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[b]Space Cover #649: Flown to the Moon[/b] At one time, the only American astronauts' signed cover that I still needed to complete the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo manned flights was Gemini-Titan 3 (GT-3). I had been trading my duplicate U.S. covers with five Chinese collectors for a few years, expecting that with the number of collectors in China, that there would be an increase in the desirability of early Chinese covers once their first taikonaut was launched. That happened, and I sold my accumulation of Chinese covers for $2400. At that time a GT-3 AU cover had sold for $1,200 and when I saw a Heritage Auction house about to sell one, I decided to bid up to $2,000 on it which would have cost me $400 in fees to Heritage. My wife was a retiree from American Airlines and so I flew up to St. Louis to participate in person. Before leaving I showed her an image of an Apollo 11 Flown to the Moon cover on the cover of the Heritage Auction catalog. I told her that that cover would sell for over $23,000 and she was incredulous. At the auction, the GT-3 cover came and went. Someone bought it for $3,200. Of course I was disappointed but that's what auctioning is all about. Several items later an Apollo 15 Flown to the Moon came up and the auctioneer said that the bidding would start at $2,000. Not expecting to get it, I held up my card number and he said, "We've got $2000. Anybody else in the room? No? Any bids on the phone? No? Email? No? SOLD FOR $2,000! I was incredulous. Fellow Space Unit member Bob Boyd called me to see if he had won two lots that I was bidding on for him and I told him that I'd snagged one for him. I also told him of my great fortune. When I arrived home that evening, my wife was sitting on the couch, doing some sewing. "Did you win the cover?" she asked, without smiling. "No, but I won a Flown to the Moon cover" I told her with a huge smile. "Oh" she said, without changing her expression. It took two seconds for me to get the message. "No! No! Not that flown cover. Mine is from a different flight and cost $2,000." The chill in the room started to defrost. Here's the cover that I obtained, accidentally. Also shown is an Apollo 15 signed insurance cover from the holdings of General Jim McDivitt. I have a certificate of authenticity for this, which came with a note that the crew had given this to him.
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