ACTION URGED ON APOLLO 11 COMMEMORATIVE COINS

Last year Rep. Bill Posey (R- FL) introduced a bill, H.R. 2726, calling for the issuance in 2019 of a series of four coins honoring the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the moon, one of the greatest achievements of our country and of mankind. The coins include the usual three-coin set of a silver dollar, clad half dollar, and $5 gold coin plus a first for the modern commemorative program, a proof 5-ounce silver coin struck in the concave/convex shape used for the 2014 Baseball Hall of Fame coins.

Last June Steve Roach explained in Coin World what this proposed coin program would include.

This program was first recommended in 2014 during a meeting of the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, when Mike Olson made a motion for it that received a unanimous vote, and the proposal again received a unanimous vote in 2015.

Since his term on the CCAC ended in 2014, Mr. Olson, an Iowa banker and former Army National Guard Lt. Colonel, has been working to promote this program, including meeting with members of congress from states that participated in the massive effort to land on the moon such as Florida, Texas, California, and Alabama. He was last on Capitol Hill a couple weeks ago.

To date H.R. 2726 has 63 co-sponsors, but it needs 290 to move the legislation forward. So far most of those who have signed onto the bill come from the same states mentioned above. In addition, a companion Senate bill has not yet been introduced.

If the bill does not pass both houses by the end of the year, it will expire, and those who care about this program will have to start all over again.

That is why time is really of the essence and why any collectors that want to see these coins issued should do what Mr. Olson recommended.

If collectors want to see this happen, they need to act NOW, and get their friends and neighbors engaged. It is very time intensive to get a commemorative coin proposal to this point and if this does not get passed by both houses before the end of the session this year, we will have to start over. We only have one chance in our lifetimes to honor the Apollo 11 lunar landing on a significant anniversary and we owe it to the astronauts and the people who made it possible to complete this mission.

Here is what coin collectors can do to make a difference and win the support of their members of Congress.

To read the complete article, see:
ACT NOW TO MAKE APOLLO 11 COINS A REALITY (www.coinworld.com/voices/louis-golino/2016/04/act_now_to_make_apol.html)

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web