In 1935, following a stellar career encompassing an incredible 18 successful pioneering flights, Sir Charles Kingsford Smith disappeared en route to Singapore as he attempted to break the England-Australia flight record in his plane, the Lady Southern Cross. In 2010, some 75 years later, we pay homage to the all-too-brief life of Australia’s greatest aviator with the release of this outstanding precious metal Proof.

Continuing his strong association with official currency, with Kingsford Smith found on the first Australian $20 note, as well as several sought after commemorative coins, the 2010 $1 Kingsford Smith 1oz Silver Proof has been struck by Australia’s Perth Mint as official Tuvalu legal tender. A skillful example of the Mint’s world-renowned precious metal prowess, each 1oz .999 fine silver Proof unites a powerful portrait of Smithy with his iconic plane, the Southern Cross. Providing a striking contrast with these vivid full-colour images, the fully ‘struck-up’ depiction of the world forms a fitting backdrop to a man who took on the tyranny of distance with such breathtaking audacity.

A unique 75th anniversary tribute to the superstar of Australia’s Golden Age of aviation discovery and development, demand for the 2010 $1 Kingsford Smith 1oz Silver Proof is sure to soar sky-high. With just 5,000 struck, and massive interest in legal tender commemorations of Australia and its icons, the time to guarantee supply of this memorable Silver Proof is right now – at Official Issue Price.

A national icon to rival Sir Donald Bradman and Phar Lap, Sir Charles Kingsford Smith is unquestionably Australia’s greatest aviator. Defined by the same spirit of adventure as the great pioneers of the 19th century, Kingsford Smith – or ‘Smithy’ as he became known – was born in Brisbane, Queensland, on 9 February 1897. He enlisted in the defence force in 1915, serving at Gallipoli before transferring to the Royal Flying Corps and winning his wings in 1917. Shot down in August of that year, and suffering serious injuries, he served as an instructor, before being demobilised in 1919. His love of flying saw Kingsford Smith fl y for joyriding services after the war, as well as becoming a ‘barnstormer’ in the USA, but he had much greater things in mind.

Whilst flying airmail services in Australia in the early 1920s, and becoming one of Australia’s fi rst commercial airline pilots when he flew for West Australian Airways, Kingsford Smith was plotting to become the first to fl y across the Pacific. Setting off from California in 1928 in the newly acquired Southern Cross Kingsford Smith and his crew completed the 7,400-mile flight in three legs, landing at Eagle Farm Airport in Queensland to a hero’s welcome from a crowd of 25,000.

Not only the first to cross the Pacific, Kingsford Smith soon became the first to make a non-stop flight across the Australian continent – flying from Melbourne to Perth in August 1928. Just weeks later, Smithy and his crew took on icy, stormy conditions to make the fi rst trans- Tasman crossing from Australia to New Zealand, where they were greeted by a crowd of 30,000. Kingsford Smith would later make several record-breaking flights between England and Australia, and became the first to circumnavigate the globe in one plane in 1929. After 18 successful pioneering flights in total, Smithy’s last, ill-fated record-breaking attempt was destined to be his pursuit of the speed record for an England- Australia flight. Taking off at night from Allahabad in India aboard the Lady Southern Cross, Kingsford Smith disappeared over the Andaman Sea on 8 November 1935.

Immortalised in film, literature, art – and coins, notes and stamps, of course – as well as the namesake for roads, suburbs, airports, schools and more, the extraordinary influence Sir Charles Kingsford Smith exerted over the history of Australian aviation will never be forgotten.

A unique, exclusive type, this eye-catching commemorative coin is...

• crafted to the apex of Proof quality from 1oz of pure .999 silver
• distinguished by a portrait of Kingsford Smith, united with the Southern Cross – both in glorious full-colour!
• strictly limited to a tiny worldwide mintage of just 5,000
• struck by The Perth Mint for Tuvalu as official legal tender of $1
• beautifully presented in a high-gloss timber case, complete with a numbered Certificate of Authenticity

For more information or to purchase online, please click on the appropriate link:

Australia

North America