SkyMan flys again. Something from 1963.

[SkyMan]

First, in order to make this a valid coin thread, here's some coins from 1963...

 

 

 

 

In 1963 NASA accepted it's third group of candidate/astronauts, 14 men in total. Some names from Group 3 that most people here will of heard of are Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. Another member of Group 3 was Richard "D_ck" Gordon (it gets censored if I leave the i in). He eventually flew on Gemini 11 in 1966 and on Apollo 12 in 1969. On Apollo 12 he was the Command Module Pilot and circled the Moon for over a day while his crewmates, Pete Conrad and Al Bean (Bean was also a Group 3 member), performed the second Moon landing. Gordon is one of only 24 humans that have gone to the Moon.

 

When an applicant for becoming an astronaut is accepted, that person becomes a "candidate". The candidate then has to "go to school" to learn a variety of information. Some of this information is textbook learning, and some is hands on training. When the candidate successfully completes astronaut training he/she is given a silver "Astronaut Pin", and is considered an astronaut. When/if the astronaut flys in space he/she can wear a gold "Flown Astronaut Pin" which looks exactly the same as the silver one (obviously the color is different), but the "flown" astronaut has to buy the gold pin.

 

Goldberg's just finished the final major space auction of 2009. Gordon had a variety of his items up for sale. Yours truly was lucky enough to win his silver astronaut pin. Not many of these pins have been sold, and it is VERY rare to find one from one of the original 3 groups of astronauts (after all there were only 30 men in total in these 3 groups)... particularly a pin from one of the men who made it to the Moon.

 

Gordon is the person in the middle of the picture:

 

 

Here is the silver pin I won:

 

[WoodenJefferson]

Awesome, very familiar with the logo pattern. Question, what kind of provenance came with the pin to verify authenticity?

[SkyMan]

WJ, before the auction began I checked with my contact at Goldberg's about getting a CoA from Gordon if I won any of 3 potential lots that were of interest. I was told that would not be a problem. I confirmed this yesterday after winning this lot.

[bsshog40]

Very cool there Sy!

[Bruceswar]

sweet pin. I need that one for my hat!

[rrantique]

Very cool there Sy!

 

(thumbs u