50 YEARS AGO, AMERICAN ASTRONAUTS BECAME THE FIRST HUMANS TO STEP ON THE MOON. A LOOK AT RELATED ITEMS FROM THE HERITAGE ARCHIVES.
001 SERIAL NUMBER engraved on plate attached to plaque flown aboard the Apollo 11 lunar module, from the Neil Armstrong Family Collection™. It realized $468,500 at a November 2018 Heritage auction.
3 NAVIGATION CARDS used by Neil Armstrong to maneuver the lunar module to the moon’s surface. The cards sold for $175,000 at a May 2016 Heritage auction.
8 PSALM quoted on handwritten notes and scriptures flown to the surface of the moon by Buzz Aldrin. The card realized $179,250 at a September 2007 Heritage auction.
10.95 ESTIMATED RETAIL PRICE in 1969 for Pickett slide rule used on mission by Buzz Aldrin. It sold for $77,675 at a September 2007 Heritage auction.
160TOTAL SCREENPRINTS produced by Andy Warhol for this version of Moonwalk, 1987, which shows Aldrin as photographed by Armstrong. This 25/160 print from the collection of Lois and Buzz Aldrin sold for $173,000 at a May 2015 Heritage auction.
1903YEAR the Wright brothers made the first controlled, sustained aircraft flight. A small piece of the Wright flyer’s propeller, from the Armstrong Family Collection™, was carried aboard Apollo 11’s lunar module. It realized $275,000 at a November 2018 Heritage auction.
This article appears in the Spring/Summer 2019 edition of The Intelligent Collector magazine. Click here to subscribe to the print edition.