- Description
- Specifications
| ID Number: | MC02-0301 |
| Description: | 5 Francs |
| Country or State: | Switzerland |
| Year: | 1984 |
| Currency: | Franc (1850-date) |
| Commemorative Issue: | 100th anniversary of the birth of Auguste Piccard |
| Obverse: | Inscription in three lines |
| Obverse Legend: | HELVETIA, 1984, 5FR |
| Reverse: | Helium balloon above and bathyscaphe submarine below |
| Reverse Legend: | A . PICCARD 1884 - 1962, SUTER |
| Edge: | ★★★ DOMINUS | PROVIDEBIT | ★★★★★★★★★★ |
| Designer: | Hugo Suter |
| Orientation: | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
| Composition: | Copper-nickel (75% copper, 25% nickel) |
| Diameter: | 31.45 mm |
| Thickness: | 2.35 mm |
| Weight: | 13.20 grams |
| Mintage: | 1,012,000 |
| Catalog Number: | KM# 63 |
|
Auguste Antoine Piccard was a Swiss physicist, inventor and explorer. In 1930, an interest in ballooning, and a curiosity about the upper atmosphere led him to design a spherical, pressurized aluminum gondola that would allow ascent to great altitude without requiring a pressure suit. Supported by the Belgian Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS) Piccard constructed his gondola. On 27 May 1931, Auguste Piccard and Paul Kipfer took off from Augsburg, Germany, and reached a record altitude of 15,785 m. During this flight, Piccard was able to gather substantial data on the upper atmosphere, as well as measure cosmic rays. On 18 August 1932, launched from Dübendorf, Switzerland, Piccard and Max Cosyns made a second record-breaking ascent to 16,200 m. He ultimately made a total of twenty-seven balloon flights, setting a final record of 23,000 m. |
