posted 04-23-2013 09:18 PM               

This is a prime example, one with an excellent dark blue signature and a Steve Zarelli Letter of Authenticity.

There are a couple of slight condition issues that will explain the (comparatively) low price. Upon receiving it from Armstrong in the early 1980s, the originial owner put it in a photo album that had pages with light adhesive. When he removed it before selling it to me, he could have been more careful (that is, pulled it from a different angle), and there is a 3/4"x2" area in the middle of the "lunar surface" (away from Armstrong and well away from the autograph) where there are very light hairline creases.

That light adhesive left faint diagonal line marks on the top and bottom of the back, which don't show through to the front. Finally, removing it from that page peeled up a (not showing through to the front!) one-inch tear on the outer paper layer of the back. You might be able to see the diagonal marks, and the tear above the top right of the photo description, on this scan of the back.

(Again, neither of these show through to the front.)

Here are some sales from just the last couple of years, some with their own condition issues. A nicely framed one sold for $6,991; a standard one sold for $5,776; one with with a paperclip impression and a "hint of trivial soiling" also sold for $5,776; and another standard one sold for yet again $5,776. (The exact same price three times is a result of required bid increments, but it also apparently reflects the market's demand.) Even one with "light bends and creases" sold for $5,349.

A prominent space dealer sold an uninscribed Armstrong WSS litho with a smaller signature than mine for $7,995.

This one is SOLD $3,800, which is $2,000 less than I think it could sell for without that tiny flaw on the front and a couple more hidden on the back. So you'd be getting a wonderful, authentic Armstrong WSS litho at a comparatively bargain price. You could also take two months to pay if you like, or make one payment for a $100 discount.

Shipping and insurance (recommended) will be at-cost extra.

posted 04-23-2013 09:20 PM               

(The timing of this postmark is interesting: just six days after that day was the launch of Apollo 15, and just months after that Armstrong and some other astronauts permanently stopped signing postal covers because of that unfortunate scandal. This cover was signed during the two-year window that Armstrong signed Apollo 11-related covers.)

For comparison, the most recent sale of an Armstrong-signed cover at one auction house was for $1354, and that cover had some pretty serious condition issues: "several typed notations and a German address. In fine condition, with a few creases and several areas of light, erased pencil remnants."

Just the month before, they sold one in better condition for $1804.

The most recent sale of a Neil Armstrong signed cover at another auction house was, interestingly, for a lot of eight of them. They had nice Apollo 11 cachets, but also handwritten addresses which rather detracts. The eight went for $13,145; which comes out to $1,655 each.

posted 04-27-2013 08:19 AM               

• Autographs of all Apollo crews
  
• Autographs of astronauts selected in the 1950s-60s (last names A-E): About half of them are still available, including nice items signed by Aldrin, Armstrong, Carpenter, Evans, etc.
  
• Autographs of astronauts selected in the 1950s-60s (last names G-S): About half of them are still available, including nice items of Grissom
  (unpersonalized), Irwin (unpersonalized, handwritten inscription), Mattingly,
  Swigert, etc.
  
• Vintage Mercury capsule contractor's model: Made by the Topping model company for McDonnell so they could show the spacecraft they were designing and building.