Pen & Quill, Fall 2019 issue
The Fall 2019 issue of Pen & Quill, the UACC magazine, is out and it features an article saluting the 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11... penned by yours truly. 😁
Check it out!
Authenticating a collection
I felt like I touched all the bases with this fantastic collection submission.
Mercury 7, Apollo 1, Apollo 8, Apollo 11, Challenger, multiple Armstrongs and so much more. The triumph of and tragedy of space exploration…
This is the kind of Armstrong autograph that sells on the cheap -- a bad fake.
Never say never, but the odds of winning an authentic Neil Armstrong or Apollo 11 signed item for way below market value in an auction format are exceedingly low. There are way too many collectors and dealers looking for Armstrong and Apollo 11 and trolling eBay 24/7. They are not going to miss an authentic Armstrong and let it go for way below market value.
If it is in auction format, and you got it on the cheap, chances are you didn’t outsmart everyone else. Chances are it sold on the cheap because it’s a fake.
You can get a deal on the rare occasion a seller significantly underprices an item and lists it as a Buy-It-Now. Then again… there are lots of trained eyes watching and you would have to hit it shortly after it’s listed.
If it’s a low-priced Buy-It-Now and it’s been sitting there for a while… yep… chances are it’s a fake.
In the Spring 2016 RR Auction Space Auction this Neil Armstrong signed photo sold for $38,467 with buyer's premium. This is an amazing result... and to my knowledge is, by far, the most ever paid for a single signed astronaut photograph.
Neil Armstrong signed photo that sold for over $38,000
So, why so much?
In my opinion, this is the quintessential image of the space program... the moment Armstrong stepped off the ladder onto the moon's surface. And, it is signed perfectly with an Apollo 11 inscription.
There are only a few images of Neil Armstrong on the moon, and most were not readily available when he was freely signing autographs. Any lunar surface photo of Armstrong is uncommon.
Lastly, this photo came directly from the family of the former head of NASA's photo division, so it has strong provenance. In fact, an original of this photo would likely have only been available to someone inside NASA in the late 60s and early 70s.
Here is a common reproduction signed photo of the Apollo 11 crew. The signatures are not live ink -- they are part of the photo. This was distributed in mass quantities by NASA to schools, libraries and other public institutions around the time of the mission. It exists in 8 x 10 and approximately 16 x 20 sizes.
This eBay seller is offering the reproduction signed photo for a $1,000 Buy It Now and states that he has had "a few experts check it out and verify it is authentic."
Common Apollo 11 reproduction signed photo being advertised as authentic on eBay
This seller has another print of the same item with identical signatures, and he assures potential buyers that "his uncle got the signatures at a show in Florida."
Another Apollo 11 reproduction signed photo being advertised as authentic on eBay
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