Lot 711
Apollo 14: Flown, Scarce, Highly Prized Patch from Apollo 14 "Beep Beep" Patch "Reluctantly Carried to the Moon". One of the funniest "stunts" during the Apollo missions, was the Apollo 14 back up crew, Gene Cernan, Ron Evans and Joe Engle having created a sewn patches based on the Roadrunner and Wiley Coyote characters (back up crews didn't have mission patches) and hid them in multiple locations in both the Command Module and Lunar Module during the flight of Shepard, Mitchell and Roosa. Open a drawer or a pack, lift out a tray, open a operations manual, etc. a patch would come flying out. One was actually affixed to Alan Shepard's PLSS while on the moon.
Upon return, the flown patches were awarded to various NASA employees affixed to a certificate "This Patch Reluctantly Carried To The Moon on Apollo 14 To Christie Hartman (in this specific case) from The First Team Gene Cernan, Ron Evans and Joe Engle". Patch itself is in excellent condition, still with bright colors, no stains. However this 11 x 14" certificate was proudly framed and displayed prior to UV glass or plexi was commercially available and the signatures have faded considerably, though still visible at close range. The actual certificate, the printed letters and the patch itself are clean and bright.
The "Beep Beep" patch still attached to an original certificate are highly prized and would prove a welcome addition to any level of collector. A considerable amount of information about this patch is available on line, much of it quite amusing. Estimated Value $1,500 - UP
|
| |
| Realized $2,640 |
