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Apollo 15

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:8,000.00 - 10,000.00 USD
Apollo 15

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Auction Date:2014 Nov 20 @ 18:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:236 Commercial St., Suite 100, Boston, Massachusetts, 02109, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
Uncommon flown Apollo 15 postal cover carried to the lunar surface aboard the Falcon, 6.5 x 3.75, numbered 17 of 400 and signed in the lower left corner by crew members Dave Scott, Al Worden, and Jim Irwin. Upper corner of the reverse bears the handwritten initials of S. Neil Hosenball, NASA's general counsel, and a serial number, which NASA assigned at the time of their confiscation. In fine condition. Accompanied by a one-page typed notarized certification, signed “Alfred M. Worden,” “David R. Scott,” and “James B. Irwin.” The provenance reads in part: “Postal covers were carried aboard…the Apollo 15 Spacecraft during the entire term of the Mission, to include landing on the moon and were returned to the Earth at the termination of the Mission on August 7, 1971…The postal covers were in the possession of one or more of the undersigned until 1972, at which time they were deposited with the United States Government…The undersigned have this date inspected Postal Cover No. 17, bearing NASA Serial No. 290, and aver, affirm and certify that said Postal Cover is a cover which was carried aboard the United States Lunar Mission—Apollo 15.” All three crew members have also added their initials to a small correction in the text. Also included is a letter of provenance from Mary Ellen Irwin, which reads, in part: “The Apollo 15 envelope numbered 17, was flown to the surface of the moon…has been in the James B. Irwin estate since 19 July, 1983.”

Because of the increased mass of equipment to be carried by the Apollo 15 lunar module (including the Lunar Rover), the number of medallions was halved and only 400 postal covers were carried. The covers were provided by a German stamp dealer, who would retain 100 (not to be sold on the open market), and 300 would be divided among the crew. When the dealer’s sale of his 100 covers came to NASA's attention, NASA impounded all of the crew’s covers, which were then deposited in the National Archives. In February 1983, the crew brought legal action against NASA for return of the covers, culminating in a quick settlement and the covers were returned to the crew in a private meeting.