1.5 Euro The Rocket

Reverse

Series and face value inside a central circle. Outside the central circle, an image of a railway track.

Script: Latin

Lettering:
HISTORIA DEL FERROCARRIL
1,5 EURO
M

Translation: History of railways

Edge

Plain

Comment

For the year 2021, since the European Year of the Rail and the 80th Anniversary of Renfe are celebrated, the FNMT-RCM issues a collection of 20 coins dedicated to the History of the Railways. This series reproduces a selection of trains and locomotives that have been relevant throughout its history.
The Rocket: The Rocket has become the most iconic locomotive of all time on account of its victory at the Rainhill Trials, organised by the Liverpool-Manchester Railway from October 6 to 14 1829 for the purpose of choosing the motive power of the first commercial passenger train in European and indeed, world history.
Each of the locomotives taking part: Cycloped, Novelty, Perseverance, Sans Pareil, and Rocket, was to make 10 return trips on a 2.81 km long track, thus covering the equivalent distance of 56.3 km from Liverpool to Manchester. At eight o’clock on the morning of Tuesday October 8, thousands of people, together with numerous industrialists and technicians eager to acquaint themselves with this novel technology, gathered to watch Stephensons’ Rocket take its turn. From the outset, there was no doubt that this locomotive had the edge over all the others. In fact, in its final trip along the track, it reached a speed of 48.3 km/h whilst comfortably hauling 24 cars full of pioneering passengers.
In addition to this, Rocket earned itself the honour of being considered the matrix of all the locomotives because, despite its understandable limitations, it stood out particularly for two of its main defining features: a fire-tube boiler and the exhaust. The Stephensons had fitted the locomotive with a multitubular boiler made up of 25 three-inch copper pipes so that the heating capacity of the water inside the boiler in which they were submerged would be increased by the hot air they carried. Although initially this boiler led them to rule out a steam exhaust to activate the air intake, they finally installed this system next to the chimney.
So as not to exceed the maximum weight required in the Rainhill Trials’ rules, the British inventors used only two axles, with the engine at the back, in turn driven by two cylinders located on the left-hand side of the locomotive, set at an angle of 35 degrees from the horizontal. The original Rocket is now on display at the National Railway Museum in York.

Interesting fact

Price

Date	Mintage	VG	F	VF	XF	AU	UNC
2022 M	7000	-	-	-	-	-	-

Values in the table are based on evaluations by sales realized on Internet platforms. They serve as an indication only for 1.5 Euro (The Rocket) 2022 coin.