1.This Act may be cited as the
NASA and JPL 50th Anniversary
Commemorative Coin Act
.
2.
(a)In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of
the establishment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act
referred to as the “Secretary) shall mint and issue the following coins:
(1)Not more than 50,000
$50 gold coins which shall—
(A)weigh 33.931 grams;
(B)have a diameter of 32.7 millimeters;
and
(C)contain 1 troy ounce of fine gold.
(2)Not more than 400,000
$1 coins of each of the 9 designs specified in section 3(a)(3)(B), which
shall—
(A)weigh 26.73 grams;
(B)have a diameter of 1.500 inches; and
(C)contain 90 percent silver and 10 percent
copper.
(b)The coins minted under
this Act shall be legal tender, as provided in section 5103 of title 31, United
States Code.
(c)For purposes of section
5134 of title 31, United States Code, all coins minted under this Act shall be
considered to be numismatic items.
(d)Notwithstanding the
mintage level limit described under section 5112(m)(2)(A)(ii) of title 31,
United States Code, the Secretary of the Treasury may mint and issue not more
than 400,000 of each of the 9 $1 coins authorized to be minted under this
Act.
3.
(a)
(1)The design of the
coins minted under this Act shall be emblematic of the 50 years of exemplary
and unparalleled achievements of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
(2)Designation and
inscriptionsOn each coin
minted under this Act there shall be—
(A)a designation of the value of the
coin;
(B)an inscription of the year
2008
; and
(C)inscriptions of the words
Liberty
, In God We Trust
, United States of
America
, and E Pluribus Unum
, and such other
inscriptions as the Secretary may determine to be appropriate for the designs
of the coins.
(3)
(A)
(i)The obverse of the $50 coins issued under
this Act shall bear an image of the sun.
(ii)The reverse of the $50 coins issued under
this Act shall bear a design emblematic of the sacrifice of the United States
astronauts who lost their lives in the line of duty over the course of the
space program.
(iii)The edge of the $50 coins issued under this
Act shall bear the names and dates of the spacecraft missions on which United
States astronauts lost their lives over the course of the space program.
(iv)The design and
inscriptions on the obverse and reverse of the $50 coins issued under this Act
shall be in high relief.
(B)
(i)The obverse of the $1 coins issued under
this Act shall bear 9 different designs each of which shall consist of an image
of 1 of the 9 planets of the solar system, including Earth.
(ii)The reverse of the $1 coins issued under
this Act shall bear different designs each of which shall be emblematic of
discoveries and missions of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to the planet
depicted on the obverse of the coin, subject to the following
requirements:
(I)The reverse of the $1
coins issued under this Act which bear an image of the Earth on the obverse
shall bear images emblematic of, and honoring, the discoveries and missions of
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Mercury, Gemini and
Space Shuttle missions and other manned Earth-orbiting missions, and the Apollo
missions to the Moon.
(II)The reverse of the $1
coins issued under this Act which bear an image of the planet Jupiter on the
obverse shall include a scientifically accurate depiction of the Galilean moon
Europa and depict both a past and future mission to Europa.
(III)The reverse of the $1
coins issued under this Act which bear an image of the planet Saturn on the
obverse shall include a scientifically accurate depiction of the moon Titan and
depict both a past and a future mission to Titan.
(IV)The reverse of the $1
coins issued under this Act which bear an image of the planet Pluto on the
obverse shall include a design that is emblematic of telescopic exploration of
deep space by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the ongoing
search for Earth-like planets orbiting other stars.
(iii)It is the sense of the Congress that, to
the extent practicable, the edge of each $1 coin should bear the names and
dates or range of dates of missions or mission types to the planet depicted on
the obverse.
(4)Realistic and
scientifically accurate depictionsThe images for the designs of coins issued
under this Act shall be selected on the basis of the realism and scientific
accuracy of the images and on the extent to which the images are reminiscent of
the dramatic and beautiful artwork on coins of the so-called Golden Age
of Coinage
in the United States, at the beginning of the Twentieth
Century, with the participation of such noted sculptors and medallic artists as
James Earle Fraser, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Victor David Brenner, Adolph A.
Weinman, Charles E. Barber, and George T. Morgan.
(b)The design for the coins minted under this
Act shall be—
(1)selected by the Secretary after
consultation with the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration, the Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the
Commission of Fine Arts; and
(2)reviewed by the Citizens Coin Advisory
Committee.
4.Symbolic inclusion of
metals that have flown in space
(a)Each Federal agency and instrumentality of
the United States, including the Department of Defense, the Smithsonian
Institution, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, that has in its possession any craft, or any part of a
craft, that flew in space shall—
(1)retrieve such gold, silver, copper, and
other metals that the Director of the United States Mint determines are
appropriate for use in the production of any coins under this Act, from such
craft or part, that can be retrieved without harming any such craft or part
that may be of continuing use for its original purpose or for research, or
whose preservation is appropriate for historical purposes; and
(2)deposit such metals so retrieved with the
Director of the United States Mint.
(b)Use of metals
in production of coinsAny
metals deposited with the Director of the United States Mint under subsection
(a) shall be used in the production of the coins struck under this Act by
blending such metals with other metal necessary for the production of such
coins so that all of the coins produced under this Act will contain some
proportion of the bullion obtained from craft or parts of crafts that flew in
space in an amount appropriate for the types and denominations of the coins and
the amount of metals so deposited.
(c)It is the sense of the Congress that each
Federal agency and instrumentality of the United States which retrieves any
metals in accordance with subsection (a) should maintain accurate and complete
records of the retrieval and deposit of any such metals sufficient to allow the
Director of the United States Mint—
(1)to provide certificates of authenticity
with coins issued under this Act that some proportion of the contents of such
coins were obtained from craft or parts of crafts that flew in space;
and
(2)to package with each issued coin a list of
the missions in which such craft flew in space.
(d)
(1)Each Federal agency
and instrumentality of the United States that has or continues to conduct
space-related missions shall, in addition to the efforts described in
subsection (a), make efforts to secure and retrieve from privately-held craft
that has flown in space such gold, silver, copper and other metals that the
Director of the United States Mint determines are appropriate for use in the
production of any coins under this Act.
(2)It is the sense of the Congress that each
Federal agency and instrumentality of the United States which retrieves any
metals pursuant to paragraph (1) from privately-held craft that has flown in
space should comply with the recordkeeping procedures described in subsection
(c) with respect to such metal.
5.
(a)Coins minted under this
Act shall be issued in proof quality only.
(b)Only 1 facility of
the United States Mint may be used to strike any particular combination of
denomination and quality of the coins minted under this Act.
(c)The Secretary may
issue coins minted under this Act beginning January 1, 2008.
(d)Termination of
minting authorityNo coins
may be minted under this Act after December 31, 2008.
6.
(a)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, overhead expenses,
marketing, and shipping).
(b)
(1)The Secretary shall
accept prepaid orders for the coins minted under this Act before the issuance
of such coins.
(2)Sale prices with respect to prepaid orders
under paragraph (1) shall be at a reasonable discount.
(c)In addition to the issuance of coins under
this Act in such other methods of presentation as the Secretary of the Treasury
determines to be appropriate, the Secretary shall provide, as a sale option, a
presentation case which displays the $50 gold coin in the center surrounded by
the $1 silver coins in an elliptical orbit.
7.
(a)All sales of coins
minted under this Act shall include a surcharge as follows:
(1)A surcharge of $50 per coin for the $50
coin.
(2)A surcharge of $10 per coin for the $1
coin.
(b)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 distributed as follows:
(1)The first $1,000,000 available for
distribution under this section, to the NASA Family Assistance Fund for the
purposes of providing need-based financial assistance to the families of NASA
personnel who die as a result of injuries suffered in the performance of their
official duties.
(2)Of amounts available for distribution after
the payment under paragraph (1), 1/2 to the Secretary of
the Smithsonian Institution for the preservation, maintenance, and display of
space artifacts at the National Air and Space Museum (including the Steven F.
Udvar-Hazy Center).
(3)Of amounts available for distribution after
the payment under paragraph (1)—
(A)1/4 to the Secretary
of the Smithsonian Institution for the preservation, maintenance, and display
of the National Numismatics Collection; and
(B)1/4 to the National
Numismatic Preservation Foundation for the preservation, maintenance, and
display of numismatic collectibles.
(c)The NASA Family Assistance Fund and the
Secretary 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 under subsection (b).
(d)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 2 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.
8.The Secretary may
strike and sell bronze duplicates of the $50 gold coins authorized under this
Act, at a price the Secretary determines to be appropriate.