The House of Representatives passed commemorative coin legislation Tuesday that would issue silver and gold coins honoring NASA’s 50th anniversary this year. The legislation, H.R. 6455, was introduced and passed swiftly in five days.
Praiseworthy speed? Perhaps not… Consider first that H.R. 6455 is nearly identical to H.R. 2750, which the House had already passed in 2007. And for all practical purposes, it’s identical to the Senate’s June passage of S. 2159.
Before getting into why there are three bills, its more important to know what the passage of any one of them means to coin collectors. Each bill would authorize the United States Mint to issue:
The $50 gold coin would only be issued as part of a complete set with the 9 silver commemoratives. All coins would be 2008 dated to honor the 50th anniversary of NASA’s first day of operations on October 1, 1958.
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Coin legislation entitled NASA 50th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act (S. 2159) should receive the President’s signature in short order.
The Senate unanimously passed the act on Thursday, June 19, which follows unanimous passage by the House for the same named bill on July 30, 2007.
The legislation authorizes the United States Mint to issue:
The NASA commemoratives would be minted in "proof quality only." The proposed nine various designs for the silver coins add an extra level of intrigue to these commemoratives that is sure to peak interest.
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It could be the largest coin ever, coming in at a weight of 12 tons, a height of 7 meters (~23ft) and a depth of 70 cm (~2.3ft). You could stand from a very long distance away and still make out its golden color, royal portrait and finely detailed rim. You’d probably say it looks like a huge British one pound coin.
Is it too big to be true? In one word… Yes.
Although called a coin, it’s actually made of wood and isn’t legal tender. But it does have a sizable symbolic value. The wooden "coin" was completed and its sized used to symbolize the 50 million pound coins it could apparently hold. (Approximate US value of $101 million.)
It was rolled out today to mark the beginning of the UK public vote in deciding where £50m will be awarded, the largest amount ever, by the Big Lottery Fund. The final four environmental groups competing for the money are:
- THE EDEN PROJECT: THE EDGE - The next evolution of the Eden Project in Cornwall, where communities will be able to share the ideas they have for improving their lives and surroundings.
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The Soviet Union launched Sputnik on October 4, 1957. The world’s first artificial satellite was about the size of a basketball, but it didn’t bounce like one.
It’s impact was instead a world-wide event that marked the start of the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union.
Setting aside country affiliation and pride, Sputnik was a huge technological achievement and is worthy of celebration on the eve of its 50th Anniversary.
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It was introduced only last month but The NASA 50th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act passed the House and is now in the Senate’s hands for likely approval.
The Act authorizes the United States Mint to produce a $50 gold coin and nine; yes, that’s nine $1 silver coins. It also allows for a bronze duplicate of the gold coin.
The timeline? NASA started on October 1, 1958 so the commemorative coins would have to be released next year.
These new coins would be Proof quality only. They certainly have the potential to be intriguing and popular coins for collectors. The $50 coin is set to contain 1 troy ounce of fine gold and limited to only 50,000. Its Obverse would have an image of the sun and the Reverse "shall bear a design emblematic of the sacrifice of the United States astronauts who lost their lives in the line of duty…"
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