US Mint 1988 Young Astronaut / Space Shuttle Medallions

I got the MS versions in silver and bronze. I still have the bronze.

The decade of the 1980s was significant for the U.S. manned space exploration program. Interest in the program could be found throughout the country, expanding into the coin collecting community with the issuance of the 1988 Young Astronaut medals.
The beginning of the decade, April 12, 1981, saw the launch of the first orbit-capable space shuttle, Columbia. The first shuttle, Enterprise, was used for atmospheric test flights only; it was unveiled in 1976 and flew its test flights later in that decade. The contractor delivered Columbia to NASA in 1979. The shuttles Challenger, Discovery and Atlantis were completed in 1982, 1983 and 1985, respectively.
By the mid-1980s, the U.S. Mint had yet to issue a medal or commemorative coins honoring the nation's space program (Congress has sole authority to authorize commemorative coinage, but the Mint has limited authority to issue medals without the need for congressional approval). According to a 1989 Coin World article, the Young Astronauts Council thought the creation of a medal would not only be appropriate, but also beneficial for increasing public awareness about the YAC and about America's space exploration program, and also for generating revenue to get the organization off the ground.

March 22, 1985, U.S. Rep. Frank Annunzio, D-Ill., introduced the Young Astronaut Program Medal Act in the House, calling for the production of gold, silver and bronze medals to commemorate the program. On Dec. 16 of that year, U.S. Sen. E.J. Garn, R-Utah, introduced the same legislation in the Senate. (Sen. Garn was also the first member of the U.S. Congress to fly in space when he was a member of the Discovery crew April 19, 1985.)
As introduced, the legislation stated that no medals were to be struck after Dec. 31, 1987. Two amended versions extended the deadline first to Dec. 24, 1988, and then to Dec. 31, 1989. The final version authorized Proof and Uncirculated versions of the medal to be issued. The legislation also did not mandate how many medals of each version were to be produced.
Congress approved legislation authorizing the medals; the bill was signed by President Reagan March 12, 1986, becoming Public Law 99-295.
The bill authorized production of no more than 750,000 medals bearing emblems and inscriptions deemed appropriate by the Treasury Secretary. The authorizing law specified that 10 percent of the revenue from sales of the medals was to go to the Young Astronaut Council's annual budget.
The gold, silver and bronze medals feature different obverse designs; they share a common reverse. The medals' obverse designs were chosen from more than 17,000 entries submitted by YAC student members from all over the country.
The bronze medal was designed by Erac Priester, then 15, of St. Augustine, Fla. It features a space shuttle, an American flag and six stars. It was sculptured by Edgar Z. Steever of the Mint engraving staff.
The silver medal was designed by Essan Ni, then 11, of San Diego. The medal, sculptured by Mint engraver James Lecaretz, features an astronaut saluting the U.S. flag on the surface of the moon.
The gold medal was designed by Brian Kachel, then 12, of Jersey City, N.J. It features a space shuttle in flight. The design was sculptured by Mint sculptor-engraver Chester Y. Martin.
All of the obverse designs incorporate the inscriptions LIBERTY and the year 1988.

The final mintage figures of the Young Astronaut Medals were reported in the 1990 Report of the Director of the U.S. Mint and were as follows:
Half inch bronze, 28,700 Uncirculated and 17,250 Proof pieces
 1.5-inch silver, 33,250 Uncirculated and 15,400 Proof pieces
0.845-inch gold medal, 13,000 Uncirculated and 3,400 Proof pieces
3-inch 6-ounce silver medal, 1,075 Uncirculated pieces
3-inch 12-ounce silver medal, 3,700 Uncirculated pieces
3-inch 12-ounce gold medal, 38 Uncirculated pieces.

Holy cow, Who owns that troy pound? I was looking to buy one of those in 2008, I couldn't find anyone who had even heard of it.

Old thread revived. I had never seen the 12 troy oz. silver versions...then ran across 2 in one day. Here is a couple of quick images of the 12 troy oz. medal pictured next to as ASE and on a $20 bill to give perspective as to both width and thickness. Pretty cool.

<< <i>Old thread revived. I had never seen the 10 oz. silver versions...then ran across 2 in one day. Here is a couple of quick images of the 10 oz. medal pictured next to as ASE and on a $20 bill to give perspective as to both width and thickness. Pretty cool.


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"Good evening, Mr. Hansen. Your mission Greg, should you decide to accept it, is to locate a 12 oz gold version and photograph it along with the other 2 in your picture."
As always, should you or any of your Forum Force be caught or killed, our host will disavow any knowledge of your actions.

Wow... wish I knew about the 12 oz. medal back in the late '80's.....would have bought one

at gold prices then....Cheers, RickO

Just purchased a set should be in by the end of the week.
Top to bottom Gold Silver & Bronze.
sellers images that I cropped

Nice medals.... was not aware of these.... That big gold medal must be impressive to hold..... Cheers, RickO

I sold one of the Gold Pounders last
year - got about 12% over melt, as
I recall. (in an NCG large holder)

With a Mintage of only 38 actual pieces
struck, it's a very low mintage US Mint
gold piece, even if it's not legal tender.