I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 631
To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration
of Project Apollo.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 14, 2001
Mr. COOKSEY (for himself, Mr. CRAMER, and Mr. WELDON of Florida) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Finan-
cial Services
A BILL
To require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins
in commemoration of Project Apollo.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Project Apollo Com-
memorative Coin Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Project Apollo in general, and the flight of
Apollo 11 in particular, were milestones in the his-
tory of our Nation.
(2) When referring to Project Apollo, historian
Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., observed, ‘‘The one thing
for which this century will be remembered 500 years
from now was: This was the century when we began
the exploration of space.’’
(3) Project Apollo helped demonstrate the tech-
nological and economic strength of the United States
at the height of the cold war.
(4) Project Apollo was an engineering triumph
that successfully achieved the policy goals set by
President Kennedy.
(5) In only 9 years, Project Apollo advanced
rocket technology from the 28-foot Redstone rocket
which produced 78,000 pounds of thrust to the 363-
foot Saturn V which produced 7.7 million pounds of
thrust, which is comparable to building a modern
commercial aircraft 9 years after the Wright broth-
ers built their first airplane.
(6) The Apollo flights are among the high
points of our human achievement and allowed the
entire world to view the planet Earth in a new way.
SEC. 3. COIN SPECIFICATIONS.
(a) DENOMINATIONS.—In commemoration of the
35th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing, and notwith-
standing section 5112(m)(1) of title 31, United States
Code, the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act
referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall mint and issue the
following:
(1) $5 GOLD COINS.—Not more than 100,000
$5 coins, each of which shall—
(A) weigh 8.359 grams;
(B) have a diameter of 0.850 inches; and
(C) contain 90 percent gold and 10 percent
alloy.
(2) $1 SILVER COINS.—Not more than 500,000
$1 coins, each of which shall—
(A) weigh 26.73 grams;
(B) have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and
(C) contain 90 percent silver and 10 per-
cent copper.
(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 section
5136 of title 31, United States Code, all coins minted
under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items.
(d) SOURCES OF BULLION.—The Secretary may ob-
tain silver for minting coins under this Act from any avail-
able source, including stockpiles established under the
Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act (Public
Law 76–117; 50 U.S.C. 98, et seq.).
SEC. 4. DESIGN OF COINS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The design of the coins minted
under this Act shall be emblematic of the 35th anniversary
of the Apollo 11 lunar landing.
(b) DESIGNATION AND INSCRIPTIONS.—On each coin
minted under this Act there shall be—
(1) a designation of the value of the coin;
(2) an inscription of the year ‘‘2004’’; and
(3) inscriptions of the words ‘‘Liberty’’, ‘‘In
God We Trust’’, ‘‘United States of America’’, and
‘‘E Pluribus Unum’’.
(c) SELECTION.—The design for the coins minted
under this Act shall be selected by the Secretary after—
(1) consultation with the Commission of Fine
Arts; and
(2) receiving the advice of the Citizens Com-
memorative Coin Advisory Committee.
SEC. 5. ISSUANCE OF COINS.
(a) QUALITY OF COINS.—Coins minted under this
Act shall be issued in uncirculated and proof qualities.
(b) MINT FACILITY.—Only 1 facility of the United
States Mint may be used to strike any particular quality
of the coins minted under this Act.
(c) COMMENCEMENT OF ISSUANCE.—The Secretary
may issue coins minted under this Act beginning on Janu-
ary 1, 2004.
(d) TERMINATION OF MINTING.—No coins may be
minted under this Act after December 31, 2004.
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 surcharges required by 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,
overhead expenses, discounts, marketing, and ship-
ping).
(b) BULK SALES.—The Secretary shall make bulk
sales of the coins issued under this Act at a reasonable
discount.
(c) PREPAID ORDERS.—The Secretary shall accept
prepaid orders received before January 1, 2004 for the
coins minted under this Act. The sale prices with respect
to such prepaid orders shall be at a reasonable discount.
SEC. 7. SURCHARGES.
(a) ASSESSMENT.—Any sale by the Secretary of a
coin 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.
(b) DISTRIBUTION.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to section 5134(f) of
title 31, United States Code, the proceeds from the
surcharges received by the Secretary from the sale
of coins issued under this Act shall be paid promptly
by the Secretary to the National Air and Space Mu-
seum of the Smithsonian Institution for the pur-
poses of—
(A) collecting, exhibiting, and caring for
objects related to Project Apollo; and
(B) documenting and researching the mis-
sion of Project Apollo (including a collective
outreach to the workers associated with Project
Apollo for the contribution of their memories
regarding Project Apollo).
(2) AUDITS.—The National Air and Space Mu-
seum of the Smithsonian Institution shall be subject
to the audit requirements of section 5134(f)(2) of
title 31, United States Code, with regard to the
amounts received by the museum under paragraph
(1).
SEC. 8. FINANCIAL ASSURANCES.
(a) NO NET COST TO THE GOVERNMENT.—The Sec-
retary shall take such actions as may be necessary to en-
sure that minting and issuing coins under this Act does
not result in any net cost to the United States Govern-
ment.
(b) PAYMENT FOR COINS.—The Secretary shall not
issue a coin minted under this Act unless the Secretary
has first received—
(1) full payment for the coin;
(2) security satisfactory to the Secretary to in-
demnify the United States for full payment; or
(3) a guarantee of full payment satisfactory to
the Secretary from a depository institution, the de-
posits of which are insured by the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation or the National Credit Union
Administration Board.
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