380 on Quantas, or a 747 on United. I chose the queen of the skys. And im glad i did!!

relicsncoins

Weren't there some coins that were struck from silver recovered from the twin tower collapse?

PerryHall

@relicsncoins said:
Weren't there some coins that were struck from silver recovered from the twin tower collapse?

Coins recovered from a bank vault under the rubble of the twin towers were slabbed with a special label indicating their source. Most were ASE's. I don't remember any being melted.

jessewvu

I'm a flight test engineer and certified landing systems on ships before getting into autonomous aircraft flight testing. I have been on every carrier since the Kitty Hawk so I've picked up ship coins and the like along the way.

When I was working with the Air Force, I picked up a few model aircraft signed by Chuck Yeager, and have a USAF Test Pilot School yearbook signed by a lot of the greatest test pilots ever known. It was a raffle item from the society of experimental test pilots.

I've got a lot of other cool pieces of aviation history but I don't think that was the OP's intent to tell sea stories..

relicsncoins

@jessewvu said:
I'm a flight test engineer and certified landing systems on ships before getting into autonomous aircraft flight testing. I have been on every carrier since the Kitty Hawk so I've picked up ship coins and the like along the way.

When I was working with the Air Force, I picked up a few model aircraft signed by Chuck Yeager, and have a USAF Test Pilot School yearbook signed by a lot of the greatest test pilots ever known. It was a raffle item from the society of experimental test pilots.

I've got a lot of other cool pieces of aviation history but I don't think that was the OP's intent to tell sea stories..

I deployed as part of the Nimitz battle group back in the 90's. I was on a FFG, our only aircraft were SH60B helicopters.

1northcoin

OK, keeping with the 747 theme, here is the original 747 as I captured it on a visit to the aircraft museum where it is housed in Seattle near Boeing Airfield:

(I assume it was mentioned above, but today is an historic anniversary of the 747 as its first flight was on February 9th.

vulcanize

My first 747 flight was on Lufthansa and have flown on a few other airlines as well. She was really the queen of the skies.
Hate the Beluga whale of an Airbus A380.
Those skin tags do have stories to tell just like coins. Here is one such sample

Airplane Skin Tags are made from actual retired aircraft fuselage, not merely stamped metal. Because Airplane Skin Tags are made from real fuselage, each Airplane Skin Tags bears the color, thickness, and wear and tear from the portion of the fuselage from which it was cut and it is therefore rare to create two identical Airplane Skin Tags. These variations and imperfections are not product flaws. They are part of the beauty of Airplane Skin Tags. As a result, you will not have an option to select the color of your Airplane Skin Tags. The images on the website are provided for reference only and should not be used as the sole basis for choosing a particular Airplane Skin Tags.

The Boeing 747-400 sporting registration D-ABTE and manufacturer serial number (MSN) 24966 left the factory doors for Lufthansa in April 1991 and was christened "Sachsen-Anhalt". After 21 successful years, D-ABTE was retired on 6 August 2012, initially being parked in Michigan at Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport until 29 May 2013. There, the US cargo airline Kalitta Air finally took ownership of the plane. With its new registration N769CK, the Boeing 747-400 no longer took to the air, but continued to belong to the airline until September 2021, which used it for spare parts.

Note: Every tag is unique. Depending on the plane, tags may vary in terms of haptics, material thickness and colour. Small blemishes bear witness to the plane's long history and are an authentic reminder of its glory days over the clouds. Small scratches, flaky paint and imperfections are totally normal and give our Aviationtags their unique charm – the charm of a vintage product crafted from upcycled materials. These quirks are not the result of the production process, they simply reflect the state of the aircraft material we use when it was extracted.

You can tell that D-ABTE had been in storage for almost 9 years, so the original aircraft paint of this edition is rather sensitive. Especially the blue Aviationtags – some of them with glued foil – have imperfections and patina, which makes them extra special. Please note that this is not an accepted reason for complaints or refunds.

https://www.aviationmegastore.com/keychain-made-of-real-aircraft-skin-boeing-747-400-lufthansa-d-abte-white-aviationtag-d-abte-white-various-aviation-items/product/?action=prodinfo&art=184442

JBK

@PerryHall said:

@relicsncoins said:
Weren't there some coins that were struck from silver recovered from the twin tower collapse?

Coins recovered from a bank vault under the rubble of the twin towers were slabbed with a special label indicating their source. Most were ASE's. I don't remember any being melted.

One of those small nations that authorizes NCLT coins issued one "clad" (plated) in WTC recovery silver.

airplanenut

@1northcoin said:
OK, keeping with the 747 theme, here is the original 747 as I captured it on a visit to the aircraft museum where it is housed in Seattle near Boeing Airfield:

(I assume it was mentioned above, but today is an historic anniversary of the 747 as its first flight was on February 9th.

That plane has since been repainted and out under a roof to protect it. I love when I get to drive by. It’s parked next to the 1st 727, 1st 737, a Concorde, Air Force 1, and more.

1northcoin

@1northcoin said:
OK, keeping with the 747 theme, here is the original 747 as I captured it on a visit to the aircraft museum where it is housed in Seattle near Boeing Airfield:

(I assume it was mentioned above, but today is an historic anniversary of the 747 as its first flight was on February 9th.

Another of my favorite exhibits at the aircraft museum located in Seattle near Being Airfield - as it may be for others here who recall growing up reading Popular Science and Popular Mechanics which all but promised us these future airplane cars that would get us to work from our houses when we grew up:

1northcoin

@airplanenut said:

@1northcoin said:
OK, keeping with the 747 theme, here is the original 747 as I captured it on a visit to the aircraft museum where it is housed in Seattle near Boeing Airfield:

(I assume it was mentioned above, but today is an historic anniversary of the 747 as its first flight was on February 9th.

That plane has since been repainted and out under a roof to protect it. I love when I get to drive by. It’s parked next to the 1st 727, 1st 737, a Concorde, Air Force 1, and more.

OK, here are my photos of the Concorde and Air Force 1:

Since this thread started out focused upon The 747, here is a subsequent AirForce One in that itineration. Compare the difference in the interiors as well. Pictured is my now daughter-in-law in conversation with the then President aboard the 747 Air Force One:

And here is a photo of the 747 based Air Force One in flight as I photographed it:

Justacommeman

@1northcoin I used to fly the Concorde a lot in the late 90's. JFK/ London or Paris routes. Nothing like it. They used to give you cool gifts. This is pewter flask they gave out. The Concorde is a little faded

Jeremy I thought you might get a kick out of this

On a separate note my 17 year old 6' 10" nephew just got his pilots license. This is his first flight with his Mom ( my sister). He is flying along the Detroit River. Canada is on one side and Detroit on the other. He is at the University of North Dakota today. (Looking at schools) It's supposed to be one of the top three schools for flight schools in the nation.

airplanenut

@Justacommeman said:
I used to fly the Concorde a lot in the late 90's. JFK/ London or Paris routes. Nothing like it. They used to give you cool gifts. This is pewter flask they gave out. The Concorde is a little faded

I was in 11th grade when Concorde took its last flight. I watched the JFK departure on TV and didn't leave for school until it was out of sight of the camera. I was a bit late to my first class and told my teacher why I was late (no parental note), but if she needed to write me up for it, it was worth it. Her reply: "Jeremy, I know you, and I know you're not lying. Don't worry about it." Related, this is one of my favorite videos on YouTube... the ATC recordings of Concorde's last flight at JFK, and an example of so many great people in the aviation family. I rewatch (listen to) it regularly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sKKkNjj_A0

On a separate note my 17 year old 6' 10" nephew just got his pilots license. This is his first flight with his Mom ( my sister). He is flying along the Detroit River. Canada is on one side and Detroit on the other. He is at the University of North Dakota today. (Looking at schools) It's supposed to be one of the top three schools for flight schools in the nation.

UND is definitely well known for their flying. The flight school where I flew when I lived in Boston had a lot of UND's old airplanes, and I've flown quite a few of them. The son of one of the guys in my flying club (a captain/check airman for Hawaiian) is currently at UND.

From my last jaunt in the sky a few weeks ago:

1northcoin

Concorde = Missile with a horizontal trajectory