2016-12-12 Mon

The Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act was passed by both houses on 9th December. The bill will now be signed by President Obama. The 2019 dated coins will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing – that happened on 20th July 1969.

A new Eisenhower Collector and circulating 40% silver coins were released 2 years after the moon landing featuring the Apollo 11 mission insignia.

The Senate’s vote came a day after the death of former astronaut John Glenn. Glenn was not a part of the Apollo 11 mission but was the first American to go around the Earth a few years earlier. He has been associated with NASA and the space program after his 1962 flight. In the 1990s, he supported the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. One fourth of the surcharges on the new commemorative coins will be donated to this foundation.

4 coins will be struck in the domed format. The convex reverse will feature a replication of the ‘Buzz Aldrin on the Moon’ photograph taken July 20, 1969. The obverse design would be decided based on the outcome of a competition and will be symbolic of the United States space program and the first manned Moon landing. The reverse design of the coins will continue till the edge of the coins and will extend up to the obverse design.

The 4 coins would be:

$5 gold, Uncirculated and Proof (mintage limit 50,000, minimum 0.900 gold; weight 8.359 grams)

$1 silver, Uncirculated and Proof (mintage limit 400,000, minimum 0.900 silver; weight 26.73 grams)

half dollar clad, Uncirculated and Proof (mintage limit 750,000; weight 11.34 grams)

$1 silver, Proof only (mintage limit 100,000, 0.999 fine silver; weight 5 ounces)

The cost of each coin will include its face value, production expenses, and the following surcharges:

$35 for the gold $5

$10 for the standard-size silver $1

$5 for the half dollar

$50 for the 5-ounce silver $1

Half of the surcharges will go to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s “Destination Moon” exhibit. The rest will be shared between Astronauts Memorial Foundation and the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation.