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Lot #9450
Dave Scott's Apollo 15 Lunar Landed Flag and Lunar Orbited Metal Robbins Medallion Display

Flown American flag and 'Spanish Plate Fleet' Robbins Medal, direct from the commander of the Apollo 15 mission

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Estimate: $15000+
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Description

Flown American flag and 'Spanish Plate Fleet' Robbins Medal, direct from the commander of the Apollo 15 mission

Magnificent limited edition display featuring one of Dave Scott's lunar surface flown 2.5 x 1.75 Beta cloth American flags and an Apollo 15 Robbins Medal, No. 135, minted using flown metal-approximately 20% of the silver was recovered from the wreck of the 1715 Spanish Plate Fleet and flown on Apollo 15. The display is numbered 6/10 (this is number 6 of only 10 in existence) and archivally matted and framed to an overall size of 13.75 x 17; also framed as part of the display is a color glossy 6 x 4 photo of Scott performing an EVA, signed in silver ink, "Dave Scott, Apollo 15 CDR," and three engraved plates, with upper two plates certifying the flown status of the flag and medallion: "This flag was carried on the lunar surface for 3 days during Apollo 15, July 26-Aug 7, 1971" and "This medallion contains silver from an ingot that was carried to the moon on Apollo 15, July 26-Aug 7, 1971." In overall very fine condition.

Accompanied by a detailed letter of provenance signed by Scott, also numbered 6/10, in part: "I hereby certify that the small beta-cloth US flag…presented in this display was carried inside a beta-cloth package mounted on an internal structural bracket of an Apollo 15 Oxygen Purge System (OPS) for three days of EVA excursions during Apollo 15…Several weeks after Apollo 15, this OPS Bracket and package were shown to me by NASA senior management. According to management, a member of the JSC Crew Systems Division (CSD) had prepared the flags and secretly stowed them in the beta cloth package on a structural Support Bracket inside the OPS. This was apparently unknown to anybody else until the OPS was disassembled after the mission by some other member of the CSD and the flag package was discovered…At the management meeting, I was given the OPS Bracket and package of flags…

I hereby certify that the Apollo 15 medallion number '135' included in this display contains approximately 20% silver extracted from a Spanish silver ingot flown in lunar orbit for six days during Apollo 15…The silver ingot was salvaged from the famous '1715 Spanish Plate Fleet' that was destroyed by a hurricane almost 300 years ago. This ingot was carried in my Personal Preference Kit (PPK) during Apollo 15. Upon return to Earth, the Spanish silver was mixed with silver from certain Apollo 15 medallions that had not flown due to weight limitations to form the Spanish silver Apollo 15 medallions… This small OPS flag and the A-15 medallion #137 have been in my personal collection since we returned from the Moon."

Auction Info

  • Auction Title: Space Exploration and Aviation
  • Dates: #664 - Ended April 20, 2023




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