House votes support of Apollo 11 coins

Apollo 11 soared in the House of Representatives yesterday.

The legislative victory, although satisfying, is not complete.

The U.S. Senate must also pass the bill calling for commemorative coins to be struck in 2019.

These coins would mark the 50th anniversary of the United States landing men on the moon.

Our country’s technical skill was on display at the time as well as the can-do attitude that prevailed.

Supporters of the legislation say that they have two days to line up sufficient support in the U.S. Senate.

That isn’t much time.

They would like as many collectors as possible to contact their senators.

This is made easy by going to the Library of Congress website.

Partway down the home page is a search function to find the names and contact information of the two senators from every state.

Type in your state.

Up pops the senators and members of Congress listed alphabetically with either Senator or Representative in front of their names.

Click on the two senators and you will get contact information.

Telephone their offices and say you support the Apollo 11 coin bill.

Coin collectors have made their opinions known before very successfully.

Can we do it again?

Telephone your senators' offices and make the answer yes.

The office of Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla., the originator of the legislation in the House, enjoyed the moment yesterday by issuing a press release to announce the win.

“I would like to thank all of our cosponsors who worked to make this possible,” he said.

It was a team effort. It was a bipartisan effort.

The press release was also a reminder of the good causes to which the surcharge income will be directed.

“Proceeds from the coin will support college scholarships for students pursuing science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) degrees, educational initiatives that promote space exploration, the Astronauts Memorial that honors the astronauts whom have fallen in the line of duty, and the National Air and Space Museum’s new ‘Destination Moon’ exhibit – all at no cost to taxpayers.”

As coin collectors, let's help push this legislation through the Senate.

Here is the contact information link again.

Will Apollo 11 coins achieve liftoff?

I hope so.

Buzz blogger Dave Harper has twice won the Numismatic Literary Guild Award for Best Blog and is editor of the weekly newspaper "Numismatic News."

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