1927 Bronze Medal First Transatlantic Flight Matte

Coin Details

Description

The 1927 bronze medal commemorating the First Transatlantic Flight in matte finish honors Charles Lindbergh's historic solo crossing of the Atlantic Ocean on May 20-21, 1927. Lindbergh flew his custom-built Ryan NYP monoplane, the Spirit of St. Louis, from Roosevelt Field on Long Island to Le Bourget Field near Paris in 33 hours, 30 minutes, covering approximately 3,600 miles. The achievement made the twenty-five-year-old airmail pilot the most famous person in the world overnight. The matte finish gives this bronze medal a soft, non-reflective surface that was considered the pinnacle of medallic artistry in the 1920s. The obverse features a portrait of Lindbergh or his aircraft, while the reverse commemorates the flight's details. Lindbergh's crossing was not technically the first transatlantic flight — that distinction belongs to the British team of Alcock and Brown in 1919 — but it was the first solo nonstop crossing, and its dramatic circumstances captured the world's imagination in a way that no previous aviation achievement had managed. The Lindbergh flight generated an extraordinary wave of commemorative medals, tokens, and souvenirs. Virtually every medal manufacturer in America and Europe produced Lindbergh items in the weeks and months following the flight, creating one of the most extensive medallic series in twentieth-century numismatics. This matte bronze piece represents the quality end of that spectrum, produced as a serious commemorative rather than a mass-market souvenir.

Rarity Notes

Lindbergh transatlantic flight medals were produced by numerous manufacturers in 1927. The matte finish indicates a premium production. The vast variety of Lindbergh medals creates an extensive specialized collecting field.

Cross References

PCGS #924498; Charles Lindbergh transatlantic flight May 20-21, 1927; Spirit of St. Louis