On July 20, 1969, America and the world watched as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took mankind’s first steps on the lunar surface. This unprecedented engineering, scientific, and political achievement, the culmination of the efforts of an estimated 400,000 Americans, secured our Nation’s leadership in space for generations to come. The national goal set in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy was fulfilled when the crew of Apollo 11—Armstrong, Aldrin, and Michael Collins—safely returned to Earth on July 24, 1969. Nearly half a century later, the United States is the only country ever to have attempted and succeeded in landing humans on a celestial body other than Earth and safely returning them home.

In recognition of the 50th anniversary of the first manned landing on the Moon, Public Law 114-282 authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue curved $5 gold coins, curved $1 silver coins, curved half-dollar clad coins, and curved 5 ounce $1 silver proof coins. This commemorative coin program offers an opportunity for our nation to recognize the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, and to honor the United States space program leading up to the first manned Moon landing.