Antarctica issues no currency and has no monetary authority — "Antarctic" coins are novelty issues produced by private mints and sold exclusively to collectors, with no circulation whatsoever. This particular piece commemorates the Tupolev ANT-20 Maxim Gorky, the largest aircraft in the world when it flew in 1934, a Soviet propaganda showpiece that carried a printing press, film projector, and telephone exchange onboard. It was destroyed in a mid-air collision over Moscow in May 1935, killing 45 people.
Antarctica issues no currency and has no monetary authority — "Antarctic" coins are novelty issues produced by private mints and sold exclusively to collectors, with no circulation whatsoever. This particular piece commemorates the Tupolev ANT-20 Maxim Gorky, the largest aircraft in the world when it flew in 1934, a Soviet propaganda showpiece that carried a printing press, film projector, and telephone exchange onboard. It was destroyed in a mid-air collision over Moscow in May 1935, killing 45 people.