First Coin Acquired Britain Boeing Date Set... 1767 Guinea: Go big or go home!

airplanenut

I've long thought about assembling a Boeing date set (one coin per decade, 17X7 from 1707 to 1787), but the options seemed endless and too broad when you factor in all of the possible coins to include--so many countries, so many years. My epiphany came over the summer when I decided that since my grandfather was British and got me into airplanes (and indeed it was a trip to Europe, and the London stop specifically, where I truly fell in love with aviation), I should make it a British set. I can still get a few monarchs and many denominations, but now it's a lot easier to figure out what makes for an interesting set when choosing each year's coin.

Step one was confirming that every year has a coin issued, and while they all do, I then realized that 1767 had just the guinea, and they're seldom available. Heritage had sold just one ever, and it was ugly, damaged, and years ago. And right then, another popped up. With no price history to go on, I threw out a number, won, and now my set has begun with what should be the toughest and most expensive coin in the set. This piece is an NGC XF45, with attractive color and some lustre remaining in the protected areas. Around the peripheral devices, particularly on the reverse, some reflectivity remains when the coin is rotated in the light.

coinkat

Creative project… in thinking about the Boeing planes, you might consider as part of the endeavor to assemble other denominations. The 1707 or 1707 E Crown can be had as it is not outrageously valued for what it is. The years1727, 1737, 1747 and 1757 do not feature crowns or even half crowns. You can consider shillings or a 6 pence for 1757. Have fun with this.

edited to change to not outrageously valued

airplanenut

@coinkat said:
Creative project… in thinking about the Boeing planes, you might consider as part of the endeavor to assemble other denominations. The 1707 or 1707 E Crown can be had as it outrageously valued for what it is. The years1727, 1737, 1747 and 1757 do not feature crowns or even half crowns. You can consider shillings or a 6 pence for 1757. Have fun with this.

My only requirement from the outset is one coin per year. The plan was always to get a variety of denominations, and to some degree I'll work backwards: I might get another guinea somewhere, but the guinea was definitely covered with 1767 because it was the only choice. I'm still working on figuring out which coins to target based on what denominations I can get for each year and the cost/quality of the options. I've already made a spreadsheet showing all the options, now I just need to figure out general costs for a range of grades to start paring down the list. I do know that I'll be aiming for George I in 1727 since there are a lot more years where George II will be represented.

pruebas

1797 has some cool Soho Mint George III coppers.

Too bad there is no 797 aircraft.

If you know, what is the rationale for the 7x7 naming anyway?

airplanenut

@pruebas said:
1797 has some cool Soho Mint George III coppers.

Too bad there is no 797 aircraft.

If you know, what is the rationale for the 7x7 naming anyway?

I've heard various stories, but I don't think there's a definitive, confirmed reason for the 7X7 numbering. One of the stories (and I might be getting this a bit wrong, but I think it was along these lines) is that Boeing had numbered divisions or locations, and whatever team did jets and/or the design of the 707 was #7.

I don't have any knowledge of this for sure, but I'd assume the next plane would be the 797, so I'll get a 1797, as well. Airplanes don't get named until the program is rather mature and publicly launched, and I have no idea when or what the next plane will be, but it just seems obvious to me that 797 will be used. What happens after that? No clue.

golden

Nice coin and a cool idea.

1960NYGiants

https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/how-boeing-names-its-aircraft/#:~:text=Boeing's aircraft naming convention dates,tracking aircraft types through Flightradar24.

airplanenut

@1960NYGiants said:
https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/how-boeing-names-its-aircraft/#:~:text=Boeing's aircraft naming convention dates,tracking aircraft types through Flightradar24.

This doesn't explain the use of 7s, and while the middle digits sort of work, what's written isn't totally correct.

"Starting with 7 is to reference that this is a jet-powered aircraft at Boeing.

4 represents the fourth jet-powered aircraft released in the 7X7 naming sequence.

While the last 7 came about as it just sounded better when the naming convention was decided upon for the 707."

The 7X7 airplanes came out in this order: 707, 727, 737, 747, 767, 757, 777, 717, 787. I suppose you could say they skipped the 717 to keep the suggested scheme going, but after 747, they lost the ordering, and then they went back and gave 717 to the MD-95 acquired with the McDonnell Douglas merger.

coinkat

I was thinking about the merger with McDonnell Douglass which transpired in the 1980s. They were a significant competitor back in the day. Later, Boeing acquired the Aerospace division of Rockwell International. Rockwell made the B-1 and had mostly military contracts and was heavily involved in the space program.

pruebas

My favorite has to be the 727. That thing could land just about anywhere. And the back stairs meant they could board anywhere too.

But the damn things were loud with those turbojet engines!

I used to watch the Air Mike 727 Island Hopper a couple of times a week at Bucholz Field terminal on Kwajalein Missile Range, which was across from our elementary school playfield, when I was a kid in the early 1970s. It would land, deboard, board, and depart in a noisy whirlwind of activity for this young kid. More interesting than whatever sport we happened to be playing at the time.

I believe that flight still runs to this day, now operated by UAL.