I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2726 

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

recognition of the 50th anniversary of the first manned landing on 

the moon. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 10, 2015 

Mr. POSEY (for himself, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, 

Mr. CULBERSON, and Mr. BLUM) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the 

Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subsequently determined by 

the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint commemorative coins in recognition of the 50th anniversary of 

the first manned landing on the moon. 

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 ‘‘Apollo 11 50th Anni5 versary Commemorative Coin Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) On July 16, 1969, the Apollo 11 spacecraft 

2 launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station 

3 carrying Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael 

4 Collins, who would become the first of human kind 

5 to complete a crewed lunar landing. 

6 (2) The United States is the only country ever 

7 to have attempted and succeeded in landing humans 

8 on a celestial body off the Earth and safely return9 ing them home, completing an unprecedented engi10 neering, scientific and political achievement. 

11 (3) The Apollo 11 mission, culminating in 

12 man’s first steps on the Moon on July 20, 1969, 

13 honored the fallen astronauts of the Apollo 1 crew, 

14 whose innovative work and bravery will be remem15 bered forever. 

16 (4) Apollo 11 accomplished the national goal set 

17 forth in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy, who 

18 stated, ‘‘We choose to go to the moon. We choose to 

19 go to the moon in this decade and do the other 

20 things, not because they are easy, but because they 

21 are hard, because that goal will serve to organize 

22 and measure the best of our energies and skills, be23 cause that challenge is one that we are willing to ac24 cept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one 

25 which we intend to win’’. 


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1 (5) At the height of the Cold War, the Apollo 

2 space program provided the United States and the 

3 free world with a powerful symbolic win, dem4 onstrating the strength, ambition, and determination 

5 of the United States in technological and economic 

6 advancement, and securing our Nation’s leadership 

7 in space for generations to come. 

8 (6) Within nine years of establishing the na9 tional goal of human space exploration, the National 

10 Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) de11 veloped the Saturn V rocket, which was used for the 

12 Apollo missions in the 1960s and 1970s. 

13 (7) The Saturn V weighed 6.2 million pounds 

14 and generated 7.6 million pounds of thrust, which 

15 NASA has equated to generating more power than 

16 86 Hoover Dams. 

17 (8) During the time period from 1969 through 

18 1972 NASA completed eight Apollo missions and 

19 landed 12 men on the Moon. The six missions that 

20 landed on the moon returned with a wealth of 

21 groundbreaking scientific data and over 800 pounds 

22 of lunar samples. 

23 (9) An estimated 400,000 Americans contrib24 uted to the successful program that led to the lunar 

25 landing on July 20, 1969, including NASA sciVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 Jun 13, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2726.IH H2726

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1 entists, engineers, astronauts, industry contractors 

2 and their engineering and manufacturing workforce, 

3 as well as the political leadership of Republicans and 

4 Democrats in Congress and the White House. 

5 (10) The Apollo program, along with its prede6 cessor Mercury and Gemini programs, inspired gen7 erations of American students to pursue careers in 

8 science, math and engineering, which has fueled in9 novation and economic growth throughout a range of 

10 industries over the last four decades. 

11 (11) July 20, 2019, will mark the 50th anniver12 sary of the Apollo 11 landing of Neil Armstrong and 

13 Buzz Aldrin on the lunar surface. 

14 SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS. 

15 (a) DENOMINATIONS.—In recognition and celebration 

16 of the 50th anniversary of the first manned moon landing, 

17 the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act re18 ferred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall mint and issue the fol19 lowing coins: 

20 (1) $5 GOLD COINS.—Not more than 50,000 $5 

21 coins, which shall— 

22 (A) weigh 8.359 grams; 

23 (B) be struck on a planchet having a di24 ameter of 0.850 inches; and 

25 (C) contain not less than 90 percent gold. 


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

2 $1 coins, which shall— 

3 (A) weigh 26.73 grams; 

4 (B) be struck on a planchet having a di5 ameter of 1.500 inches; and 

6 (C) contain at least 90 percent silver. 

7 (3) HALF-DOLLAR CLAD COINS.—Not more 

8 than 750,000 half-dollar coins which shall— 

9 (A) weigh 11.34 grams; 

10 (B) be struck on a planchet having a di11 ameter of 1.205 inches; and 

12 (C) be minted to the specifications for half13 dollar coins contained in section 5112(b) of title 

14 31, United States Code. 

15 (4) PROOF SILVER $1 COINS.—Not more than 

16 100,000 proof $1 silver coins which shall— 

17 (A) weigh 5 ounces; 

18 (B) be struck on a planchet having a di19 ameter of 3 inches; and 

20 (C) contain .999 fine silver. 

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

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

23 title 31, United States Code. 

24 (c) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 

25 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins 


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1 minted under this Act shall be considered to be numis2 matic items. 

3 (d) CONVEX SHAPE.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The coins minted under this 

5 Act shall be produced in a fashion similar to the 

6 2014 National Baseball Hall of Fame 75th Anniver7 sary Commemorative Coin, so that the reverse of the 

8 coin is convex to more closely resemble the faceplate 

9 of the astronaut’s helmet of the time and the ob10 verse concave, providing a more dramatic display of 

11 the obverse design chosen pursuant to section 4(c). 

12 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

13 Congress that, to the extent possible without signifi14 cantly adding to the purchase price of the coins, the 

15 coins minted under this Act should be produced with 

16 the design of the reverse of the coins continuing over 

17 what would otherwise be the edge of the coins, such 

18 that the reverse design extends all the way to the ob19 verse design. 

20 SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The design for the coins minted 

22 under this Act shall be— 

23 (1) selected by the Secretary after consultation 

24 with— 

25 (A) the Commission of Fine Arts; and 


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1 (B) with respect to the design of the re2 verse of the coins, the Administrator of NASA; 

3 and 

4 (2) reviewed by the Citizens Commemorative 

5 Coin Advisory Committee. 

6 (b) DESIGNATIONS AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On each 

7 coin minted under this Act there shall be— 

8 (1) a designation of the denomination of the 

9 coin; 

10 (2) an inscription of the year ‘‘2019’’; and 

11 (3) inscriptions of the words ‘‘Liberty’’, ‘‘In 

12 God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of America’’, and 

13 ‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’. 

14 (c) SELECTION AND APPROVAL PROCESS FOR OB15 VERSE DESIGN.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall hold a 

17 juried, compensated competition to determine the 

18 design of the common obverse of the coins minted 

19 under this Act, with such design being emblematic 

20 of the United States space program leading up to 

21 the first manned moon landing. 

22 (2) SELECTION PROCESS.—Proposals for the 

23 obverse design of coins minted under this Act may 

24 be submitted in accordance with the design selection 


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1 and approval process developed by the Secretary in 

2 the sole discretion of the Secretary. 

3 (3) PROPOSALS.—As part of the competition 

4 described in this subsection, the Secretary may ac5 cept proposals from artists, engravers of the United 

6 States Mint, and members of the general public, and 

7 any designs submitted for the design review process 

8 described herein shall be anonymized until a final se9 lection is made. 

10 (4) COMPENSATION.—The Secretary shall de11 termine compensation for the winning design under 

12 this subsection, which shall be not less than $5,000. 

13 (d) REVERSE DESIGN.—The design on the common 

14 reverse of the coins minted under this Act shall be a rep15 resentation of a close-up of the famous ‘‘Buzz Aldrin on 

16 the Moon’’ photograph taken July 20, 1969, showing just 

17 the visor and part of the helmet of astronaut Edwin Eu18 gene ‘‘Buzz’’ Aldrin, Jr., in which the visor reflects the 

19 image of the United States flag and the lunar lander. 

20 SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS. 

21 (a) QUALITY OF COINS.—Except with respect to 

22 coins described under section 3(a)(4), coins minted under 

23 this Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities. 


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1 (b) PERIOD FOR ISSUANCE.—The Secretary may 

2 issue coins minted under this Act only during the 1-year 

3 period beginning on January 1, 2019. 

4 SEC. 6. SALE OF COINS. 

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

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

7 of— 

8 (1) the face value of the coins; 

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

10 respect to such coins; and 

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

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

13 winning design compensation, overhead expenses, 

14 marketing, and shipping). 

15 (b) BULK SALES.—The Secretary shall make bulk 

16 sales of the coins issued under this Act at a reasonable 

17 discount. 

18 (c) PREPAID ORDERS.— 

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

20 prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act 

21 before the issuance of such coins. 

22 (2) DISCOUNT.—Sale prices with respect to pre23 paid orders under paragraph (1) shall be at a rea24 sonable discount. 


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1 SEC. 7. SURCHARGES. 

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

3 this Act shall include a surcharge as follows: 

4 (1) A surcharge of $35 per coin for the $5 coin. 

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

6 described under section 3(a)(2). 

7 (3) A surcharge of $5 per coin for the half-dol8 lar coin. 

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

10 described under section 3(a)(4). 

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

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

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

14 shall be promptly paid by the Secretary as follows: 

15 (1) one half to the Smithsonian Institution’s 

16 National Air and Space Museum’s ‘‘Destination 

17 Moon’’ exhibit, for design, education, and installa18 tion costs related to establishing and maintaining 

19 the exhibit, and for costs related to creating a trav20 eling version of the exhibition; 

21 (2) one quarter to the Astronauts Memorial 

22 Foundation, for costs related to the preservation, 

23 maintenance, and enhancement of the Astronauts 

24 Memorial and for promotion of space exploration 

25 through educational initiatives; and 


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1 (3) one quarter to the Astronaut Scholarship 

2 Foundation, to aid its missions of promoting the im3 portance of science and technology to the general 

4 public and of aiding the United States in retaining 

5 its world leadership in science and technology by 

6 providing college scholarships for the very best and 

7 brightest students pursuing degrees in science, tech8 nology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM). 

9 (c) AUDITS.—The recipients described under sub10 section (b) shall be subject to the audit requirements of 

11 section 5134(f)(2) of title 31, United States Code, with 

12 regard to the amounts received under subsection (b). 

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

14 no surcharge may be included with respect to the issuance 

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

16 of the time of such issuance, the issuance of such coin 

17 would result in the number of commemorative coin pro18 grams issued during such year to exceed the annual com19 memorative coin program issuance limitation under sec20 tion 5112(m)(1) of title 31, United States Code (as in ef21 fect on the date of the enactment of this Act). The Sec22 retary of the Treasury may issue guidance to carry out 

23 this subsection. 


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1 SEC. 8. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES. 

2 The Secretary shall take such actions as may be nec3 essary to ensure that— 

4 (1) minting and issuing coins under this Act 

5 will not result in any net cost to the United States 

6 Government; and 

7 (2) no funds, including applicable surcharges, 

8 are disbursed to any recipient designated in section 

9 7 until the total cost of designing and issuing all of 

10 the coins authorized by this Act (including labor, 

11 materials, dies, use of machinery, winning design 

12 compensation, overhead expenses, marketing, and 

13 shipping) is recovered by the United States Treas14 ury, consistent with sections 5112(m) and 5134(f) of 

15 title 31, United States Code. 

16 SEC. 9. BUDGET COMPLIANCE. 

17 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 

18 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 

19 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

20 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 

21 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

22 by the Chairman of the Committee on the Budget of the 

23 House of Representatives, provided that such statement 

24 has been submitted prior to the vote on passage. 

Æ 


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