LOT #50249 |
Current Bid: $5
V-2 Rocket Experimental Tests at White Sands Proving Grounds, New Mexico, 1947: Red and Black V-2 / Las Cruces, NM 1947 Overp...
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Description
V-2 Rocket Experimental Tests at White Sands Proving Grounds, New Mexico, 1947: Red and Black V-2 / Las Cruces, NM 1947 Overprints on First American Mail Rocket Flight Labels, Signed by Ernst Stuhlinger. An exceptional assemblage of postal history documenting the earliest U.S. experiments with captured German V-2 rockets at White Sands Proving Grounds in New Mexico. Between 1946 and 1952, more than sixty V-2s, brought to America under Operation Paperclip, were launched for upper-atmosphere research, providing invaluable data that laid the groundwork for America's space program.Featured here is a flown example of the 1935 First American Mail Rocket Flight label, overprinted in red "V-2 / Las Cruces, N.M. / 1947" and signed in blue ink: "Ernst Stuhlinger", the brilliant German physicist and engineer who became one of Wernher von Braun's closest collaborators and later a pioneering advocate for space science at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. Additional elements include complete sheets of four labels with both red and black 1947 "V-2" overprints, as well as a scarce green cachet variant, attesting to the philatelic souvenirs created around these early rocket mail experiments. Also present is a 1949 real photo postcard mailed from Texas that references growing public knowledge of the White Sands launches, with a contemporary photograph of a V-2 on its launch stand, underscoring the imposing scale of these pioneering rockets. By the late 1940s, the veil of secrecy surrounding the White Sands program was lifting, and the V-2 had become a symbol of both scientific promise and Cold War rivalry. Very fine.
This collection, with its direct ties to the dawn of American rocketry, bridges philately, aerospace history, and the legacy of Operation Paperclip. Its inclusion of flown material, complete overprint sheets, and the autograph of Ernst Stuhlinger make it a centerpiece for both space collectors and rocket mail specialists. From the collection of the legendary astrophilatelist Dr. Ben Ramkissoon. From the Family Collection of Jacques Bracke
Auction Info
2025 December 11 - 12 Space Exploration Signature® Auction #6326 (go to Auction Home page)
Proxy Bidding Ends
December
12th
Friday
9:50 am CT
Auction Dates
December
11th-12th
Thursday-Friday
Proxy Bidding Time Remaining
14 Days
12h 16m 37s
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 3
Lot Tracking Activity: 13
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Buyer's Premium per Lot:
25% of the successful bid (minimum $49) per lot.
This lot is in: 2 -
Signature® Internet Session - No Floor or Phone Bidding (Mail, Fax, Internet, and Heritage Live):
(Lots 50228-50665) - 10:00 AM Central Time, Friday, December 12, 2025.
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Additional Location Info:
Heritage Auctions
2801 W. Airport Freeway
Dallas, TX 75261
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