Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act
PL 114-282 (H.R.2726), enacted 12/16/2016

130 STAT. 1441 
PUBLIC LAW 114–282—DEC. 16, 2016 
Public Law 114–282 
114th Congress 
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 achieve-
ment. 
(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 Univer-
sity 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 deter-
mination 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 
Apollo 11 
50th Anniversary 
Commemorative 
Coin Act. 
31 USC 5112 
note. 
Dec. 16, 2016 
[H.R. 2726] 
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130 STAT. 1442 
PUBLIC LAW 114–282—DEC. 16, 2016 
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 gener-
ating 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 Mer-
cury 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. 
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130 STAT. 1443 
PUBLIC LAW 114–282—DEC. 16, 2016 
(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 pur-
chase price of the coins, the coins minted under this Act should 
be produced with the design of the reverse of the coins con-
tinuing 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, com-
pensated 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 com-
pensation 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 
Determination. 
Review. 
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130 STAT. 1444 
PUBLIC LAW 114–282—DEC. 16, 2016 
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 com-
pensation, 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 enhance-
ment 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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130 STAT. 1445 
PUBLIC LAW 114–282—DEC. 16, 2016 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—H.R. 2726: 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 162 (2016): 
Dec. 5, considered and passed House. 
Dec. 9, considered and passed Senate. 
States in retaining its world leadership in science and tech-
nology 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 commemora-
tive 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 ship-
ping) is recovered by the United States Treasury, consistent 
with sections 5112(m) and 5134(f) of title 31, United States 
Code. 
Approved December 16, 2016. 
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