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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Young collectors of today have a unique perspective in collecting coins compared to what many of us experienced while growing up. Think of the Internet. How easy is it to take for granted the huge resources the Internet has provided in researching coins, buying and selling them and simply keeping in touch with events and "real time" collector stories from around the world?
Collecting coins is no longer localized to such a large degree as it was for us older collectors growing up. While there are few things more enjoyable and knowledge gaining than visiting the local coin shop or making it to a coin show that is within traveling distance, those opportunities are scheduled and infrequent. With a few mouse clicks in a web browser, a young collector can learn about nearly any coin at any time.
Then there are the newer coins of today …
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Oakton, VA — Wizard Coin Supply, a global provider of coin collecting supplies, recently launched its new website at wizardcoinsupply.com.
Currently offering one of the largest selections of coin supplies and coin collecting accessories on the web, Wizard Coin Supply is poised to service the recent surge in coin collectors around the United States.
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Today, November 27, the United States Mint released pictures of how the last state commemorative quarters will look. 2008 is the final year for the highly successful 50 State Quarters® Program - a program that has stimulated the excitement and the coin collecting spirit into millions.
The final five quarters and their pictures as shown from left to right are: Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska and Hawaii.
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Are the new Jefferson Presidential $1 Coins really released into circulation? Have you seen any? Or was the United States Mint ceremony announcing their release just marketing hoopla and a government cover story?
Well, there’s no question the U.S. Mint’s ceremony the other day had its fair share of marketing, but there’s nothing wrong with that. And I expect it’s not their fault that trying to get freshly minted Jefferson dollars seems as impossible as tracking down a flying saucer around Area 51!
Getting the new $1 coin rolls from a bank in my city wasn’t easy. In fact, I couldn’t! I spent Saturday trying to track down some of the Jefferson $1 coin rolls and, wow, what a pain and what an experience.
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All too often experienced coin collectors see collectible coins mishandled by new collectors or by those who’ve received coins as gifts and just don’t know any better. The feeling of watching coins get unintentionally mistreated is cringing. And nearly every coin collector who’s been around for awhile can describe it.
My biggest personal "shock" in handling coins was when I gave a proof coin as a gift. A proof coin is specially minted with polished planchets and dies and is struck multiple times so it shines more and has great looking detail. They’re always released in protective cases to help preserve their quality.
Several years back I had given a proof Silver American Eagle to a friend. I soon discovered he liked it so much that he carried it around in his pocket. Unfortunately, he took it out of its protective case and handled it just like any other coin! I was, to say the least, initially amazed. I just assumed he’d know to keep the coin protected and thought he knew the coin holder wasn’t just fancy gift wrapping.
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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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