H. R. 2726 

One Hundred Fourteenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday, 

the fourth day of January, two thousand and sixteen 

An Act 

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. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

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 
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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 halfdollar 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. 
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(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 
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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 
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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.