Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act

Summary: (This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the House on December 5, 2016.  Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act (Sec. 3) This bill directs the Department of the Treasury to mint and issue gold, silver, half-dollar clad, and proof silver coins in recognition and celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first manned landing on the moon.  (Sec. 5) Treasury may issue coins minted under this bill for only a one-year period, beginning January 1, 2019. (Sec. 7) All sales of coins minted under this bill shall include a surcharge of $35 per gold coin, $10 per silver coin, $5 per half-dollar clad coin, and $50 per proof silver coin.  All of the surcharges received from the sale of such coins shall be paid as follows:   one-half to the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum's &quot;Destination Moon&quot; exhibit; one-quarter to the Astronauts Memorial Foundation; and  one-quarter to the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, to aid its missions by providing college scholarships for the very best and brightest students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM).   There may not be any surcharge if issuance of the coin would exceed the annual commemorative coin program issuance limitation. (Sec. 8) Treasury shall ensure that:   minting and issuing such coins will not result in any net cost to the federal government; and no funds, including surcharges, will be disbursed to any recipient designated in section 7 until the total cost of designing and issuing all authorized coins is recovered. 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
    This Act may be cited as the ``Apollo 11 50th Anniversary 
Commemorative Coin Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
    The Congress finds the following:
        (1) On July 16, 1969, the Apollo 11 spacecraft launched from 
    Launch Complex 39A at the John F. Kennedy Space Center carrying 
    Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins, who would become 
    the first of mankind to complete a crewed lunar landing.
        (2) The United States is the only country ever to have 
    attempted and succeeded in landing humans on a celestial body off 
    the Earth and safely returning them home, completing an 
    unprecedented engineering, scientific and political achievement.
        (3) The Apollo 11 mission, culminating in man's first steps on 
    the Moon on July 20, 1969, honored the fallen astronauts of the 
    Apollo 1 crew, whose innovative work and bravery will be remembered 
    forever.
        (4) Apollo 11 accomplished the national goal set forth in 1961 
    by President John F. Kennedy, who stated at Rice University the 
    following year, ``We choose to go to the Moon. We choose to go to 
    the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they 
    are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve 
    to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, 
    because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we 
    are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win''.
        (5) At the height of the Cold War, the Apollo space program 
    provided the United States and the free world with a powerful 
    symbolic win, demonstrating the strength, ambition, and 
    determination of the United States in technological and economic 
    advancement, and securing our Nation's leadership in space for 
    generations to come.
        (6) The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's 
    (referred to in this Act as ``NASA'') Marshall Space Flight Center 
    in Huntsville, Alabama, designed, assembled, and tested the most 
    powerful launch vehicle in history, the Saturn V rocket, which was 
    used for the Apollo missions in the 1960s and 1970s.
        (7) The Saturn V weighed 6,200,000 pounds and generated 
    7,600,000 pounds of thrust, which NASA has equated to generating 
    more power than 86 Hoover Dams.
        (8) During the time period from 1969 through 1972, NASA 
    completed eight Apollo missions and landed 12 men on the Moon. The 
    6 missions that landed on the Moon returned with a wealth of 
    groundbreaking scientific data and over 800 pounds of lunar 
    samples.
        (9) An estimated 400,000 Americans contributed to the 
    successful program that led to the lunar landing on July 20, 1969, 
    including NASA scientists, engineers, astronauts, industry 
    contractors and their engineering and manufacturing workforce, as 
    well as the political leadership of Republicans and Democrats in 
    Congress and the White House.
        (10) The Apollo program, along with its predecessor Mercury and 
    Gemini programs, inspired generations of American students to 
    pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics 
    (STEM), which has fueled innovation and economic growth throughout 
    a range of industries over the last four decades.
        (11) July 20, 2019, will mark the 50th anniversary of the 
    Apollo 11 landing of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the lunar 
    surface.
SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS.
    (a) Denominations.--In recognition and celebration of the 50th 
anniversary of the first manned Moon landing, the Secretary of the 
Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall 
mint and issue the following coins:
        (1) $5 gold coins.--Not more than 50,000 $5 coins, which 
    shall--
            (A) weigh 8.359 grams;
            (B) be struck on a planchet having a diameter of 0.850 
        inches; and
            (C) contain not less than 90 percent gold.
        (2) $1 silver coins.--Not more than 400,000 $1 coins, which 
    shall--
            (A) weigh 26.73 grams;
            (B) be struck on a planchet having a diameter of 1.500 
        inches; and
            (C) contain not less than 90 percent silver.
        (3) Half-dollar clad coins.--Not more than 750,000 half-dollar 
    coins which shall--
            (A) weigh 11.34 grams;
            (B) be struck on a planchet having a diameter of 1.205 
        inches; and
            (C) be minted to the specifications for half-dollar coins 
        contained in section 5112(b) of title 31, United States Code.
        (4) Proof silver $1 coins.--Not more than 100,000 proof $1 
    silver coins which shall--
            (A) weigh 5 ounces;
            (B) be struck on a planchet having a diameter of 3 inches; 
        and
            (C) contain .999 fine silver.
    (b) Legal Tender.--The coins minted under this Act shall be legal 
tender, as provided in section 5103 of title 31, United States Code.
    (c) Numismatic Items.--For purposes of sections 5134 and 5136 of 
title 31, United States Code, all coins minted under this Act shall be 
considered to be numismatic items.
    (d) Convex Shape.--
        (1) In general.--The coins minted under this Act shall be 
    produced in a fashion similar to the 2014 National Baseball Hall of 
    Fame 75th Anniversary Commemorative Coin, so that the reverse of 
    the coin is convex to more closely resemble the visor of the 
    astronaut's helmet of the time and the obverse concave, providing a 
    more dramatic display of the obverse design chosen pursuant to 
    section 4(c).
        (2) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that, to 
    the extent possible without significantly adding to the purchase 
    price of the coins, the coins minted under this Act should be 
    produced with the design of the reverse of the coins continuing 
    over what would otherwise be the edge of the coins, such that the 
    reverse design extends all the way to the obverse design.
SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS.
    (a) In General.--The design for the coins minted under this Act 
shall be--
        (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation with--
            (A) the Commission of Fine Arts; and
            (B) with respect to the design of the reverse of the coins, 
        the Administrator of NASA; and
        (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee.
    (b) Designations and Inscriptions.--On each coin minted under this 
Act there shall be--
        (1) a designation of the denomination of the coin;
        (2) an inscription of the year ``2019''; and
        (3) inscriptions of the words ``Liberty'', ``In God We Trust'', 
    ``United States of America'', and ``E Pluribus Unum''.
    (c) Selection and Approval Process for Obverse Design.--
        (1) In general.--The Secretary shall hold a juried, compensated 
    competition to determine the design of the common obverse of the 
    coins minted under this Act, with such design being emblematic of 
    the United States space program leading up to the first manned Moon 
    landing.
        (2) Selection process.--Proposals for the obverse design of 
    coins minted under this Act may be submitted in accordance with the 
    design selection and approval process developed by the Secretary in 
    the sole discretion of the Secretary.
        (3) Proposals.--As part of the competition described in this 
    subsection, the Secretary may accept proposals from artists, 
    engravers of the United States Mint, and members of the general 
    public, and any designs submitted for the design review process 
    described herein shall be anonymized until a final selection is 
    made.
        (4) Compensation.--The Secretary shall determine compensation 
    for the winning design under this subsection, which shall be not 
    less than $5,000.
    (d) Reverse Design.--The design on the common reverse of the coins 
minted under this Act shall be a representation of a close-up of the 
famous ``Buzz Aldrin on the Moon'' photograph taken July 20, 1969, that 
shows just the visor and part of the helmet of astronaut Buzz Aldrin, 
in which the visor has a mirrored finish and reflects the image of the 
United States flag and the lunar lander and the remainder of the helmet 
has a frosted finish.
SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS.
    (a) Quality of Coins.--Except with respect to coins described under 
section 3(a)(4), coins minted under this Act shall be issued in 
uncirculated and proof qualities.
    (b) Period for Issuance.--The Secretary may issue coins minted 
under this Act only during the 1-year period beginning on January 1, 
2019.
SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS.
    (a) Sale Price.--The coins issued under this Act shall be sold by 
the Secretary at a price equal to the sum of--
        (1) the face value of the coins;
        (2) the surcharge provided in section 7(a) with respect to such 
    coins; and
        (3) the cost of designing and issuing the coins (including 
    labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, winning design 
    compensation, overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping).
    (b) Bulk Sales.--The Secretary shall make bulk sales of the coins 
issued under this Act at a reasonable discount.
    (c) Prepaid Orders.--
        (1) In general.--The Secretary shall accept prepaid orders for 
    the coins minted under this Act before the issuance of such coins.
        (2) Discount.--Sale prices with respect to prepaid orders under 
    paragraph (1) shall be at a reasonable discount.
SEC. 7. SURCHARGES.
    (a) In General.--All sales of coins minted under this Act shall 
include a surcharge as follows:
        (1) A surcharge of $35 per coin for the $5 coin.
        (2) A surcharge of $10 per coin for the $1 coin described under 
    section 3(a)(2).
        (3) A surcharge of $5 per coin for the half-dollar coin.
        (4) A surcharge of $50 per coin for the $1 coin described under 
    section 3(a)(4).
    (b) Distribution.--Subject to section 5134(f) of title 31, United 
States Code, all surcharges received by the Secretary from the sale of 
coins issued under this Act shall be promptly paid by the Secretary as 
follows:
        (1) one half to the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and 
    Space Museum's ``Destination Moon'' exhibit, for design, education, 
    and installation costs related to establishing and maintaining the 
    exhibit, and for costs related to creating a traveling version of 
    the exhibition;
        (2) one quarter to the Astronauts Memorial Foundation, for 
    costs related to the preservation, maintenance, and enhancement of 
    the Astronauts Memorial and for promotion of space exploration 
    through educational initiatives; and
        (3) one quarter to the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, to aid 
    its missions of promoting the importance of science and technology 
    to the general public and of aiding the United States in retaining 
    its world leadership in science and technology by providing college 
    scholarships for the very best and brightest students pursuing 
    degrees in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM).
    (c) Audits.--The recipients described under subsection (b) shall be 
subject to the audit requirements of section 5134(f)(2) of title 31, 
United States Code, with regard to the amounts received under 
subsection (b).
    (d) Limitation.--Notwithstanding subsection (a), no surcharge may 
be included with respect to the issuance under this Act of any coin 
during a calendar year if, as of the time of such issuance, the 
issuance of such coin would result in the number of commemorative coin 
programs issued during such year to exceed the annual commemorative 
coin program issuance limitation under section 5112(m)(1) of title 31, 
United States Code (as in effect on the date of the enactment of this 
Act). The Secretary of the Treasury may issue guidance to carry out 
this subsection.
SEC. 8. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES.
    The Secretary shall take such actions as may be necessary to ensure 
that--
        (1) minting and issuing coins under this Act will not result in 
    any net cost to the United States Government; and
        (2) no funds, including applicable surcharges, are disbursed to 
    any recipient designated in section 7 until the total cost of 
    designing and issuing all of the coins authorized by this Act 
    (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, winning design 
    compensation, overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping) is 
    recovered by the United States Treasury, consistent with sections 
    5112(m) and 5134(f) of title 31, United States Code.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.