Stories Related to Maine Artist’s Apollo 11 Design Will Be On Special Us Coins

U.S. Mint | U.S. Mint U.S. Mint | U.S. Mint Artist Gary Cooper of Belfast submitted the winning design for this commemorative coin, which marks the 50th anniversary of the 1969 Apollo 11 mission. "My artistic intention was to transform a black and white image into a sculptural form that expresses a shared sense that we were all present on that momentous occasion," he said of his design of astronaut Neil Armstrong's footprint on the moon. Gary Cooper of Belfast was just a teenager on July 20, 1969, when he watched, transfixed, as Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong took his historic first step on the moon. “The whole world had joy over it,” the graphic artist and sculptor said this week, wiping tears from his eyes at the powerful memory.