Gold Robbins Medallion that Circumnavigated the Moon Leads Heritage's Space Exploration AuctionRelics from Soviet space program and "Little Boy" atomic bomb training model also among Dec. 11-12 event highlights
One of only five known Gold Robbins Medallions produced for the crew aboard the Apollo 13 mission will launch in to a new collection when it is sold in Heritage's Dec. 11-12 Space Exploration Signature Auction.
The Apollo 13 Flown Gold Robbins Medallion Originally from the Personal Collection of Mission Lunar Module Pilot Fred Haise, with LOA, is one of just five restruck for crewmembers on the mission — a trio that also included James A. Lovell, Jr., and John L. Swigert, Jr. Because of a last-minute change to the crew and technical issues that prevented the mission from reaching the moon, the original medals were melted down.
"The Apollo 13 mission was the seventh crewed Apollo mission, and it was supposed to be the third lunar landing," says Brad Palmer, Heritage's Space Exploration Director. "But two days in to the mission, an oxygen tank exploded, forcing a change in plans. Supported by backup systems on the Apollo Lunar Modeule, the mission looped around the moon and returned safely to Earth. Upon their return, all of the medals that originally were struck for the crew were melted down. Five new medals — including the one offered here — were struck from the metal flown on the original aborted mission."
The medal is accompanied by a signed COA from Haise that states: "This gold Robbins Medallion was one of five that were carried around the Moon on the April 11-17, 1970 flight of Apollo 13. I gave the two that I had to my mother and wife. Jim Lovell had two and Jack one for his mother as he was not married."
The auction includes items from an Important Collection of Soviet-Era Space History, a 43-lot trove of space records, correspondence, photographs and even a pair of Vostok 2 Flown Food Tubes Originally from the Collection of Cosmonaut Gherman Titov.
Included among the collection is a Vostok 1: Records File on the First Space Flight by the USSR Citizen Yuri Alexeyevitch Gagarin, Made on April 12, 1961, on Spaceship-Sputnik "Vostok," Signed by Yuri Gagarin — the official dossier that was issued by the Central Aero Club of the U.S.S.R., the certifying authority responsible for Soviet aviation and spaceflight records. It serves as the official documentary record of the flight of Vostok 1, the world's first human spaceflight, in 1961. It is the earliest and most authoritative Soviet publication verifying the world's first human spaceflight, prepared immediately after Vostok 1's successful completion. It was produced in very limited numbers for internal recordkeeping, international certification (such as for the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale) and presentation to senior officials. Virtually all known examples reside in institutional or Russian state archives, and copies in private hands, particularly those retaining the original binding and complete suite of technical pages, are exceedingly rare.
From the same collection comes an Apollo-Soyuz Test Project: Flown "Space Magna Carta" Certificate Signed in Space by Both Crews [and] Three Fédération Aéronautique Internationale World Record Diplomas for the Flight, an impressive ensemble commemorating one of the most consequential milestones in the history of spaceflight: the first joint mission between the United States and the Soviet Union. At its centerpiece is the legendary "Space Magna Carta," a 12-by-9-inch certificate bearing an image of the docked ships and the official "APOLLO - СОЮЗ" mission insignia, with Russian text on the left and English at right, signed by the two crews: "Thomas P. Stafford," "D. K. Slayton" and "Vance D. Brand" (the Apollo crew); and Alexei Leonov and Valerie Kubasov (the Soyuz crew). This document marks the beginning of cooperation in space between the U.S. and Soviet/Russian programs, a significant watershed for the end of the Cold War "Space Race." It is an extraordinary, museum-quality assemblage linking two rival superpowers in the shared pursuit of space exploration.
One of the most physically and historically impactful items in the auction is an exceedingly rare "Little Boy" Atomic Bomb Training Model (509th Composite Group), 1945 — a training device representing the first nuclear weapon used in warfare, dropped Aug. 6, 1945, from the Enola Gay of the 509th Composite Group over Hiroshima. This is a ground training model, produced for the U.S. Army Air Forces to train flight and ordnance crews in preparation for handling, release and loading procedures for the Little Boy unit and related delivery systems. This is a non-functional but dimensionally accurate mock-up for use with aircraft such as the B-29 Superfortress. Restoration was performed to meet museum-grade standards, and is finished in its historically correct black-and-white color scheme, with the release identifier "No. 7" corresponding to a verified training serial. The Little Boy bomb represented the culmination of the Manhattan Project's scientific and industrial effort. It measures approximately 10 feet long and 42 inches tall seated on a custom base.
The auction includes 23 lots featuring Alan Bean, the fourth man to walk on the moon and one of NASA's most respected figures, who followed his career as a naval aviator and NASA astronaut by becoming an accomplished painter.
Among the Bean lots in the auction is a Space Shuttle Missions STS-1 through STS-135: The Alan Bean Collection, Set of 134 Silver Robbins Medallions, each of which is professionally graded and encapsulated by NGC. Part of what makes the set so incredible is the fact that all but two of the 134 medallions were Bean's. The set, all of which is unflown, is as impressive in historical significance as it is in sheer size, representing all but one Space Shuttle mission from STS-1 (April 12, 1981) through STS-135 (July 8, 2011). The remaining two acquired include STS-1 from the collection of Shannon Lucid, and STS-88. Each medallion, struck in sterling silver by the Robbins Company of Attleboro, Massachusetts, features detailed mission insignia, crew names and flight dates.
Also offered is an Alan Bean Original 2000 Painting "Lone Star" Textured Acrylic with Moondust and Flown Kapton Foil on Aircraft Plywood, a 33-by-22-inch painting, signed in the lower right corner, of Bean on the lunar surface as he tosses his silver astronaut pin, which he had received in November 1969 when he, Pete Conrad and Dick Gordon boarded Apollo 12 for its flight to the moon, at the Surveyor lander. On the verso is the above story, information on the care of this painting and an explanation of his techniques and materials, including his use of Apollo 12-flown materials mixed in with the texturizing compound.
Collectors of items relating to the first moonwalker will find plenty of lots to consider in this auction. Among them is a Neil Armstrong NASA Flite Wear Flight Suit with Embroidered NASA "Meatball" Patch and Leather Name Tag, Directly from the Estate of Albert H. Crews. This standard blue NASA flight suit features an embroidered NASA "meatball" patch on the left chest, and a black leather name tag embossed in gold stating: "NEIL ARMSTRONG NASA MSC" on the right chest. In 1962, when Armstrong left the X-20 Dyna-Soar program to join NASA, Crews, a former Air Force and NASA test pilot, was selected as his replacement. This suit's presence in Crews' personal effects suggests it may have been retained as a reference, exchange item, or example of issued NASA pilot gear of the era, perhaps kept in recognition of their intertwined professional paths.
posted 11-21-2025 11:48 AM
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