After passing the United States Senate back in July, the Christa McAuliffe Commemorative Coin Act of 2019 has now passed in the United States House of Representatives. Production of the coin, assuming it gains the President’s signature, will happen in 2021. That will be the 35th anniversary of the Shuttle Challenge explosion.
The legislation calls for the United States Mint to produce 350,000 silver Dollar coins that would feature McAuliffe on the Obverse and a Reverse that would “portray her legacy as a teacher”. McAuliffe, the first teacher for the Teacher in Space Program from NASA, was killed along with six other crew members in the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion on January 28, 1986.
The commemoratives would be produced both in Proof and Uncirculated finishes and will contain at least 90% silver. Further, a surcharge of $10 would be added to the price of each coin with the proceeds being paid to the FIRST robotics program.
The Senate and House both produced bills for the Christa McAuliffe Commemorative Coin Act with the main difference between them being the year of production. The Senate bill called for the coins to be made in 2020 while the House Resolution called for them to be made in 2021.
The next step in the process of this commemorative becoming reality is the signing of the legislation by President Trump. That will make the legislation law and will give the Treasury and Mint the green light to begin working on designs.