On Thursday, Oct. 11, the United States Mint will unveil designs for the 2019 Apollo 11 50th Anniversary Commemorative Coins at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
The ceremony is open to the public and will also be live-streamed from the museum and recorded for a later showing on NASA TV.
In recognition of the 50th anniversary of the first manned landing on the Moon, the U.S. Mint in 2019 will produce and sell $5 gold coins, silver dollars, clad half-dollars, and 5-ounce $1 silver coins with designs emblematic of the historic event.
Curved Apollo 11 Coin Designs
The commemorative coins will share obverse (heads) and reverse (tails) designs that are curved in shape like the 2014 National Baseball Hall of Fame Baseball Coins.
Created by U.S. Mint artists, proposed reverse designs were reviewed in June 2017. Each depicts a representation of the 1969 "Buzz Aldrin on the Moon" photograph as directed by the coin program’s authorizing law.
A public design competition set the stage for a final obverse selection.
Proposed obverses are emblematic of the U.S. space program leading up to the first manned Moon landing and were reviewed in October 2017.
Ceremony Information
Expected dignitaries and speakers at the event will include:
David Ryder, Director United States Mint
Dr. Ellen Stofan, Director National Air & Space Museum
Gabe Sherman, Deputy Chief of Staff NASA
Walt Cunningham, Apollo 7 Astronaut
The unveiling ceremony’s time and location details follow.
Date: Thursday, October 11, 2018
Time: 10:30 a.m. (ET)
Location:
Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum
Moving Beyond Earth Gallery
Independence Ave at 6th St, SW
Washington, DC 20560
The event will be live-streamed at: https://airandspace.si.edu/connect/air-and-space-live.
Provided the commemorative coins turn a profit, a portion of their sales will support the National Air and Space Museum’s upcoming Destination Moon exhibition.
The reverse design looks great – only a couple of the obverse designs look good however. Please no more images of Kennedy on the coins – prefer the Saturn V with orbits or the command module as a nod to Michael Collins who remained in orbit.
Nothing like a cockroach on a coin, take Kennedy any day!!! Ugly coin!!