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Author
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Topic: Decoding a mystery symbol on flown currency
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Joel Katzowitz
Member Posts: 808
From: Marietta GA USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 03-19-2011 04:02 PM
   
I've got a mystery I've been trying to solve for quite a while now. Maybe harnessing some of this group's collective brainpower will bring some results.I have a one dollar bill that was carried by Wally Schirra on his MA-8 mission. On the reverse side there is a symbol drawn inside the confines of the pyramid. I know Schirra was a 33rd degree Mason and the pyramid is considered by some to be a Masonic entity. The symbol looks like the initials PW drawn in an abstracted style. I suspect it's Masonic in nature. Several weeks ago I got in touch with another cS'er who has a one dollar bill carried by Gordon Cooper on his MA-9 mission. And yes, it has the same symbol drawn in the same location. I've googled, searched, begged, and pleaded for some insight but keep coming up dry. If anyone wants to take a look and offer a theory just send me an email and I'll send you some scans. Thanks in advance. |
David Bryant
Member Posts: 986
From: Norfolk UK
Registered: Feb 2005
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posted 03-25-2011 01:25 AM
Might the symbol be a stylised 'om' (look it up in Google images) which is not only used by Hippies and Hindus, but Freemasons too! |
Joel Katzowitz
Member Posts: 808
From: Marietta GA USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 03-26-2011 08:58 AM
Thanks for the reply David. I Googled the "OM" image but it's not even close to what's been inscribed on the bills.I'm still open for any and all suggestions. |
Rob Joyner
Member Posts: 1308
From: GA, USA
Registered: Jan 2004
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posted 03-27-2011 12:17 AM
Joel, until I read that Cooper's bill also had the same symbol I thought Schirra's may possibly be an "abstracted" variation of 'Sigma 7' from his Mercury flight, because the Greek letter Sigma looks like a pointed sideways 'W'. Schirra signed a Mercury mission book page for me once and included the joined E7 symbol, which I suppose could look a bit strange if you didn't know what it was, and even more so if signed not necessarily upright on a dollar bill. But because the same is on Cooper's bill throws that idea out the window. Let us know if you find out what it is! Good luck! |
garymilgrom
Member Posts: 1966
From: Atlanta, GA
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 03-27-2011 11:28 AM
Here are some images of the symbol Joel is looking to decode:  
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Joel Katzowitz
Member Posts: 808
From: Marietta GA USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 03-27-2011 12:23 PM
Thanks for posting those images for me Gary, what's that going to cost me? |
David Carey
Member Posts: 782
From:
Registered: Mar 2009
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posted 03-27-2011 01:25 PM
OK, here's a flyer. A pass word seems to sometimes be intertwined with Freemasonry and access to various rituals/rites/venues. So might your PW be some form of reference to a Masonic Pass Word? |
SkyMan1958
Member Posts: 867
From: CA.
Registered: Jan 2011
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posted 03-27-2011 05:06 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Joel Katzowitz:
Thanks for posting those images for me Gary, what's that going to cost me?
Is the first bill yours, Joel? Maybe I oughta' charge Gary for using mine without asking me.  ... unless of course there is more than one...
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dsenechal
Member Posts: 539
From:
Registered: Dec 2002
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posted 03-27-2011 06:21 PM
Do you know who was the original owner? Perhaps they are his/her initials: PW or RW. |
Rizz
Member Posts: 1208
From: Upcountry, Maui, Hawaii
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 03-27-2011 06:32 PM
...or WP/WR |
Joel Katzowitz
Member Posts: 808
From: Marietta GA USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 03-27-2011 07:00 PM
My MA-8 dollar bill was gifted directly from Wally Schirra to Bill Dana. Bill's birthday is October 5 and Schirra flew it on October 3. I won the dollar from the auction that Bill Dana placed it in. Afterward, I asked Bill about the marking and he said he'd never seen it before and assured me that no body on his staff had anything to do with it. When I received the bill it was still in it's original frame. |
SkyMan1958
Member Posts: 867
From: CA.
Registered: Jan 2011
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posted 03-27-2011 11:12 PM
To the best of my knowledge, Cooper's bill went directly from his family to the auction house. |
David Carey
Member Posts: 782
From:
Registered: Mar 2009
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posted 03-28-2011 12:05 AM
Flyer #2: Hadn't thought about RW ... "Right Worshipful", a distinctly Masonic term I believe. |
stsmithva
Member Posts: 1933
From: Fairfax, VA, USA
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 03-28-2011 05:41 AM
quote:
Originally posted by David Carey:
Flyer #2: Hadn't thought about RW ... "Right Worshipful", a distinctly Masonic term I believe.
I think you're on to something there. From various sources: The senior officer of a Masonic Lodge is the Master, normally addressed and referred to as the "Worshipful Master" (in Scotland, and in Lodges under the SCOTTISH Constitution, the "Right Worshipful Master") Gordon Cooper was a Master Mason (member of Carbondale Lodge 82 in Carbondale, Colorado) and was given the honorary 33rd Degree by the SCOTTISH Rite Masonic body. Schirra was also I believe "Scottish." I just can't find any appearance of that symbol even using those two words in searching. |
Joel Katzowitz
Member Posts: 808
From: Marietta GA USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 03-28-2011 12:28 PM
Wow, that makes sense as far the symbol itself is constructed. As shown, the "P" certainly could read as an "R".Thanks for the flyer David! Any other thoughts?
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SkyMan1958
Member Posts: 867
From: CA.
Registered: Jan 2011
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posted 03-28-2011 04:21 PM
quote:
Originally posted by David Carey:
Flyer #2: Hadn't thought about RW ... "Right Worshipful", a distinctly Masonic term I believe.
Interesting! |
David Carey
Member Posts: 782
From:
Registered: Mar 2009
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posted 03-30-2011 07:58 PM
This book might offer another piece of supporting data. See about the fifth or so entry down suggesting concatenated RW for 'right worshipful'. Perhaps the interlock is a further stylized version and perhaps unique to this group of Astro-Masons? |
David Bryant
Member Posts: 986
From: Norfolk UK
Registered: Feb 2005
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posted 03-31-2011 03:02 AM
I still think there's some mileage in this symbol.I had a dear friend (sadly now departed) who was a 33rd Arch Scottish Rite Mason and he had this 'AUM' all over the place! It would only take a teeny tweak... |
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