A U.S. silver coin issued in 2019 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing would be the entire 2021 Coin of the Year winner. The Proof 5-ounce, 3-inch diameter silver dollar using a concave/convex shape additionally guaranteed top honors in two extra classes.
“At the very first round of COTY voting by class, the United States Mint 5-ounce Apollo 11 dollar gained twice as many votes at Greatest Contemporary Event because its nearest competitor,” stated Tom Michael, COTY planner, World Coin News contributor and market analyst.
“It had been nominated in the very best Silver Coin class, in which the voting was considerably more aggressive, so I think that the occasion itself was the most important element in early retirement. But, I am certain that subject, layout and hard production have to all have factored in the judges’ conclusions on the last vote for entire Coin of the Year, in which unemployment has been quite aggressive,” Michael stated.
The obverse, concave side of this coin depicts a footprint on the lunar surface. Inscriptions MERCURY, GEMINI and APOLLO are divided by stages of the moon. Collectively, these design components represent the attempts of the United States space program leading to the first manned moon landing.
Gary Cooper of Belfast, Maine, made the winning design that contrasts the renowned picture of an astronaut’s boot-print shot by Aldrin. Cooper’s notion was accommodated by Joseph F. Menna, who’s now chief engraver in the U.S. Mint.
The inverse, convex layout comes with a representation of a cropped part of this famous”Buzz Aldrin on the Moon” photo taken July 20, 1969, which reveals only the visor and portion of this helmet of Aldrin. The expression in the helmet comprises Armstrong, the United States flag and the lunar lander, Eagle.
“Our crew was pleased to be part of commemorating the 50th anniversary of the first manned landing on the moon by NASA’s Apollo 11 team,” that the U.S. Mint stated in an endorsement statement for both group awards. “Born in 2019, the [coin] was the United States Mint’s initial curved 5-ounce silver coin and symbolized a exceptional accomplishment from the Mint’s technical skills”
The Coin of the Year program, now in its 38th year, is an internationally conducted contest introduced by World Coin News to recognize outstanding coin design and innovation globally. The 2021 application — sponsored by The Journal of East Asian Numismatics, NumisCollect and China Gold Coin Inc. — honors coins outdated 2019 in 10 kinds of competition as determined by an global panel of judges.
MOST HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT COIN: Austrian Mint, 100 euros, gold,”Magic of Gold: The Gold Mesopotamia.”
BEST CIRCULATING COIN: German Mints, two euros, ringed-bimetallic,”30th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall.”
MOST ARTISTIC COIN: Monnaie de Paris, 10 euros, silver,”Fall of the Berlin Wall”
MOST INNOVATIVE COIN: NumisCollect, Cook Islands, 20 bucks, silver,”Meteorites: Chicxulub Crater.
MOST INSPIRATIONAL COIN: Royal Mint, Great Britain, 50 Pence, silver,”Advances in Science: Stephen Hawking
