MOON LANDING 50TH ANNIVERSARY: An overview of gold and silver coin issues
Welcome to our round-up of the precious metal coins issued to commemorate the epic Apollo 11 mission to land a man on the Moon. There are fewer ways to commemorate an event for posterity than a coin, and none more likely to survive the test of time than one struck in gold or silver. Most of the world’s big mints and coin producers have invested much expertise in marking the occasion, many with huge success.
This is an eclectic mix. There are coins cleanly struck to a proof standard in bare metal, bullion coins, coloured coins, and those plated with other metals. At the more esoteric end are those that have another material embedded within them. A particular favourite is an actual piece of moon derived meteorite, and even a piece of the Kapton material used on the lander. Glow in the dark, mother of pearl, even diamonds, have all been employed by various mints to spice up their designs. Sadly, a few haven’t bothered, a notable exception being the British Royal Mint – a very poor showing.
There’s something for most budgets, from under $25 USD to many thousands, with mintages running from just 25 pieces in one case, to 50,000 in another. You’ll find the two things inversely connected, of course. Many of the coins have been covered in greater depth in our news section over the last few months, so feel free to check those out as, for the obvious reasons of size, we’ve kept this guide down to the basics.
Check out the WHERE TO BUY link at the bottom which will list out all of our sponsors which sell each mints products. We have other Thematic guides, and obviously plenty of Coin Series Profiles for you to check out as well. Enjoy and let us know if we missed any. The guide will be updated when new issues appear.
Great compilation Mick, thank you!
No problem, Norbert. I’ll try to keep it up to date with any new issues, but I think that’s all of the precious metal ones at the moment.