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Author
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Topic: 371544368242: Alan Shepard-signed cover
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Panther494
Member Posts: 402
From: London UK
Registered: Jan 2013
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posted 02-08-2016 07:33 PM
   
I'm not an expert but I've never seen Alan Shepard's signature look like this example on eBay 371544368242. Has a Zarelli certificate as well. Thoughts please. |
JasonB
Member Posts: 1091
From:
Registered: Sep 2003
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posted 02-08-2016 08:30 PM
Looks like a book tour signature. He got real sloppy on a lot of those.That being said, of all the things they could have gotten signed-they got THAT. Ugh. I will never understand the allure of signed postal covers. |
capoetc
Member Posts: 2169
From: McKinney TX (USA)
Registered: Aug 2005
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posted 02-08-2016 08:52 PM
Signature looks fine, and I concur that it was likely done around the time of the Moon Shot book tour. As I recall, he was only signing books but sometimes when folks presented something else to sign too he would sign presumably because it would be faster than explaining why he didn't want to.I like that it is a Mercury cover, so it is not an "incomplete" cover as it would be if it was an Apollo 14 cover, but I don't like that it is a modern signature on a nice vintage cover -- it loses some allure because of that. Covers really seem to have fallen out of vogue of late, but I still like them. |
stsmithva
Member Posts: 1933
From: Fairfax, VA, USA
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 02-08-2016 09:29 PM
Signed postal covers are great. They are a direct connection to the time and place of an historic event. |
mach3valkyrie
Member Posts: 719
From: Albany, Oregon
Registered: Jul 2006
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posted 02-08-2016 09:55 PM
I agree with the above posts that the signature is good, although rushed.I like the signed cover. Clean with a good stamp as well. |
SpaceyInMN
Member Posts: 355
From: Andover, MN
Registered: Dec 2013
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posted 02-09-2016 12:18 AM
While I'm not a huge fan of signed postal covers myself, I will admit that I own a few and can understand their appeal, particularly if they are stamped on a historic date and have a period signature. Just offering an alternate opinion to JasonB. Signed, JasonA.  (All in good fun, I hope you understand.) |
albatron
Member Posts: 2732
From: Stuart, Florida
Registered: Jun 2000
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posted 02-09-2016 08:29 AM
If it's got a Zarelli certificate there's no doubt of the provenance.As for covers, each has their own collectibility and people who dislike/like. For convenience sake, I'm downsizing signed crew photos (except in certain instances) to covers for storage-ability, plus as indicated it's got a date for the event which to me, adds appeal. Crew pics usually go for more, but cannot be dated (and yes, the signature cannot either, except for purists familiar with style). And let's remember, collectible value is cyclical. Today CPs are more, tomorrow covers will be... I recall when the versa was true. Shepard on this cover is a good one to have historically. |
Panther494
Member Posts: 402
From: London UK
Registered: Jan 2013
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posted 02-09-2016 08:50 AM
Thanks for the responses. I totally agree regarding the Zarelli authentication. I'd never seen such a different looking Shepard signature I thought perhaps the certificate had been forged as well. |
mjanovec
Member Posts: 3811
From: Midwest, USA
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted 02-09-2016 11:48 AM
quote:
Originally posted by JasonB:
That being said, of all the things they could have gotten signed-they got THAT. Ugh. I will never understand the allure of signed postal covers.
In my opinion, that is one of the best covers to have Shepard's signature on. It's a Space Craft cover... arguably one of the most collectible series of spaceflight covers from the 1960s (not counting insurance covers and flown covers, which are in a different league). Unsigned examples of this cover can still fetch a good amount of money, in a day when most covers hold little monetary value.While the cachet doesn't quite have the beauty of some of the later covers in the Space Craft series, it is simple and tastefully done... with very little clutter. Plus it was cancelled at the post office closest to where the launch took place, on the day the launch occurred. These are all traits that should earn it a little more than a dismissive "Ugh." |
Bob M
Member Posts: 1745
From: Atlanta-area, GA USA
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 02-09-2016 01:30 PM
This is a similar SpaceCraft/Swanson MR-3 cover, but with the scarcer "Boy, What a Ride", added and was well-signed by Shepard some years before the one on eBay, which is a typical Shepard "hurried" book signing "ugh" example. Many of us prefer signed postal covers, which Mark explained as them typically being at the location and at the time of significant space events. But many other collectors prefer to have their autographs on slick glossy photos that were mass-produced many years after the event they picture.  |
SpaceyInMN
Member Posts: 355
From: Andover, MN
Registered: Dec 2013
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posted 02-09-2016 06:13 PM
In a similar vein, I've shifted my autograph collecting primarily to signed index cards. They're cheaper for collectors on a budget, they're versatile, and frankly, when framed with a photo, they stand out on their own instead of being lost in the photo. Plus, if I get tired of looking at a particular photo, I can quickly swap it out. I get the appeal of signed covers, like I said previously, but for my current collecting habits, I like a nice, clean signed index card. |
James Brown
Member Posts: 1287
From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Registered: Jun 2000
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posted 02-10-2016 09:24 AM
Good as gold. |
yeknom-ecaps
Member Posts: 660
From: Northville MI USA
Registered: Aug 2005
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posted 02-11-2016 11:16 AM
Here is my example of an Alan Shepard autograph on a Space Craft Cover of his Project Mercury flight. It was signed in person while he came to a location near me for his book signing. Unfortunately for me, the person in line ahead of me handed Alan an item to sign and just as he was about to sign the person stopped him and asked if Alan would sign with a pen he brought, Alan grudgingly took the pen and went to sign - and no ink comes out as he attempts to sign - finally after grinding the pen into the item in circles the ink begins to flow and signs the item. Still disgruntled Alan signed like this on my cover. Not a "great" Alan Shepard signature but it is real with a good story behind it.  Wonder if Steve Z. would give me a certificate for it? |
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