On July 20, 1969, Apollo XI astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin set foot on the Moon for the first time. Their historic journey was supervised and controlled by NASA's three space tracking facilities located on Spanish soil: Fresnedillas (Madrid), Robledo de Chavela (Madrid) and Maspalomas (Gran Canaria). Second by second, North American and Spanish technicians protected and controlled the status of the astronauts Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins, as well as that of their spacecreafts Columbia and Eagle.

To commemorate the man’s arrival to the moon and the contribution of the Spanish facilities to this event The Royal Spanish Mint has reached an agreement with the US Mint to developed a joint product of 2 coins in the same package. One coin will be the 8 reales coin from Royal Spanish Mint and the other one will be the curved half-dollar coin. The maximum mintage of the set of 2 coins will be 5.000 units.

Characteristics of the Spanish coin:

The reverse depicts one monitoring antenna based in Spain, the Lunar Module and, as a background, the Moon.

The obverse side depicts a portrait of His Majesty King Felipe VI

Characteristics of the U.S. coin:

The obverse design features the inscriptions “MERCURY,” “GEMINI,” and “APOLLO,” separated by phases of the Moon, and a footprint on the lunar surface, which together represent the efforts of the United States space program leading up to the first manned Moon landing. Additional inscriptions include “2019”, “IN GOD WE TRUST” and “LIBERTY”.

The reverse design features a representation of a close-up of the famous ‘Buzz Aldrin on the Moon’ photograph taken July 20, 1969, that shows just the visor and part of the helmet of astronaut Buzz Aldrin. The reflection in Buzz Aldrin’s helmet includes astronaut Neil Armstrong, the United States flag, and the lunar lander. . Inscriptions include “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” “HALF DOLLAR,” and “E PLURIBUS UNUM.”