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Alan Shepards Space Suit Quarter
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34 posts in this topic

In 1961 Alan Shepard had an accident in his space suit. This coin reminds me of that incident. What name should I give the coin to commemorate this historic event back in 1961? I can think of a few names but what is your choice? 

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Nice little die crack. Did he have one of those incidents where he had something running down his leg afterwards? lol Or did his space suit malfunction or something? Ive never heard the story behind it before. 

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On 4/8/2022 at 7:54 AM, Hoghead515 said:

Nice little die crack. Did he have one of those incidents where he had something running down his leg afterwards? lol Or did his space suit malfunction or something? Ive never heard the story behind it before. 

Actually, Yes Alan went in his suit after given permission to do so. It shorted out many of his vital sensors. This coin depicts the event very well. It should have a name description attached to it. What's your name for it?? Lol.

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On 4/8/2022 at 11:44 AM, Just Bob said:

I am one who does not care for cute names attached to varieties. "Bugs bunny" , "Speared eagle", and the like are not my cup of tea.

3 legged Buffalo?

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The movie The Right Stuff (1983) brought it to my attention, but there is no YouTube of the utterance of the famous line from the movie.
In the movie, Alan Shepherd referred to himself as slang for a Mexican field laborer since he had been lying on his back for hours, had to "go," "went," and then made the comment.

How about:  Yo, well... Satin!

Can you solve the Jumble?

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On 4/8/2022 at 1:45 PM, USAuPzlBxBob said:

The movie The Right Stuff (1983) brought it to my attention, but there is no YouTube of the utterance of the famous line from the movie.
In the movie, Alan Shepherd referred to himself as slang for a Mexican field laborer since he had been lying on his back for hours, had to "go," "went," and then made the comment.

How about:  Yo, well... Satin!

Can you solve the Jumble?

Yes it was a historic moment in the Space Program. This coin is the perfect symbol to Alan's historic event.. Never before has the US Mint captured such a realistic event in real time on a coin.. It should be named.. What name should be given to it??

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On 4/8/2022 at 11:45 AM, Errorists said:

Actually, Yes Alan went in his suit after given permission to do so. It shorted out many of his vital sensors. This coin depicts the event very well. It should have a name description attached to it. What's your name for it?? Lol.

I cant really think of a good name for it. All the ones I can think of are unappropriate or to cheesy. 

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On 4/8/2022 at 10:47 AM, Errorists said:

3 legged Buffalo?

Don't care for the moniker, since the bison actually has four legs, but one has been polished away. Don't think a coin struck by an over polished die is worth a premium just because someone came up with a name for it, either. But, I don't control the market or collectors' tastes, so to each his/her own. It definitely is not my place to define another's collecting preferences.

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On 4/8/2022 at 11:47 AM, Errorists said:

3 legged Buffalo?

Yeah, I hate that one too. 

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On 4/8/2022 at 5:46 PM, Just Bob said:

Don't care for the moniker, since the bison actually has four legs, but one has been polished away. Don't think a coin struck by an over polished die is worth a premium just because someone came up with a name for it, either. But, I don't control the market or collectors' tastes, so to each his/her own. It definitely is not my place to define another's collecting preferences.

Aw c’mon. Sure it is. 

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On 4/8/2022 at 5:46 PM, Just Bob said:

Don't care for the moniker, since the bison actually has four legs, but one has been polished away. Don't think a coin struck by an over polished die is worth a premium just because someone came up with a name for it, either. But, I don't control the market or collectors' tastes, so to each his/her own. It definitely is not my place to define another's collecting preferences.

Agree. Vastly overpriced and overrated IMO. Also agree regarding most variety names; however, I make an exception for colonials. Provided that some modern marketeer hasn't dreamed it up. 

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On 4/12/2022 at 9:45 AM, LINCOLNMAN said:

Agree. Vastly overpriced and overrated IMO. Also agree regarding most variety names; however, I make an exception for colonials. Provided that some modern marketeer hasn't dreamed it up. 

Is the 2000S Minuteman a colonial?

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There’s another problem. That’s NOT Alan Shepard on the Ohio quarter, it’s Neil Armstrong. 

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On 4/12/2022 at 9:53 AM, Errorists said:

How do they know?

Because Neil is an Ohioan and Alan, who was born in New Hampshire, is not. Also, that is an Apollo 11 moon walk suit, not an Apollo 14 one. The Apollo 11 PLSS is significantly smaller. 

Edited by VKurtB
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On 4/12/2022 at 9:55 AM, VKurtB said:

Because Neil is an Ohioan and Alan, who was born in New Hampshire, is not. Also, that is an Apollo 11 moon walk suit, not an Apollo 14 one. The Apollo 11 PLSS is significantly smaller. 

Since the US Mint doesn't specifically say which astronaut this is we know that Neal Armstrong didn't do that in his spacesuit so this is actually independent visual verification that it could only be the one and only Alan Shepard.. 

Edited by Errorists
Missed word.
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On 4/12/2022 at 11:06 AM, Errorists said:

Since the US Mint doesn't specifically say which astronaut this is we know that Neal Armstrong didn't do that in his spacesuit so this actually independent visual verification that it could only be the one and only Alan Shepard.. 

But they DID announce it as Neil Armstrong. And we DO KNOW what the coin is: yet another insignificant die crack. 

Edited by VKurtB
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On 4/12/2022 at 11:12 AM, VKurtB said:

But they DID announce it as Neil Armstrong. And we DO KNOW what the coin is: yet another insignificant die crack. 

The mint is known for making mistakes..

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On 4/12/2022 at 11:16 AM, Errorists said:

The mint is known for making mistakes..

Not nearly as many as you’re known for. 

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On 4/12/2022 at 12:43 PM, Errorists said:

Lots of VAM collectors disagree with your insignificant die crack remarks.

Disagree.  Many VAM die cracks are minor.  HOWEVER, the numismatic researchers and VAM collectors use these cracks to determine die stages, die pair sequence/progression, estimated die life, etc.

Unless you plan on doing some  die studies for numismatic scholarship, trying to compare VAM die crack data to a random minor die crack on a state quarter is like comparing apples to oranges IMO.  You need to first understand what the data/info is used for before comparing it to other areas.

Edited by Oldhoopster
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On 4/12/2022 at 11:06 AM, Errorists said:

Since the US Mint doesn't specifically say which astronaut this is we know that Neal Armstrong didn't do that in his spacesuit so this is actually independent visual verification that it could only be the one and only Alan Shepard.. 

Wait - what? Did you just say that, because there is a die crack on your coin, the person portrayed is no longer Neil Armstrong, but is now Alan Shepard?

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On 4/13/2022 at 2:35 PM, Just Bob said:

Wait - what? Did you just say that, because there is a die crack on your coin, the person portrayed is no longer Neil Armstrong, but is now Alan Shepard?

When people are out of their blinkin’ minds, this is what you get. 

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On 4/13/2022 at 3:35 PM, Just Bob said:

Wait - what? Did you just say that, because there is a die crack on your coin, the person portrayed is no longer Neil Armstrong, but is now Alan Shepard?

I think he legitimately thinks that die crack was part of the intended design to signify the bathroom incident. But that happened before takeoff and evaporated in the high oxygen environment almost immediately. It wasn’t running down his leg on the moon 😂. But to him that die crack is intentional 

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On 4/13/2022 at 9:30 PM, Woods020 said:

I think he legitimately thinks that die crack was part of the intended design to signify the bathroom incident. But that happened before takeoff and evaporated in the high oxygen environment almost immediately. It wasn’t running down his leg on the moon 😂. But to him that die crack is intentional 

Not to mention the “wetting of the spacesuit” happened during Shepard’s Mercury suborbital flight countdown, and not on Shepard’s Apollo 14 flight at all. The depicted astronaut is in an Apollo 11 moon walking suit, and not in ANY flight suit Alan Shepard ever wore. The backpack (PLSS) on Apollo 14 moon suits comes waaaay higher up along the back of the helmet. 11’s single EVA was a couple of hours. 14 had TWO EVA’s, each of which was multiple times the length of 11’s single one. 

Edited by VKurtB
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