Heritage Offers CAG-certified Medal, Flag and Wright Flyer Piece Flown on Apollo 11

Medals and other Apollo 11 artifacts that are certified by Collectibles Authentication Guaranty® (CAG®) from The Armstrong Family Collection™ are among the offerings in an upcoming auction of space memorabilia. Bidding is already underway for the Heritage Auctions sale, scheduled for November 12, 2021.

Among the highlights is an Apollo 11 Flown Robbins Medal with Serial Number 429 graded NGC/CAG MS 67 and pedigreed to The Armstrong Family Collection (lot 50326). The collection comprises thousands of artifacts saved by the family of astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the moon. Offered in a series of auctions since 2018, selections from this breathtaking collection have realized more than $12 million to date.

CAG-certified Apollo 11 Robbins Medal graded NGC/CAG MS 67 and pedigreed to The Armstrong Family Collection. Click images to enlarge.

The Robbins Medals were struck for astronauts as keepsakes from their historic missions. The obverse of the Apollo 11 ones show an eagle landing on the crater-pocked surface of the moon, while the reverse features the names of the crew members and the dates of the launch, moon landing and splashdown on Earth. Bidding had already reached $20,000 for this example more than a week before the auction.

Additional CAG-certified Robbins Medals, including two from Apollo 11, are being offered by Heritage from the Potter-Aldrin Family Collection. To learn more, click here.

Pieces of the Wright Flyer

Armstrong, the Apollo 11 commander, agreed to take pieces of the Wright Flyer along on the historic mission in July 1969. He was allowed to retain some of these pieces from the plane that kicked off the era of manned powered flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in December 1903. The auction includes one of them, a piece of the wing (lot 50327) with the stunning pedigree of "Kitty Hawk 12/17/1903" and "Tranquility Base 7/20/1969."

CAG-certified Wright Flyer Wing Pieces pedigreed to The Armstrong Family Collection (left) and the Otto Kallir Collection (right). Click images to enlarge.

Another wing piece from the Wright Flyer has also found its way to this Heritage sale through a different route. Pedigreed to the collection of aviation enthusiast Otto Kallir, the piece (lot 50088) was once part of a scale model of the Wright Flyer constructed using actual wing fabric from the iconic aircraft.

Other highlights

Other CAG-certified highlights from the Armstrong Family Collection in the current sale include:

• an Apollo 11 Flown Flag - 4 inches by 6 inches (lot 50328)
• an Apollo 11 Type 3 Insurance Cover (lot 50329)
• an Apollo 11 Type 1 Insurance Cover (lot 50330)
• a Gemini 8 Flown Gilt Fliteline Medal graded NGC MS 63 (lot 50331)
• a signed NASA Photograph of Neil Armstrong - 8 inches by 10 inches (lot 50333)
• an Apollo 11 Flown piece of Beta Cloth (lot 50332)
• a Universal Commemorative Apollo 11 Patch (lot 50340)
• a copy of Life "To the Moon and Back" Special Edition, Summer 1969 graded CGC 8.5 (lot 50461)