100 years First Intercontinental flight in Coincard

The longest, direct flight we know today is the one from New York to Singapore. The duration of this flight is 18 hours and 40 minutes. This may seem very long, but one day flights took much, much longer. The very first intercontinental flight, going from Amsterdam to Batavia (currently named Jakarta) took weeks. The Fokker F.VII left on October 1st 1924 from Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam and arrived on November 24th in Batavia on the island Java. This remarkable event occurred 100 years ago in 2024, which is why the Royal Dutch Mint is launching a special Medal in Coincard with a Dutch 1 Euro Coin.

The start of a scheduled service between Amsterdam and Batavia

This long flight in 1924, with the Fokker F.VII, marked the start of a regular connection between Amsterdam and Batavia. The long travel time of many weeks was partly caused by engine failure that happened somewhere in Bulgaria: the repair took almost a month. Where the first flight only had 3 members on board, KLM opened a scheduled service for everyone five years later, in 1930. The travel time was shortened from weeks to 12 days. Fortunately, the flights no longer take so long: today you can travel from Amsterdam to Jakarta in 12 hours. 

The design

The 100 years first intercontinental flight in Coincard contains a unique Medal and a Dutch 1 Euro Coin. On the obverse of the Coincard, you can see an image of the plane that was used for the first intercontinental flight 100 years ago: this was then seen as a very modern aircraft. On the reverse, both the Dutch and Indonesian flags are placed in the left and right top corners.

In the Coincard, you can find the Dutch 1 Euro Coin and a special Medal. On the obverse of the Medal, the names Amsterdam and Batavia are visible, with in the middle a mirrored silhouette of both cities. Also in the middle, between de silhouettes, the name that’s on the Fokker F.VII plane: H-NACC, is shown. The reverse of the Medal contains all the stopovers that were made during this impressive journey.