posted 06-15-2013 01:38 PM               

The pictures below show a well-made but clearly vintage presentation plaque from the United Federation of Postal Clerks AFL-CIO (previous postal workers union) to Neil Armstrong for his postmark of the first 'Moon Mail'.

As I understand it the postmark was supposed to happen on the lunar surface but schedule constraints dictated a hand-postmark on the trip home instead. In any case, the premise of the award is consistent with events of the day.

The back (3rd photo) has what looks to be a bogus writeup from the person who gave the plaque to the now-deceased former owner of a Maryland moving company (Chuck Lamar).

Any thoughts on whether the plaque was an original one-off to Armstrong that simply changed hands or were these made in quantity for display at post offices or some such?

Perhaps someone closer to the philatelic side of space collecting knows a bit of history about the item. I've certainly never seen one before and thanks in advance for facts or speculations.

posted 06-15-2013 01:48 PM               

1. The United Federation of Postal Clerks doesn't know "postmark" is one word?
   
2. Inconsistent/incorrect capitalization of prepositions ("Of" and "In" but not "as a" or "on the".
   
3. June 20, 1969?
   
4. Neil Armstrong was never a Colonel.
   
5. Why is the stamp image not centered on the plate?

posted 06-16-2013 10:48 AM               

While I can say the stamp plaque is centered within a mm or so (must be the photo angle) the date/rank issues in particular are just major, major errors.

On the other hand the plate etchings and postal workers medallion would be quite expensive and strange to weave into a ruse. It's a quality presentation and bizarrely specific for an outright 'fabrication'.

Who knows, maybe a Rev 0.1 of the real deal or a creation from a space/stamp enthusiast with a killer awards-making shop. The Federation of Postal Clerks went away when it merged with other postal unions in 1971 to create the present APWU so it would seem to be from the correct timeframe.

The writing on the back is absolute junk and I certainly wasn't putting any stock there.