posted 06-26-2015 01:56 AM               

However, I don't just want to toss my money away. When I see something like this Apollo 11 First Foot Prints Pin on eBay, I just shiver. It probably contains one molecule of flown metal at best. It has ZERO documentation - *I* could make these in my basement! Then there's the guy that takes one of these and scrapes a little off and sells the shavings! I hope the buyer gets the shaving that has the ONE molecule from the original!

If you look in the eBay records, he's sold thousands at $9 each! My friend says I should do the same thing and then I can buy a real artifact with great provenance!

On to my question. I've seen things sold at websites like "Flown to Surface Apollo 14 Film Section on Certificate" but the LOA is signed by the owner of the website. Is that legit? That just feels wrong that the guy selling it is also authenticating it when he doesn't even have anything to do with the space program. Are there known website owners that people would trust and accept an LOA from?

posted 06-26-2015 03:02 AM               

Many pieces of flown material come with documentation and some even come with a history of past owners (this person purchased X from X auction on X date), etc. and this is essentially what you're looking for with any flown material.

That isn't to say auctions can't get it wrong sometimes. I can't tell you the amount of times I've noticed something questionable and raised the issue on cS, only be find my suspicion was correct. Sometimes things can be mislabeled.

When it comes down to it, you're relying on two things. First, documentation or a history of purchase and acquirement. Second, the reputation of the seller. I personally collect flown materials and if those two boxes are not ticked, I won't risk spending my money. I'll wait for the next opportunity.

That said, I run thespacecollective.com and have a section for Flown in Space Memorabilia, some rather cheap, some quite expensive. It is worth looking there. I would also take a look at auctions such as RR Auction and Goldberg (which has an upcoming auction in a few days), you can sometimes snag a bargain. But I'm sure if you ask people here they will give you a list of sellers with good reputations for selling flown memorabilia.

posted 06-26-2015 04:17 AM               

I would consider myself to be a novice collector. One of my areas of interest are the older lucite displays. The Kansas Cosmosphere issued some really cool artifacts from the Liberty Bell 7 Mercury capsule, which first caught my attention. Bullet proof provenance of flown in space artifacts which I have found to be relatively affordable ($200-$600).

As I learned more about the Cosmosphere, I discovered they also issued other lucites with Apollo artifacts. Over time, using this forum as a reference guide, I discovered other legitimate lucite sources and today I feel I have more knowledge and confidence to start acquiring the more interesting and likely more expensive artifacts. It's a process which does take time and requires patience.

These are the lucites that I have collected in the past two years.

I also like models. My display case is full of space models and I display the lucites around the appropriate models. In my mind the models are there to accent the lucite artifacts.

posted 06-26-2015 06:28 AM               

Also, on occasion a flown gold star from Apollo 12 surfaces in an auction. One appeared in yesterday's auction by RR. In this case the star had been given to Gordon Cooper and it sold for around $800. Historically they have sold for less.

posted 06-26-2015 08:22 AM               

These 'melted metal' pins and medals usually only contain minute amounts of actual flown material. There are some that have a piece of flown metal embedded, such as this one that is under $100.

I have a website that documents these.

The website owner LOAs are usually good as what they most likely did was take a larger documented item and cut it up and sell the smaller pieces.

There are many flown flags, patches or decals that sell on eBay for between $100-500 that come on NASA issued certificates. If you are looking cheaper the is flown stamp that usually sells for $20-$30

posted 06-27-2015 03:32 AM               

Also thank you for helping me understand space provenance and some of the people I can trust.

I saw every single flight of Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo with my own eyes. The space program actually shaped my life because it made me decide to go into engineering. I'm retired now and I teach a microcontroller class at the local community college as a way of "giving back" to all the people that got me to where I am today.

I'm still amazed that I can own an actual artifact! I thought the only thing I could get was an autograph. When I received my Eagle Scout my mom wrote to Neil Armstrong and I received a personalized autograph. Since I now had the pinnacle, it never occurred to me to look at anything else since autographs don't really turn me on. If I'd have only known 20 years ago, I'd own one of the best collections around! I'm still kicking myself.

You guys might be interested in one project I'm working on. I'm building an Apollo Guidance Computer modeled after this.

My first version is going to use a microcontroller so that I can do proof-of-concept. Then I'm going to house it inside of this. Should make an incredible display! An actual, working AGC!