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Author
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Topic: Appraising and insuring a family space collection
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hooptey
New Member Posts: 1
From:
Registered: Jun 2015
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posted 06-07-2015 11:22 AM
   
My name is Justin. Like all of you, I'm a space geek. Unlike most of you, I stumbled into a situation where I ended up marrying in to a shuttle-era astronaut's family (his daughter)... As an aerospace engineer and amateur historian, I know a great deal of the things in my wife's possession (her father passed away a few years back) are valuable and need protection. Unfortunately, I don't know much about who to contact about restoration, preservation, appraisal, insurance, and ultimately auctioning items (or lending to a museum, as I would prefer).I'd like to leave a non-comprehensive list of the things I can think of off the top of my head, in my perceived scale of most to least important. Hopefully some of the experts/boffins/superhero-level nerds can point me in the right direction. Much thanks! - Large Flown Item: SpaceHab Logo - ~0.7m diameter logo flown on outside of SpaceHab module. Mostly MLI with a hand-sewn patch over it, this has flown on STS-60, 76, 79, 81, 84, 86, 89, 96, 101, and 106. Thus, it has integrated with Discovery, Endeavour, Atlantis, and visited both the ISS and Mir. Gifted as part of a SpaceHab recognition plaque at retirement.
- Flown family heirlooms: (verified on the manifests) Small gold charms gifted to his children. My wife's is a tiny Orbiter and actually is why we're now married. I struck up conversation to see where she got such a unique item.
- Flown personal items: Patches, flightsuit, jacket, etc.
- Other small flight items: Stationery, a few medallions, patches from each mission
- Non-flight group items: Astronaut Class of 1980 patch poster, signed by all members of the class. Class of 1980 group photo in front of T-38, also signed by all members.
- Non-flight single items: Signed postcards, photos, etc. NASA household promo stuff (like coffee mugs for Edwards return crews from Lilly's house of cups in Lancaster)
- Militaria-esque stuff: Medals, plaques, lapel pins, etc. presented at different levels of service, training, retirement, etc.
So, anyway- I know this stuff isn't the Neil Armstrong hidden-in-a-closet mother lode, but it's our small slice of space (and family) history, and any help is greatly appreciated. |
GACspaceguy
Member Posts: 2475
From: Guyton, GA
Registered: Jan 2006
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posted 06-07-2015 12:38 PM
Welcome to cS, I would suggest checking out this site for collectables insurance. I find that appraisals are tough for this genre. As seen in a number of auctions recently items are very flexible while “experts” do their best it is the collector’s willingness to pay that drives price. That said auction houses such as RR Auction, Heritage, Lunar Legacies and Regency Superior can help with appraisals and if desired, sales. |
Jim Behling
Member Posts: 1463
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010
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posted 06-07-2015 01:32 PM
quote:
Originally posted by hooptey:
Gifted as part of a SpaceHab recognition plaque at retirement.
If you don't mind me asking, who was her father? I used to work for Spacehab. |
Hart Sastrowardoyo
Member Posts: 3445
From: Toms River, NJ
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 06-07-2015 07:18 PM
Well, if the class of '80 is indication, it could only be one of two people, one really. |
space1
Member Posts: 853
From: Danville, Ohio
Registered: Dec 2002
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posted 06-07-2015 07:29 PM
Your comment about meeting your wife sounds like it belongs in the topic, "You might be a space geek." In this case it could be, if your pick-up line was "where did you get that nice shuttle pin?" and it actually worked! |
spaced out
Member Posts: 3110
From: Paris, France
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted 06-08-2015 01:46 AM
One thing that's very important with a collection like this is documenting the provenance.If it's not already done you should ensure that each individual item of note (anything flown really) has a letter of authenticity to accompany it that describes the item in some detail (preferably with photos) and gives its background. Ideally this should be prepared by the astronaut but few think about this kind of thing until it's too late. In this case it should be signed by the closest surviving relative. This holds true whether you intend to keep the items in the family, lend them to a museum, or eventually sell them. The letter for each item will maintain the provenance for as long as it's kept with the item. | |
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