[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2726 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
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 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 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.
(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 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 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.