Commems Collection Modern: What If? 1973 Apollo 11 / Lunar Landing Trust Fund

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Author	Replies: 6 / Views: 157
commems CCF Master Historian of USA Commemoratives United States 12250 Posts	Posted 04/21/2026 1:10 pm Following up on my previous post on the initial effort to authorize a base metal Apollo 11 commemorative coin and establish the Apollo Lunar Landing Commemorative Trust Fund, to add a look at the second phase of the effort. You can view Phase I here: What If? 1971 Apollo 11 / Lunar Landing Trust Fund.) Apollo 11 Mission Patch Emblem (Image Source: Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum. Fair Use.) Representative Olin Earl Teague (D-TX) tried again to secure "coinage of 50-cent pieces to commemorate the Apollo 11 lunar landing and to establish the Apollo Lunar Landing Commemorative Trust Fund." He did so in February 1973 - almost two years after his initial attempt. The new bill mirrored his original bill of March 1971 - up to 50 million 50-cent pieces of standard composition (i.e., Copper-Nickel ("CuNi") Clad) and creation of an Apollo 11 Trust Fund that would be the beneficiary of potential net proceeds from sales of the coins. As in his original bill, the Apollo Lunar Landing Commemorative Commission was to oversee the coin's designs and be the party responsible for placing orders for the coin. The coins were to be "disposed of at par or at a premium by banks or trust companies and other commercial and governmental agencies selected by the Commission, and the net proceeds (if any) therefrom shall be paid to tbe Commission for deposit into the Apollo Lunar Landing Commemorative Trust Fund." Also as in the original bill, the half dollar were to "contain a fractional content of an appropriate metal derived from the Apollo 11 spacecraft." A relic coin! (vs. a relic medal or token) As with its predecessor, the bill was referred to the House Committee on Banking and Currency, but did not proceed further. IMO, it's too bad this coin proposal did not succeed. It sounds like it would have produced a fairly low-cost collectible with true historic roots - and one that would have included actual Apollo 11 material. Very cool! For other of my posts about commemorative coins and medals, including more "What If?" stories, see: Commems Collection Collecting history one coin or medal at a time! (c) commems. All rights reserved. Report this Post to the Staff

jbuck Moderator United States 187446 Posts	Posted 04/21/2026 2:00 pm Quote: IMO, it's too bad this coin proposal did not succeed. It sounds like it would have produced a fairly low-cost collectible with true historic roots - and one that would have included actual Apollo 11 material. Very cool! I agree. Thank you for sharing. Coin Collector Since 1978 Avatar Old Avatar 7070 Eisenhower Australia Canada World CCF Members on eBay CCF eBay Search Engine Report this Post to the Staff
nickelsearcher Moderator United States 15381 Posts	Posted 04/21/2026 3:05 pm This would have been an interesting issue with an actual teeny amount of the Apollo spacecraft included. Thanks for sharing Take a look at my other hobby ... http://www.jk-dk.art Report this Post to the Staff
Dearborn Moderator United States 94636 Posts	Posted 04/21/2026 10:38 pm I like that mission patch design Collecting since 1972. Learning from then on "Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn." - Benjamin Franklin 7070 type set coin count: 51/76 Uncirculated American Silver Eagles My American Silver Eagle Proof Collection Sacagawea Dollars Innovation Dollars Eisenhower-Dollars Kennedy-Half Dollars Washington-Quarters Roosevelt-Dimes Buffalo-Nickels 1938-2005 Jefferson-Nickels Lincoln-Cents Report this Post to the Staff
Sap Moderator Australia 16805 Posts	Posted 04/22/2026 12:38 am So this is after the Eisenhower dollar was already established as a de-facto perpetual Apollo 11 commemorative? Seems like a bit of overkill, so I'm not surprised it did not make it out of committee. The inclusion of material from Apollo 11 itself sounds cool and all, but one does wonder how that would have actually been physically accomplished in practice, given the possible composition options for a half-dollar. The metallic components of the Apollo spacecraft were made from aluminium, titanium, and steel - not substances that readily alloy compatibly with coinage metals. Further, very little of the actual Apollo 11 spaceship came back to Earth (and essentially none of the Lunar Lander that actually touched the Moon), and most of what did return was still intact as a museum relic (which probably wouldn't have been chopped up just to make coins); many of the "spare parts" for Apollo 11 that could in theory have been used to incorporate into coins would have been kept and used in subsequent Apollo missions, though by 1973 it would have been clear to Congress that the last Apollo had flown, those planned future missions had been cancelled and the Apollo Program itself terminated and wasn't coming back. Finally, at a 50 million coin mintage, that would have required 567 tons of metal, and the entire Apollo 11 rocket even at launch didn't weigh that much (not counting the propellant). So these Apollo 11 coins would have had to have had a very, very diluted piece of spaceship in them. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis Report this Post to the Staff
commems CCF Master Historian of USA Commemoratives United States 12250 Posts	Posted 04/22/2026 07:07 am There was no legal specification for the amount of "relic" metal required for a coin/medal/token to bill itself as being a relic piece. A single bolt or piece of wire from the Apollo 11 spacecraft mixed into the copper-nickel melting pot for the alloy used to prepare coin planchets (outer clad layers) would have been enough - the "relic" portion of the coins was to be "fractional" per legislation and thus, likely, minuscule relative to the overall coin weight. Collecting history one coin or medal at a time! (c) commems. All rights reserved. Report this Post to the Staff
jbuck Moderator United States 187446 Posts	Posted 04/22/2026 11:23 am Wait. This sounds like it is bordering homeopathy. Does curpo-nickel have the same woo-woo "memory" properties as water? Just to be clear, homeopathy is humbug. Coin Collector Since 1978 Avatar Old Avatar 7070 Eisenhower Australia Canada World CCF Members on eBay CCF eBay Search Engine Report this Post to the Staff
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