2018-12-15 Sat

Graf Zeppelin was a huge passenger airship built and operated by Germans, which was used for commercial purposes from 1928 to 1937. Luftschiff Zeppelin No. 127 offered the first commercial passenger transatlantic flight service in the world.

A 3.46 grams .750 fine gold medal was issued in 1929 to celebrate the ship’s flight. This medal was sold for €220 Teutoburger Munzauktion in Germany on 6th December. The obverse features the count, Ferdinand von Zeppelin, and the airship captain Hugo Eckener. The reverse depicts a Graf Zeppelin flying over the sea. The Auction House claims that the medal is in Good Very Fine condition.

Ferdinand von Zeppelin was a great expert of airships and a Graf in the German nobility. The hydrogen-filled rigid airship was named after him. A crew of 36 officers and men operated the airship which flew 590 times across a distance of over 1 million miles.

The LZ 127 was the longest rigid airship in those days until the longer USS Akron was launched in 1931. In 1940, the German Airships were scrapped to make fighter plane parts.

Image Courtesy: Teutoburger Munzauktion