25 euro - NIOBIUM - Austrian Aviation - Austria - 2007 - BU

25 Euro Silver/Niobium coin, Brilliant Uncirculated. In 1907, Franz Xaver Wels flew several hundred metres with the kidney-shaped Zanonia glider. Igo Etrich developed the glider into a recognisable aeroplane called the Taube (the Dove) because of its bird-like wings and tail. With this machine, in 1910 Etrich’s colleague Karl Illner was able to make the first successful motorised flight in Austria, from Wiener Neustadt to Vienna and back. Both aircraft feature in the niobium core on the reverse of the coin, as does Illner himself waving from the cockpit of the Taube just before his historic flight.