Apollo 11 Flown Crew-Signed "Type Three" Quarantine Cover, Hand-numbered "EEA-30", Certified and Signed on Both Front and Vers...

Description

Ex. Buzz Aldrin

Apollo 11 Flown Crew-Signed "Type Three" Quarantine Cover, Hand-numbered "EEA-30", Certified and Signed on Both Front and Verso and Originally from the Personal Collection of Mission LMP Buzz Aldrin, with 1980-dated Signed Personal Letter of Provenance and Authenticity from Space Expert Michael Orenstein. A philatelic cover with a color mission insignia cachet signed in bold blue felt tip: "Neil Armstrong", "Michael Collins", and "Buzz Aldrin" to the right of the cachet. Aldrin has written at upper left: "Carried to the Moon on Apollo 11" and numbered it "EEA-30". On the back, He has written in black ink: "This cover was carried to the moon on board Apollo 11 in one of my personal preference kits," and signed with a rare full signature "Edwin E. Aldrin Jr."

This cover flew to the moon on one of mankind's greatest adventures, the first manned lunar landing mission. Affixed to the cover is a 6¢ Flag stamp (Scott #1338) with an August 11, 1969, cancellation at Webster, Texas. Stamped beneath the cancellation is the text: "Delayed In Quarantine At/ Lunar Receiving Laboratory/ M.S.C. - Houston, Texas". Apollo 11 splashed down on earth on July 24 at which point, the equipment, and astronauts from the spacecraft were quarantined. As soon as this cover was released, it was taken to the nearest post office for cancellation. This is only the second type three cover Heritage has offered, the other being an Armstrong example in 2018. The post office cancelation is a bit smeared but the extreme rarity far outweighs any minor flaws. Overall excellent.

Covers postmarked during quarantine at the Lunar Receiving Laboratory are the apex of Apollo postal history. Type Three examples flown on Apollo 11 and signed by all three crew, with an Aldrin flight inscription, sit at the top of that hierarchy. The internal "EEA-30" notation, the well-known Webster, TX quarantine cancelation, and the 1980 Orenstein guarantee letter combine to form strong period provenance. From the Family Collection of Jacques Bracke

More Information: The 8vo typed LOA from Orenstein reads as follows (as written):

Superior Stamp & Coin Co., Inc. [letterhead]
9301 Wilshire Boulevard • Beverly Hills, California 90210 • (213) 272-0851 / 278-9740

4 June 1980

Dear Mr Bracke:

Your letter of the 23rd has been received and today your transfer of US$21,600 has been acknowledged by our bank. Under seperate cover (per your instructions) I am shipping the cover to you. Pleasr consider that this letter is your guarantee that cover EEA-30 carried by astronaut Edwin Aldrin to the moon aboard Apollo 11 is genuine in all respects. Should at any time the cover be proven to be less than genuine, we will refund your money in full.

About the owner of the covers, I can only tell you that it is a member of the Aldrin family. The owner has asked that I be no more specific than that. The difference in the EEA/A coding on the covers is easy. EEA are Col. Aldin's initials. He started to mark all of the covers this way but then got tired. The "A" etc are the initials of his children and were easier for him to write. The EEA covers are therefore of earlier(?) standing.

Col Aldrin has asked that I not provide you with a copy of the documentation of authenticity of this cover as the documentation consists of the legal papers transferring ownership of this cover to a member of his family. He feels that these are personal papers and, as long as I am satisfied that the cover is genuine, that this should be sufficient.

[Signed]
I. Michael Orenstein