II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3238 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration 

of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the National Aeronautics 

and Space Administration and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 25, 2006 

Mr. CORNYN (for himself, Mr. NELSON of Florida, and Mrs. HUTCHISON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins 

in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘NASA and JPL 50th 

5 Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

7 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—In commemoration of the 

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1 onautics and Space Administration and the Jet Propulsion 

2 Laboratory, the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in 

3 this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary) shall mint and issue 

4 the following coins: 

5 (1) $50 GOLD COINS.—Not more than 50,000 

6 $50 gold coins which shall— 

7 (A) weigh 33.931 grams; 

8 (B) have a diameter of 32.7 millimeters; 

9 and 

10 (C) contain 1 troy ounce of fine gold. 

11 (2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 400,000 

12 $1 coins of each of the 9 designs specified in section 

13 3(a)(3)(B), which shall— 

14 (A) weigh 26.73 grams; 

15 (B) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and 

16 (C) contain 90 percent silver and 10 per17 cent copper. 

18 (b) LEGAL TENDER.—The coins minted under this 

19 Act shall be legal tender, as provided in section 5103 of 

20 title 31, United States Code. 

21 (c) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 

22 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all coins minted 

23 under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 

24 (d) MINTAGE LEVEL LIMIT.—Notwithstanding the 

25 mintage level limit described under section 


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1 5112(m)(2)(A)(ii) of title 31, United States Code, the Sec2 retary of the Treasury may mint and issue not more than 

3 400,000 of each of the 9 $1 coins authorized to be minted 

4 under this Act. 

5 SEC. 3. DESIGN OF COINS. 

6 (a) DESIGN REQUIREMENTS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The design of the coins 

8 minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the 50 

9 years of exemplary and unparalleled achievements of 

10 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

11 and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 

12 (2) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On 

13 each coin minted under this Act there shall be— 

14 (A) a designation of the value of the coin; 

15 (B) an inscription of the year ‘‘2008’’; and 

16 (C) inscriptions of the words ‘‘Liberty’’, 

17 ‘‘In God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of Amer18 ica’’, and ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’, and such other 

19 inscriptions as the Secretary may determine to 

20 be appropriate for the designs of the coins. 

21 (3) COIN IMAGES.— 

22 (A) $50 COINS.— 

23 (i) OBVERSE.—The obverse of the 

24 $50 coins issued under this Act shall bear 

25 an image of the sun. 


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1 (ii) REVERSE.—The reverse of the 

2 $50 coins issued under this Act shall bear 

3 a design emblematic of the sacrifice of the 

4 United States astronauts who lost their 

5 lives in the line of duty over the course of 

6 the space program. 

7 (iii) EDGE.—The edge of the $50 

8 coins issued under this Act shall bear the 

9 names and dates of the spacecraft missions 

10 on which United States astronauts lost 

11 their lives over the course of the space pro12 gram. 

13 (iv) HIGH RELIEF.—The design and 

14 inscriptions on the obverse and reverse of 

15 the $50 coins issued under this Act shall 

16 be in high relief. 

17 (B) $1 COINS.— 

18 (i) OBVERSE.—The obverse of the $1 

19 coins issued under this Act shall bear 9 

20 different designs each of which shall con21 sist of an image of 1 of the 9 planets of 

22 the solar system, including Earth. 

23 (ii) REVERSE.—The reverse of the $1 

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1 blematic of discoveries and missions of the 

2 Jet Propulsion Laboratory to the planet 

3 depicted on the obverse of the coin, subject 

4 to the following requirements: 

5 (I) EARTH COIN.—The reverse of 

6 the $1 coins issued under this Act 

7 which bear an image of the Earth on 

8 the obverse shall bear images emblem9 atic of, and honoring, the discoveries 

10 and missions of the National Aero11 nautics and Space Administration, the 

12 Mercury, Gemini and Space Shuttle 

13 missions and other manned Earth-or14 biting missions, and the Apollo mis15 sions to the Moon. 

16 (II) JUPITER COIN.—The reverse 

17 of the $1 coins issued under this Act 

18 which bear an image of the planet Ju19 piter on the obverse shall include a 

20 scientifically accurate depiction of the 

21 Galilean moon Europa and depict 

22 both a past and future mission to Eu23 ropa. 

24 (III) SATURN COIN.—The reverse 

25 of the $1 coins issued under this Act 


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1 which bear an image of the planet 

2 Saturn on the obverse shall include a 

3 scientifically accurate depiction of the 

4 moon Titan and depict both a past 

5 and a future mission to Titan. 

6 (IV) PLUTO COIN.—The reverse 

7 of the $1 coins issued under this Act 

8 which bear an image of the planet 

9 Pluto on the obverse shall include a 

10 design that is emblematic of telescopic 

11 exploration of deep space by the Na12 tional Aeronautics and Space Admin13 istration and the ongoing search for 

14 Earth-like planets orbiting other 

15 stars. 

16 (iii) EDGE.—It is the sense of the 

17 Congress that, to the extent practicable, 

18 the edge of each $1 coin should bear the 

19 names and dates or range of dates of mis20 sions or mission types to the planet de21 picted on the obverse. 

22 (4) REALISTIC AND SCIENTIFICALLY ACCURATE

23 DEPICTIONS.—The images for the designs of coins 

24 issued under this Act shall be selected on the basis 

25 of the realism and scientific accuracy of the images 


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1 and on the extent to which the images are reminis2 cent of the dramatic and beautiful artwork on coins 

3 of the so-called ‘‘Golden Age of Coinage’’ in the 

4 United States, at the beginning of the Twentieth 

5 Century, with the participation of such noted sculp6 tors and medallic artists as James Earle Fraser, Au7 gustus Saint-Gaudens, Victor David Brenner, Ad8 olph A. Weinman, Charles E. Barber, and George T. 

9 Morgan. 

10 (b) SELECTION.—The design for the coins minted 

11 under this Act shall be— 

12 (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation 

13 with the Administrator of the National Aeronautics 

14 and Space Administration, the Director of the Jet 

15 Propulsion Laboratory, and the Commission of Fine 

16 Arts; and 

17 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Coin Advisory 

18 Committee. 

19 SEC. 4. SYMBOLIC INCLUSION OF METALS THAT HAVE 

20 FLOWN IN SPACE. 

21 (a) COLLECTION.—Each Federal agency and instru22 mentality of the United States, including the Department 

23 of Defense, the Smithsonian Institution, the National Aer24 onautics and Space Administration, and the Jet PropulVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:54 Jun 01, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3238.IS S3238

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1 sion Laboratory, that has in its possession any craft, or 

2 any part of a craft, that flew in space shall— 

3 (1) retrieve such gold, silver, copper, and other 

4 metals that the Director of the United States Mint 

5 determines are appropriate for use in the production 

6 of any coins under this Act, from such craft or part, 

7 that can be retrieved without harming any such 

8 craft or part that may be of continuing use for its 

9 original purpose or for research, or whose preserva10 tion is appropriate for historical purposes; and 

11 (2) deposit such metals so retrieved with the 

12 Director of the United States Mint. 

13 (b) USE OF METALS IN PRODUCTION OF COINS.— 

14 Any metals deposited with the Director of the United 

15 States Mint under subsection (a) shall be used in the pro16 duction of the coins struck under this Act by blending 

17 such metals with other metal necessary for the production 

18 of such coins so that all of the coins produced under this 

19 Act will contain some proportion of the bullion obtained 

20 from craft or parts of crafts that flew in space in an 

21 amount appropriate for the types and denominations of 

22 the coins and the amount of metals so deposited. 

23 (c) RECORDKEEPING.—It is the sense of the Con24 gress that each Federal agency and instrumentality of the 

25 United States which retrieves any metals in accordance 


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1 with subsection (a) should maintain accurate and complete 

2 records of the retrieval and deposit of any such metals 

3 sufficient to allow the Director of the United States 

4 Mint— 

5 (1) to provide certificates of authenticity with 

6 coins issued under this Act that some proportion of 

7 the contents of such coins were obtained from craft 

8 or parts of crafts that flew in space; and 

9 (2) to package with each issued coin a list of 

10 the missions in which such craft flew in space. 

11 (d) PRIVATE SPACECRAFT.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each Federal agency and in13 strumentality of the United States that has or con14 tinues to conduct space-related missions shall, in ad15 dition to the efforts described in subsection (a), 

16 make efforts to secure and retrieve from privately17 held craft that has flown in space such gold, silver, 

18 copper and other metals that the Director of the 

19 United States Mint determines are appropriate for 

20 use in the production of any coins under this Act. 

21 (2) RECORDKEEPING.—It is the sense of the 

22 Congress that each Federal agency and instrumen23 tality of the United States which retrieves any met24 als pursuant to paragraph (1) from privately-held 

25 craft that has flown in space should comply with the 


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1 recordkeeping procedures described in subsection (c) 

2 with respect to such metal. 

3 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

4 (a) QUALITY OF COINS.—Coins minted under this 

5 Act shall be issued in proof quality only. 

6 (b) MINT FACILITY.—Only 1 facility of the United 

7 States Mint may be used to strike any particular combina8 tion of denomination and quality of the coins minted under 

9 this Act. 

10 (c) COMMENCEMENT OF ISSUANCE.—The Secretary 

11 may issue coins minted under this Act beginning January 

12 1, 2008. 

13 (d) TERMINATION OF MINTING AUTHORITY.—No 

14 coins may be minted under this Act after December 31, 

15 2008. 

16 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 

17 (a) SALE PRICE.—The coins issued under this Act 

18 shall be sold by the Secretary at a price equal to the sum 

19 of— 

20 (1) the face value of the coins; 

21 (2) the surcharge provided in section 7(a) with 

22 respect to such coins; and 

23 (3) the cost of designing and issuing the coins 

24 (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, 

25 overhead expenses, marketing, and shipping). 


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1 (b) PREPAID ORDERS.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall accept 

3 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

4 before the issuance of such coins. 

5 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre6 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea7 sonable discount. 

8 (c) PRESENTATION.—In addition to the issuance of 

9 coins under this Act in such other methods of presentation 

10 as the Secretary of the Treasury determines to be appro11 priate, the Secretary shall provide, as a sale option, a pres12 entation case which displays the $50 gold coin in the cen13 ter surrounded by the $1 silver coins in an elliptical orbit. 

14 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—All sales of coins minted under 

16 this Act shall include a surcharge as follows: 

17 (1) A surcharge of $50 per coin for the $50 

18 coin. 

19 (2) A surcharge of $10 per coin for the $1 coin. 

20 (b) DISTRIBUTION.—Subject to section 5134(f) of 

21 title 31, United States Code, all surcharges received by 

22 the Secretary from the sale of coins issued under this Act 

23 shall be promptly distributed as follows: 

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1 ance Fund for the purposes of providing need-based 

2 financial assistance to the families of NASA per3 sonnel who die as a result of injuries suffered in the 

4 performance of their official duties. 

5 (2) Of amounts available for distribution after 

the payment under paragraph (1), 1 6 ⁄2 to the Sec7 retary of the Smithsonian Institution for the preser8 vation, maintenance, and display of space artifacts 

9 at the National Air and Space Museum (including 

10 the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center). 

11 (3) Of amounts available for distribution after 

12 the payment under paragraph (1)— 

(A) 1 13 ⁄4 to the Secretary of the Smithsonian 

14 Institution for the preservation, maintenance, 

15 and display of the National Numismatics Col16 lection; and 

(B) 1 17 ⁄4 to the National Numismatic Preser18 vation Foundation for the preservation, mainte19 nance, and display of numismatic collectibles. 

20 (c) AUDITS.—The NASA Family Assistance Fund 

21 and the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution shall be 

22 subject to the audit requirements of section 5134(f)(2) of 

23 title 31, United States Code, with regard to the amounts 

24 received under subsection (b). 


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1 (d) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), 

2 no surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance 

3 under this Act of any coin during a calendar year if, as 

4 of the time of such issuance, the issuance of such coin 

5 would result in the number of commemorative coin pro6 grams issued during such year to exceed the annual 2 

7 commemorative coin program issuance limitation under 

8 section 5112(m)(1) of title 31, United States Code (as in 

9 effect on the date of the enactment of this Act). The Sec10 retary of the Treasury may issue guidance to carry out 

11 this subsection. 

12 SEC. 8. BRONZE DUPLICATES. 

13 The Secretary may strike and sell bronze duplicates 

14 of the $50 gold coins authorized under this Act, at a price 

15 the Secretary determines to be appropriate. 

Æ 


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