If, like Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory, you too are fascinated with flags, here’s some news for you! The largest-sized American flag from aboard the most important flight in the history of the U.S. Space program was recently sold for a cool $162,500.
We’re talking about Apollo 11-flown largest size American flag signed and certified by Michael Collins, which was offered by Heritage Auctions as part of its sale from June 2-3. It belonged to Collin’s personal collection and was the showstopper for the event, without doubt.
Garnering four times its pre-auction estimate, the flag was kept by Collins as a treasured souvenir of the historic mission, i.e., the first manned mission to reach the moon, with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. It measures 7.75 inches by 11.5 inches and is the largest size typically flown by Apollo missions.
Made in silk, the historic piece further carries the inscription “Carried to the Moon on Apollo XI, July 1969- /Michael Collins CMP” in black ink. Commenting on it, Heritage Auctions Space Exploration Consignment Director Brad Palmer, in a statement, said,
“Michael Collins is among the most important astronauts in the history of space travel, and the results of this auction surpassed our loftiest expectations. We knew the interest in the flag would be sky-high because mission-flown flags of that size (17-3/4 by 11-1/2 inches) are in exceedingly high demand among serious space collectors. This is a fantastic flag, owned and signed by Michael Collins, and it ended up serving as an outstanding launching point for the entire auction.”
Other items from Collin’s collection to be sold included an Apollo 11-flown and crew-signed beta cloth mission insignia and an Apollo 11-flown and used star chart with handwritten annotations. In all, the auction included 19 flags and attracted 1,755 bidders in pursuit of more than 1,000 lots. Well, talk about an iconic sale!
[Via: Artdaily]
