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Rocket-powered results!
Kath at RR here. Last night (Nov. 17), RR Auction achieved a new world record for a publicly sold, flown U.S. flag. Our Space auction sold an Apollo 11 crew-signed flown flag presentation for $120,693 – more than double the previous sales record… which we had also set!
What made this flag especially desirable to collectors was that in addition to being signed by the entire Apollo 11 crew on the presentation, Buzz Aldrin signed again in the flag itself. We had a photo of Buzz holding the presentation as part of the lot (our main photo, above).
Many items relating to the Apollo 11 mission were highly successful. The beautiful solid gold Lunar Module replica created for Buzz Aldrin by Cartier sold for an incredible $149,862:[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][ra_box_rounded image=”8593″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
And Aldrin’s flown page of “Go to Descent” instructions – uniquely featuring notations by Neil Armstrong – realized a price of $78,346.
More out of this world results
Other noteworthy sales included:
- Apollo 17 flown Robbins Medal, which sold for $37,481;
- Dave Scott’s Apollo 15 lunar orbit-flown CSM Systems Data Book that achieved a sales price of a whopping $60,995. (A video of the book contents is here).
This auction featured The Bill Lende Collection of rare and remarkable correspondences. Several personally written letters by the eventual history-making astronauts were highly sought after by bidders. Written before their legendary missions, these correspondences offer insight into the U.S. space race as well as a glimpse into the thoughts and hopes of these men – often via seemingly prescient observations.
To wit: Neil Armstrong, writing in 1963, in a correspondence that sold at the auction for $11,837, stated:
“Exploration in space, as in any other area, provides answers to old questions, but, perhaps more importantly, provides new questions.”
Michael Collins’ letter, which sold for $18,616, noted:
“The ultimate value of our lunar landing program cannot be outlined in detail at this time, just as it was impossible to foresee all the uses to which the Wright brothers’ invention.”
We also offered several meteorites from Aerolite Meteorites, including this lunar one retrieved from northwest Africa that sold for $2,749:[/vc_column_text][ra_box_rounded image=”8594″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
See the full list of auction results here. For more information on how to consign your own Space collectibles with us, go to https://rrauctionsellconsignments.com/sell-space-exploration/.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row]