Silver coin Famous steam locomotives - LNER class A4 proof

The fifth colorized silver coin from the Czech Mint’s series titled Famous Locomotives features the Mallard, a locomotive synonymous with speed.

Between 1935 and 1938, the British railway company LNER had 35 steam locomotives of the A4 class built, whose task was to pull express trains. Each locomotive was given a different name, with inspiration drawn from, for example, birds native to the British Isles. Locomotive 4468, known as Mallard- the Mallard duck- then made history. This strikingly elegant aerodynamic machine reached a speed of 203 km/h on the London-to-York route in 1938, becoming the world record holder among steam locomotives. This achievement still stands and has never been officially surpassed, though it has been disputed from the very beginning. In particular, the previous record holders from the German Reichsbahn took issue with the fact that the new top speed was achieved on a gentle slope. The British engineer insisted that had it not been for speed limits, which forced him to brake in places, he would have reached an indisputable speed of 208 km/h. The locomotive’s designer wanted to repeat the attempt, but then the war broke out, and Great Britain and Germany had to deal with entirely different concerns…

The reverse side of the coin, designed by medalist Mgr. Petr Horák, features the locomotive, whose realistic appearance with its characteristic blue color was created using colorization technology. The speedometer needle indicates the speed record of 125.88 mph (miles per hour), and the inscription LNER class A4 completes the design. On the obverse of the coin, which is common to the entire series, you will find rail tracks and a tunnel. Since the coins of the Czech Mint are issued under a foreign license from the island of Niue, the obverse side also bears its national coat of arms, the nominal value of 1 DOLLAR (NZD), and the year of issue 2026.

You can store the coins dedicated to famous locomotives in a collector’s album, which is also available from the Czech Mint.