posted 02-19-2023 09:11 AM               

Space Cover 690: Gemini 6A With A "Borrowed" Cachet

After more than 40 years of collecting space covers I am still amazed that there are covers out there that make me wonder. Case in point is this rather unambiguous Gemini-6A splashdown cover. At first glance it looks normal. It has a nicely applied Cape Canaveral hand cancel and an informative cachet. However, on further inspection I noticed that the cachet looked familiar. The cachet is in fact an edited portion of the Space Craft Covers cachet for the launch of Gemini 5.

Over the years there have been a number of instances where artwork that Carl Swanson produced for Space Craft Covers was edited and used for other events by other cover servicers. It is not known if Mr. Swanson gave permission for the use of his artwork or not. The cachet on the Gemini- 6A cover appears to be printed and it does not look like it was printed recently.

The cover is addressed to Epps in Jamaica NY. On the back of the cover there is a small notation on the lower right corner that says "Cover by Epps". I do not know who Epps is/was and do not know how Carl Swanson's Gemini-5 artwork was obtained for this cover. If anyone has any info on this particular cover please pass it along.

Below is the Gemini 5 Space Craft Covers issue for comparison.