Salyut-1 spent only 175 days in orbit, yet it went down in history as the world’s first crewed orbital station, and it was launched from Baikonur. For the 50th anniversary of the launch, the National Bank of Kazakhstan issued a 100 tenge coin in its «Space» series with the dates 1971–2021.

The reverse shows the station in the centre, the Earth’s surface seen from space on the left and the word BAIKONUR below; the name appears in three forms: SALYUT-1, the same name in Cyrillic letters and SALIÝT-1. The obverse carries a composition which, according to the issuer, symbolises the unity of humankind and the Universe as a link between past and present, with QAZAQSTAN RESPÝBLIKASY and REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN around it.

A Proton-K rocket put the station into orbit on 19 April 1971, and it was deorbited on 11 October of the same year. The Soyuz 11 crew, who worked aboard for more than three weeks, died during descent when their capsule lost pressure; they remain the only people to have died in space. The press release on the coins came out on 2 December 2021: the anniversary was marked by a silver-and-tantalum 500 tenge, a cupronickel 200 tenge and this nickel silver 100 tenge with a mintage of 100,000.

In a space-themed collection the coin sits beside other stations and spacecraft launched from Baikonur and marks the round anniversary of the first orbital station. Condition UNC: the coin has never circulated, shows no wear and keeps its mint lustre.

Coins from the VPcoins catalogue are collected by seasoned numismatists and newcomers alike.