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Author
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Topic: Highest price paid for a US space cover?
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Bob M
Member Posts: 2045
From: Atlanta-area, GA USA
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 05-26-2025 02:24 PM
   
So, what US space cover has sold for the most in an auction? The possibilities would include only non-autographed and unflown covers — just a cover with a stamp, cancel and cachet.Also, what autographed space cover may have sold for the most, excluding Apollo insurance covers and flown covers? Has anyone seen an Apollo 1 crew signed cover in an auction - or ever? Also a cover autographed by all 12 moonwalkers would be a good possibility, but this collector has never seen or heard of one, let alone sold, although some may exist. With no qualifications, possibly Apollo 11 lunar flown covers from the Armstrong estate would be the covers that have sold for the most. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 54678
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 05-26-2025 08:17 PM
As a starting point (and also to your last point, Bob), a quick search returns a flown Apollo 11 cover from Neil Armstrong's collection as having brought in the most money for Heritage at $156,250 in 2018. Other high cover sales at the Dallas firm: - $93,750.00 in 2019: Another Apollo 11 flown cover, ex Armstrong
- $87,500.00 in 2018: A third Apollo 11 flown cover, ex Armstrong
- $81,250.00 in 2019: A fourth Apollo 11 flown cover, ex Armstrong
- $50,787.50 in 2013: An Apollo 11 flown cover, ex Buzz Aldrin
- $46,875.00 in 2013: An Apollo 11 flown cover, ex Michael Collins
The most paid at Heritage (again based on a quick search) for a non-flown space cover is an Apollo 11 crew-signed "First Man On The Moon" First Day Cover from the Armstrong Family Collection, which sold for $45,000 in 2019 (lot 50089).At RR Auction, the top sales, again based on a quick search, are: - $91,506 in 2024: An Apollo 11 crew-signed flown cover, ex Aldrin
- $76,772 in 2015: An Apollo 16 Charlie Duke-signed flown cover
- $66,435 in 2024: A second Apollo 11 crew-signed flown cover, ex Aldrin
- $59,215 in 2016: An Apollo 11 crew-signed flown cover, ex Collins
- $45,353 in 2015: An Apollo 14 Ed Mitchell-signed flown cover
- $42,321 in 2016: A second Apollo 11 crew-signed flown cover, ex Collins
- $37,060 in 2016: An Apollo 13 James Lovell-signed flown cover
- $30,819 in 2020: A third Apollo 11 crew-signed flown cover, ex Aldrin
- $29,478 in 2024: A third Apollo 11 crew-signed flown cover, ex Collins
- $25,863 in 2017: An Apollo 12 crew-signed flown cover
- $24,959 in 2015: An Apollo 15 Orville Wright-signed flown cover
- $24,663 in 2015: An Apollo 15 crew-signed flown Sieger cover
- $25,000 in 2025: A second Apollo 14 Mitchell-signed flown cover
- $22,246 in 2015: A second Apollo 12 crew-signed flown cover
The most paid for an unflown space cover at RR Auction (based on a quick search) was $20,825 for an Apollo 11 "Type 3" insurance cover in 2014.Others can do the same for Sotheby's, Bonhams and Christie's, if not other auction houses. |
Axman
Member Posts: 769
From: Derbyshire UK
Registered: Mar 2023
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posted 05-27-2025 06:49 AM
I note that all of Robert's prices are for covers either signed or flown. As for the first category that Bob posed the question about, i.e. unsigned, unflown US space covers, I don't know the answer, although I have a few observations to make.Firstly, I think it would be necessary to refine the "US space cover" definition, as it is not as obvious as would appear at a glance. Quite clearly foreign (e.g. Russian) launch covers would be excluded. But what about failed US launches such as the Agena target for Gemini 9? Or how about sub-orbital space covers? Or just atmospheric rocket covers? or just mission type covers such as Recovery Ship covers, are they included? If we include all of the above, then I would be confident that the answer, when found, would almost certainly lie within a very limited scope of covers outlined below: - White Sands V2 launches;
- early monkey launches such as Albert, Scatback, or Able and Baker; or
- very early Primary Recovery Ship covers such as USS Lake Champlain (MR-3), USS Randolph (MR-4), USS Decatur (MA-4), USS Stormes (MA-5), or USS Noa (MA-6); or
- single event firsts, such as the USS Barbero missile mail, or a 1926 Auburn Massachusetts cover.
My, personal, highest priced US space cover at auction is the $1,200 I paid for a USS Lake Champlain PRS cover. Any advances folks?I would bet money that few, if any, non-signed, non-flown US space covers are much higher than $2,000. But then again, it only takes two of us stubborn idiots... |
Eddie Bizub
Member Posts: 167
From: Kissimmee, FL USA
Registered: Aug 2010
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posted 05-27-2025 07:50 AM
Last September, there was a Surveyor-6 Space Craft Cover that sold on eBay for $1680! It had an unlisted Kennedy Space Center cancel and predated the first known use of the KSC cancel on a Space Craft cover by 3 months. Other than the KSC cancel there was absolutely nothing else special about the cover. I had found a similar cover a few years ago and paid a much less $27.50. I was shocked with that $1680 price. No reason at all why it should have sold for that high a price. Even with two collectors fighting for that cover its way too much for a simple Surveyor-6 launch cover. |
randyc
Member Posts: 933
From: Denver, CO USA
Registered: May 2003
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posted 05-27-2025 06:04 PM
A MR-3 USS Lake Champlain Prime Recovery Ship cover cancelled on May 5, 1961 on a ship's envelope for the recovery of Alan Shepard sold for $3270 at an RR Auction on October 20, 2016. |
Ken Havekotte
Member Posts: 3976
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 05-28-2025 03:16 PM
Another high-priced unflown cover that sold at RR Auction in 2016 was a MR-4/Grissom-signed Prime Recovery Ship cover at $16,541.So it looks like the highest known flown space cover would be an Apollo 11 crew insurance cover that had been sold by Heritage Auctions representing the Armstrong family estate at a whopping $156,250 in 2018!!! Since Axman (Alan) did mention in the category of flown covers might be those that were placed aboard V-2 rockets at White Sands, New Mexico, please note: I believe that only four (4) flown V-2 covers are known, however, of those four only two have actually survived. In April 1947 two covers flew aboard V-2 Flight #22 and survived. The prior two covers from V-2 Flight #12 in October 1946 were completely destroyed on its crash landing desert impact. As to a estimated value on the surviving V-2 covers, are there any suggestions since the German/US V-2 rockets that flew from American soil were indeed true pathfinders as the "Grandfather" of America's entrance into orbital spaceflight and with the Apollo/Saturn rocket family that got the United States on the moon? On the road to space the V-2 was the first to usher in space travel, which I believe, deserves a special place in rocket and space history. In a recent find, though, there are two (2) more covers that had been flown to the edge of space 79 miles high on V-2 #48 in Feb. 1949 at the old White Sands Missile Range. Both survived and contained, for the first time ever, same day clear postal markings of the actual flight day itself. The two covers now have substantial supporting documentation by the US Army and the US Postal Museum. |
randyc
Member Posts: 933
From: Denver, CO USA
Registered: May 2003
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posted 05-28-2025 04:27 PM
I doubt that there is a crew-signed unflown, non-insurance cover that can beat the sales price of the Apollo 11 crew-signed cover that came from the Armstrong estate and sold for $45,000 in the July 16, 2019 Heritage auction. I would guess that the fact it came from the Armstrong family with the auction occurring on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch had an impact on the price. For example a crew-signed First Man on the Moon stamp FDC with an ArtCraft cachet sold for $11,875 in a Heritage auction on May 11, 2018, and there are other examples of similar FDCs selling for less.Another example of a unflown, crew-signed, non-insurance cover with a high selling price was an Apollo 13 cover signed by Lovell, Haise, Mattingly and Swigert with a Manned Spacecraft Center Stamp Club cachet that sold for $18,750 in a Heritage auction on June 14, 2024. An Apollo 13 'Type 2' insurance cover signed by Lovell, Haise, Mattingly and Swigert sold for $30,000 in a Heritage auction on November 12, 2012. But what I believe is the highest price paid for a space cover is the Apollo 11 crew-signed flown cover that came from the Armstrong estate with Neil Armstrong's certification that sold for $156,250 in a Heritage auction on November 1, 2018. |
Axman
Member Posts: 769
From: Derbyshire UK
Registered: Mar 2023
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posted 05-29-2025 08:36 AM
Just to clarify, I was referring only to Bob's first question regarding, unflown and unsigned covers, or as Bob phrased it "just a cover with a stamp, cancel and cachet". |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 54678
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 05-29-2025 09:48 AM
I have a vague memory of a sale of a test cancel on Earth prior to the postmark device flying on Apollo 15. If it was on an envelope (it may have been just a scrap of a paper) then would it count as a cover if it did not include a stamp?I'll try to find the reference to it and share it here. |
Axman
Member Posts: 769
From: Derbyshire UK
Registered: Mar 2023
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posted 05-29-2025 11:16 AM
It would need to be on an envelope (or post card/ letter card/ or entire) with a postage stamp, and the test cancel tied onto the stamp to be a "cover".Otherwise it would be just a cachet, Proof sheet, vignette, or postmark on piece (depending on various factors)... |
onesmallstep
Member Posts: 1515
From: Staten Island, New York USA
Registered: Nov 2007
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posted 05-29-2025 11:45 AM
Although not strictly a 'space cover,' a piece of paper, called a 'moon letter' by the US Postal Service, was postmarked during the Apollo 11 mission. It bore a test printing of the upcoming 10-cent airmail stamp honoring the flight, and was cancelled with a 'Moon Landing USA July 20 1969' postmark. A USPS 'postal kit' carried along aboard CM Columbia contained the cancellation device and provision to change the dates on the cancel, if the actual landing date was changed due to delays. But the plan to cancel the 'moon letter' on the actual lunar touchdown date was not met, either on the moon's surface or on board Columbia; instead it was done on July 22. No attempt was made to change the date on the cancellation device. The master die to be used in the actual printing of the 10-cent stamp, eventually issued Sept. 9, was carried to the lunar surface and returned to earth. So it can be said that the Apollo 11 crew were technically the first 'postmasters in space,' preceding Dave Scott on the moon and Soviet Cosmonauts on board Salyut/Mir space stations. |
Axman
Member Posts: 769
From: Derbyshire UK
Registered: Mar 2023
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posted 05-30-2025 11:07 AM
Again, unlike Robert's Apollo 15 test 'piece' (of which I am yet to be convinced was a 'cover'), the Apollo 11 item was "flown", and therefore still doesn't answer Bob's original question.As far as that question goes, it looks like a Lake Champlain PRS cover is leading at $3,270. If it wasn't signed. Otherwise the ordinary Surveyor-6 at $1,680 is the highest. |
randyc
Member Posts: 933
From: Denver, CO USA
Registered: May 2003
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posted 05-30-2025 11:24 AM
The MR-3 Lake Champlain cover was not signed. |
Axman
Member Posts: 769
From: Derbyshire UK
Registered: Mar 2023
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posted 05-30-2025 11:43 AM
The highest so far by a significant margin 🙂 |
Ken Havekotte
Member Posts: 3976
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 05-30-2025 11:48 AM
For unflown covers, I thought one of the Armstrong crew signed insurance covers went for nearly $21K (RR), correct? And don't forget about the signed MR-4/Grissom Prime Recovery Ship cover a few years back at $16.5K. |
randyc
Member Posts: 933
From: Denver, CO USA
Registered: May 2003
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posted 05-30-2025 12:13 PM
So far here's a summary: - Highest price space cover: $156,250 (Apollo 11 flown and crew-signed)
- Highest price signed cover (unflown): $45,000 (Apollo 11 crew-signed "First Man on the Moon" stamp FDC)
- Highest price cover (unflown and unsigned): $3,270 (MR-3 USS Lake Champlain)
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Ken Havekotte
Member Posts: 3976
From: Merritt Island, Florida, Brevard
Registered: Mar 2001
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posted 05-30-2025 01:40 PM
Any ideas or suggestions in general for a flown V-2 cover, signed and not signed, from White Sands Missile Range with a solid flown in space documentation? |
micropooz
Member Posts: 1853
From: Washington, DC, USA
Registered: Apr 2003
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posted 05-30-2025 03:48 PM
I can't answer Ken's question on V2 flown covers, but I can provide some info on a (very) early rocketplane flown cover.The cover that Chuck Yeager flew on his December 12, 1953, flight in the X-1A to Mach 2.44 is Ellington-Zwisler #73. And I'd consider it the "Holy Grail" (with apologies to Monty Python) of rocketplane flown covers. One came up several years ago on (I think) Heritage. I scraped together every bit of my hobby budget and other un-budgeted scraps of household money that my wife would let me have, for a bid of $3700. I got left in the dust with that cover going somewhere North of $6000. I wish I'd saved the specific numbers and auction house, but I didn't. So, there is that (somewhat squishy) data point, for what it's worth. |
randyc
Member Posts: 933
From: Denver, CO USA
Registered: May 2003
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posted 05-30-2025 03:59 PM
The cover flown by Yeager in the X-1A on December 12, 1953 sold for $6,359 in a RR auction on October 18, 2018. |
Bob M
Member Posts: 2045
From: Atlanta-area, GA USA
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 05-30-2025 03:59 PM
It's no surprise that the Apollo 11 flown covers from the Armstrong estate have sold for huge amounts and qualify as the most any space cover has sold for - but I suspect many are being bought by investors to add to their portfolios and who aren't actually space cover collectors. Of course, that doesn't matter. Armstrong Apollo 11 flown covers are just in a category all by themselves.And also it's not surprising that Armstrong Apollo 11 insurance covers are the top sellers in the autographed covers category. These aren't surprising and are even predictable, but personally I'm more interested in the "routine" space cover (stamp, cancel and cachet) and what an unflown, unautographed, non-insurance cover may have sold for. I've predicted that some MR-4 Randolph PRS cover may hold that record. At this time, $3,270 for an MR-3 Lake Champlain cover seems paltry in such high society company. As far as a flown V-2 cover is concerned, as Ken has mentioned, we can't say what it might sell for until one is sold. And even being super rare - even unique - wouldn't necessarily mean it would out sell any of the fair number of Armstrong Flown covers. Would I rather have an Armstrong Apollo 11 flown to the moon cover or a one-of-a-kind V-2 flown cover? That would be very easy for me to decide and for many others! Desirability usually beats rarity. |
micropooz
Member Posts: 1853
From: Washington, DC, USA
Registered: Apr 2003
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posted 05-30-2025 04:15 PM
Thanks for un-squishing my datapoint, Randy!  |
randyc
Member Posts: 933
From: Denver, CO USA
Registered: May 2003
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posted 05-30-2025 04:22 PM
What's interesting, Bob, is that a First Man on the Moon stamp FDC sold for more than any Apollo 11 Insurance cover at $45,000, and at $30,000 an Apollo 13 Type II Insurance Cover sold for more than any Apollo 11 Insurance cover, except one that sold for $35,000 at a Heritage auction on November 2, 2018. The Apollo 13 cover had the signatures of Lovell, Haise and Mattingly plus Jack Swigert.The Apollo 11 Insurance cover that sold for $35,000 was from Jan Armstrong, so there was the Armstrong connection. |
cosmos-walter
Member Posts: 866
From: Salzburg, Austria
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted 06-06-2025 04:34 PM
Michael Collins postmarked the Apollo 11 Moon Letter which now is in Smithsonian Postal Museum in Washington, DC.Before he made three trial cancellations on a page of a flight plan. Each of the three Apollo 11 astronauts got one of them. |
randyc
Member Posts: 933
From: Denver, CO USA
Registered: May 2003
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posted 06-06-2025 05:09 PM
Here's an example of one of the test cancellations from the Armstrong family that sold for $50,000 at a Heritage Auction on Nov. 1, 2018. | |
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