Russia won the first manned race into space by launching cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin into orbit in April 1961. He circumvented the globe in 108 minutes before re-entering the atmosphere, ejecting from his spacecraft at 23,000 feet over Kazakhstan, and parachuting safely to Earth. A man of little formal education, but widely popular with his aviator peers, Gagarin had risen to astronaut status from a farm family that had been brutalized by the WW II German invasion, becoming both a national and folk hero. The whole nation was shaken when he was killed in a MiG-15 crash of uncertain causes in 1968.
900 silver commemorative coin celebrates the first orbital flight. The non-precious metal coin shows Gagarin in flight helmet and the spacecraft itself. The two coins come in the mint box, providing an extraordinarily rare opportunity for collectors.