Two CAG-certified Apollo 11 Artifacts Each Realize Over $60,000

Two historical artifacts flown on the epic Apollo 11 mission and certified by Collectibles Authentication Guaranty® (CAG®) were among the top lots in a Heritage Auctions sale on November 21-22, 2020. CAG certified them as part of The Armstrong Family Collection™, a group of artifacts that were saved by astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the moon, and his immediate family.

LEFT: A piece of wing fabric from the Wright Flyer that was flown on the Apollo 11 mission and certified by CAG as part of The Armstrong Family Collection. Realized: $81,250. RIGHT: Flown Apollo 11 Robbins Medal graded NGC MS 66 and certified by CAG as part of The Armstrong Family Collection. Realized: $62,500. Click images to enlarge.

The top lot in the Heritage sale, which was focused on space exploration, was a piece of wing fabric from the Wright Flyer that was flown on the Apollo 11 moon mission and certified by CAG as part of The Armstrong Family Collection. Armstrong was given pieces of the Wright Flyer to take on his historic mission in July 1969; he was allowed to keep a portion of them when he returned to Earth after becoming the first person to walk on the moon.

Another artifact from the same mission, a Flown Apollo 11 Robbins Medal certified by CAG as part of The Armstrong Family Collection, realized $62,500. The Robbins Medals were struck for Apollo astronauts to bring with them on their spacecraft to commemorate their missions. It is co-certified with a grade of NGC MS 66 by Numismatic Guaranty Corporation® (NGC®), a CAG affiliate dedicated to the certification of coins, tokens and medals.

Meanwhile, an autographed NASA photograph of Armstrong in his spacesuit, certified by CAG as part of The Armstrong Family Collection, realized $1,500. The impressive collection comprises thousands of artifacts, including medals, coins, magazines, photographs, letters, jewelry and more, which have realized over $12 million to date.

Autographed NASA photograph of Neil Armstrong in his spacesuit, certified by CAG as part of the Armstrong Family Collection. Realized: $1,500. Click image to enlarge.

Other CAG-certified highlights in the sale included:

• a piece of wing fabric from the Wright Flyer certified by CAG as part of the Otto Kallir Collection that realized $6,875
• a Flown Gemini 8 Fliteline Medal graded NGC MS 63 and certified by CAG as part of the Armstrong Family Collection that realized $5,250
• a piece of Beta Cloth flown on Apollo 11 certified by CAG as part of the Armstrong Family Collection that realized $4,500
• a (1970) Apollo 11 Flown Metal Manned Flight Awareness Medal graded NGC MS 68 and certified by CAG as part of the Armstrong Family Collection that realized $3,000

Other NGC-certified highlights in the sale include:

• a Flown Apollo 12 Robbins Medal graded NGC MS 68 and pedigreed to Apollo 17 astronaut Ron Evans that realized $27,500
• a Flown Gemini 4 Fliteline Medal graded NGC MS 62 and pedigreed to Gemini 4 astronaut James A. McDivitt that realized $5,000