NASA Coins in 2009

http://www.coinnews.net/2008/06/22/nasa-silver-and-gold-coin-legislation-4199/



What a joke!!!!

1) The 50th ann. of NASA should be in 2008 but the coins are coming out in 2009.

2) 9 Silver coins, one for each planet. Wait there are only eight planets. Pluto was demoted two years ago. Plus 1 Gold coin ($50) for the Sun.

3) These coins would not be "counted against" the annual 2 commemorative coin program minting limit. Then why have a limit if you do not intend to stand by the limit.

4) The $50 gold coin would only be sold as part of the compete set, containing the nine $1 silver commemorative coins.

The US mint is trying to copy the US Postal Service and the Canadain mint. What a shame.

 

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American space exploration is, in my opinion, an IDEAL candidate for a commemorative coin!

But:
1 - The design is atrocious. There's no artistic engraving at all, its probably just laser-etched onto the dies from a photo.
2 - The planets aren't the United States' to commemorate - if we want to mint coins for things that have nothing to do with our country, we might as well call ourselves the Isle of Man!
3 - ONE silver dollar is enough. Or, at worst, two. And that only if you have two great designs you can't choose from.

The US Mint will be ruining a great idea if they mint these coins.

 

If you want affordable and meaningful 50th Anniversary Space commemoratives, think Russia or Ukraine which have commemoratives for the anniversary, which actually were issued during the 50th anniversary year(how novel of those ex Soviet aka communard types anyway) At least they have base metal coins, which are quite affordable. I like the Sergey Korolyev commems myself.

I am all in favour of NASA, but this coin programme is a joke, right?

 

I'm more miffed at the fact that more of my tax money is being used to fund two useless programs.

 

I think you should be more than miffed about programmes that are much more expensive than NASA, and a lot less meaningful.

 

Amen. But let's stop, before it get political. And locked.

 

coins on the horizon as the sun sets

 

I think space exploration is a wonderful thing that should be put on a commemorative coin...but lets commemorate the exploration of it. It seems like this set is going to commemorate the existence of planets and the sun, not mankind's exploration of it. If I was going to do a set like this, commemorate our exploring of space...a coin with man standing on the moon, the Voyager probe flying past Saturn, the Pathfinder sitting on Mars...things of that nature. Whats the point of commemorating the planets.

Maybe thats just me (I'm a huge space buff...its sort of my biggest interest).

 

Richie, did you read the article?
It does commemorate the exploration... it gives examples of a few of them, in blue.

 

I skimmed through it...but I didn't read it as throughly as I thought I did. I admit, I missed part of that. But, it still seems to me to be focusing on "space" itself as the main thing. I could easily think of 10 things that should be the "primary" theme of the coin. I feel that the planets being on the obverse and the exploration theme being on the reverse sort of puts the focus on the planet and not the exploration...again, maybe I'm wrong. I'll have to see when they come out.

Plus, as has been NASA was founded in 1958 meaning that the 50th anniversary is 2008, not 2009. If they were commemorating manned exploration, they could use 1959 because that was the year of the first astronaut selection.

Again, I could be missing the point completely.

 

The US mint wants your money.

I suspect this set will cost $1500

9 silver comm @ $45 each + 1 Gold oz @ $1100

 

I'll rather have a penguin:



Yes, that's Gagarin if you didn't know. Just nicknamed penguin because of how the statue looks like.

 

I get that, but my point is...they could find 10 events worthy of being on the coin's obverse to celebrate America's exploration of space. The set would still cost the same and would then really commemorate America's exploration rather than simply showing the planets.

Here's an example of what specific events they could do...and what could be on the coin, just quickly put together (including some images I just pulled up).

9 Silver Commemoratives
1. 1958 - Explorer 1 "America's First Satellite" (launched before NASA formed) - image of satellite

​

2. 1961 - Freedom 7 "America's First Manned Spaceflight" - image of Redstone rocket launch

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3. 1965 - Gemini EVA "Working Towards the Moon, First Spacewalk" - image of spacewalking astronaut

​

4. 1975 - Apollo-Soyuz Test Project "Peace in Space" - image of American & Soviet capsules docked

​

5. 1977-Present - Voyager Probes "The Grand Tour" - Probe image

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6. 1981 - Space Shuttle "Dawn of a New Era" - image of shuttle launch

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7. 1990-Present - Hubble Telescope "A Glimpse of the Past" - image of telescope

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8. 1998-Present - International Space Station "Working Together for the Future" - station image

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9. 2004-Present - Spirit and Opportunity "Exploring Mars" - image of rovers

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$50 Gold Commemorative
1969 - Apollo Moon Landing "We've Landed on the Moon" - image of astronaut saluting the flag on moon

​

IMHO, these would be better choices for the obverse of the coins...it better defines the highlights of our exploration. There are other highlights that could be mentioned (orbiting the moon with moon rise photo, or Skylab)...but with 10 coins...this is what I would do.

Maybe I'm taking this too serious. But, the cost to the consumer would be the same and IMHO...it would be a better set.

 

I am still upset about Pluto being demoted.

 

if we are lucky might even cost us 2 grand

 

NASA deserved better commemoratives. When you consider the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Shuttle and various unmanned programs and achievements, there are a lot of great themes and visual effects that could have made this one of the greatest commemorative series to collect. But it looks like Congress and the Mint will drop the ball -- again.

 

Pretty much exactly what I was trying to say. I agree 100%.

 

But I depend on my Sugar Subsidy!!

 

Pluto could be on a half cent !

 

From my understanding of the reading (and I didn't go back and double check it...so I could be wrong), there won't be a "Pluto" coin but a coin representing the dwarf planets. So, that would include Ceres, Pluto, and Eris.

Although Pluto is still a planet in my heart...this isn't the first time a planet in our solar system has been demoted. Ceres was discovered in the early 19th century and was considered a planet for years until being demoted to an asteroid. Its now classified as a dwarf planet.

Ceres is located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and is by far the largest body in the belt. Eris is out beyond Pluto, its also bigger than both Ceres and Pluto.