Collecting Space Memorabilia

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"That’s one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind." Those are the immortal words spoken by Neil Armstrong as he stepped into the sea of moon sand for the time in history on July 20, !969 exactly four days after Apollo 11 took off from Kennedy Space Center and landed safely on the moon.

Ever since that historic moon walk, anything related to that event is collectible. There is a huge appetite for those items that it had become a commodity what with all the increasing value put on those space flown artifacts.

Posters, medallions, stamps, covers, photographs, space art paintings, emblems, flags, space suits, helmets, gloves, charts, maps, logbooks ,astronaut autographs, patches and actual space flown hardware such as parts of the spacecraft itself and most of all the moon dust, pebbles, sand and rocks.

Every collector opts to specialize in one item only. Like building a mission patch collection or astronauts autographs etc. Purchase items from reputable dealers. It is recommended that the item sold should have proper documentation. To guarantee that the item is properly released and authenticated.

Without the documentation, the item sold or bought, is by default property of U.S. government. It is illegal to own these collectibles without the papers.

Among the popular space collectibles are from the Soviet manned missions, Mercury, Gemini and Apollo eras, specifically Apollo11, the first landing and Apollo 8 the first manned orbit of the moon. And due to the popular Hollywood blockbuster movie Apollo 13 related items are quite collectible too.

Owning these items meant it’s the closest you ever get to the moon. Not to mention you own a piece of American space history. Baby boomers are among the largest group to collect these collectibles because they grew up in the 1960’s space race and feel quite nostalgic about the bygone years and it’s a popular notion that they have a lot of cash to burn as well.

A black and white lunar chart created by NASA in 1970 and signed by a member of each Apollo mission that landed on the moon-Buzz Aldrin, Alan Bean, Edgar Mitchell, Dave Scott, Charles Duke and Gene Cernan was sold for a whooping 16,000 U.S. dollars back in the late nineties.

When people look back let’s say three hundred years from now, the defining moment of the twentieth century will be the moon walks.

There hasn’t been a manned launch to the moon since 1972.

To find out more collectible items always visit Rare Antiques Collectibles and Memorabilia.

Medals

Welcome to Rare Antiques Collectibles and Memorabilia.

When a dubious salesman is trying to sell you a well worn out medal. I'll bet he's going to say that there are two collectible types of medals. One that is in mint condition and one that has frayed ribbon and such.

It is advisable that if you collect medals, it should be in pristine condition.

Medals were issued first to certain officers for distinguished services during the civil war, but the first general issue of medals to British forces was the 1816 Waterloo medals.

Because medal collecting is quite popular, it is also riddled with fake copies. like for instance a medal with many bars, which on the aesthetic point of view is desirable but you have to know , do the bars belong to that particular decoration?

The name or the number of the recipient might be substituted. so it is really essential that you go buy and read a book about medal collecting, subscribe to medal collecting magazine, join an organization and get yourself acquainted to military history, before you start collecting.

Most of the British war and campaign medals, up to the second world war, bear the name, number, rank and the regiment or unit of the receiver.With the assistance of the public record office, regimental units and museums you can build up a dossier of the holder of a particular medal .

This way you can make a medal appreciate in value. If you are all bent in such research you can beaver away on several medals at the same time, creating individual files for each.

The depth of your research depends on you. It could be anything from a record of the action in which the medal was won to a comprehensive life story of the holder.

Experienced medal collectors advocate on specializing on a particular period, specific regiment or medal type and concentrate on these.

Remember for all your collecting ideas drop by Rare Antiques Collectibles and Memorabilia.