posted 05-19-2016 09:11 PM               

Space Cover 368: Gemini 12 Captain's Cover Proof

At TEXPEX 2015 I was browsing through a box of space covers when I saw one that I had seen before. Ben Ramkissoon had a Gemini 12 Proof of a Captain's cover in his fine exhibit and here it was at a great price, even if it had been only a regular Captain's Cover.

Evidently neither the dealer, nor anyone who had browsed through that box before, noted that in the lower left corner of the cachet, the information reading:

ASTRONAUTS
J.A. LOVELL
AND
E.E. ALDRIN

...was typed in by a typewriter. Below that, the date NOV 15, 1966 was stamped with one of those adjustable date rubber stamp daters.

The normal Captain's cover starts by showing the date and location of the splashdown, printed in the same gold ink as was used in the block above it and on the parachute and capsule to the right. It reads, in a smaller font:

1521 Q 15 NOV 1966
24-36.4n 69-56.2w

Below that is the text which was placed on the proof by a typewriter.

The Proof Cover bears a 5c stamp, which was the correct rate at that time. The "normal" cover that I showed might be thought to be a cover backdated with a 3c stamp to which a 2c stamp was later added.

There were quite a few Captains' cover s left over and someone later found the stash and used 3c stamps on them, or at times, no stamps at all.

However, the die hub of the canceller has the dates re-inserted each day it is used, and the letters very rarely are inserted into the handle in exactly the same way. In this case the month, date, time and year are all identical which gives this cover credence in being valid. Being that the backdated covers were assumed to have been added much later, there should be many minor differences in the two strikes.

Another cancel on a NASA penalty envelope is shown here as well and again the lining up of the text in the die hub is identical, illustrating that it too, was cancelled on the right date.

Here are two cancels used for the GTA-10 recovery aboard the USS Guadalcanal. Note the minute differences. The "1" of 1966 is directly over the space between the "C" and the "A" of CANAL. On the other it is directly over the space between the "A" and the "N" of CANAL. Another difference: the "J" in July is positioned nearer to below the first "S" of USS on the top photo and closer to the "U" on the other. These are from two different cancellers, but it shows how subtle the differences can be.