We often see coins themed around the numerous meteorites that impact the Earth, usually containing fragments of the actual object itself. It’s a genre that has experienced some excellent variety and quality of design over the last few years, some quite ambitious. Less common are coins that look at objects going in the opposite direction. Spaceflight is clearly one of mankind’s greatest achievements and with the advent of commercial enterprises, it’s expected to become more important in popular culture again.

A few years ago, Winco International released a 75g medal struck in base metal to celebrate 30 years of the shuttle programme. On one side it depicted a shuttle launch mid-flight, and on the other, six segments, each showing an image and inscriptions for one of the six shuttles. In the middle sat some small windows which enclosed material from each shuttle that had actually flown. It was a pretty cool design, but not a coin. In conjunction with Coin Invest Trust, Space-Coins have now made a coin version of this design, albeit in a modified form.

As it’s a coin issued for the Cook Islands, the obverse now carries the required effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, one that’s quite standard apart from the antique finish. The reverse is altogether more interesting, quite closely replicating the original medallion, albeit simplified somewhat. Instead of a pair of borders carrying extensive inscriptions around the rim, the coin has the just the orbiter name sitting at the outermost edge of each of the six segments. The images of the six shuttles, one per segment are fundamentally the same if a little cropped, but are now gilded against the antiqued background. The central segmented windows have been replaced by an undelineated, but much cleaner looking central one that holds material taken from all six shuttles. Definitely simplified, but perhaps better for it, the contrast between the antique finish and the gilding working very well.

Supplied in a themed wooden box, only 500 of them have been struck, far less than the 981 of the original medallion. Made of an ounce of fine silver it’s a cool remembrance of the great service these vehicles did in pushing the boundaries of space travel. They currently seem to be selling for just over €200.00 USD, so not a bargain choice, but this is offset somewhat by the limited mintage and the presence of the actual orbiter material. Available now from Space-Coins.com, or from site sponsors First Coin Company who have the usual free shipping and import tax guarantee.