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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on November 25, 2014 at 3:15am

They are all Autopen machine signatures.

Steve Zarelli
Zarelli Space Authentication, LLC
www.zarellispaceauthentication.com

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Permalink Reply by In Amoramento on November 25, 2014 at 10:26am

Thanks much steve :)
Do Autopen signatures have any value at all?

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on November 25, 2014 at 10:39am

Actually, Autopen signed NASA lithographs do have some collector value. Not a lot, but maybe $25 give or take for an Apollo 11 crew.

Once as astronaut passes away, NASA destroys the Autopen templates for that individual and will no longer send any out. So, Armstrong Autopens are no longer produced. I have also heard that NASA stops sending them upon retirement from NASA. That may be true in some cases, but I have personally obtained Autopens from NASA long after retirement for some astronauts just to have them for my files.

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Permalink Reply by In Amoramento on November 25, 2014 at 11:35am

Very nice, considering I came across these (9 signed NASA lithos) by chance ! I'm also really enjoying taking a closer look at the world of autograph collecting, sounds pretty intense; ugly at times too I've noticed - Very interesting!

One more questions if you don't mind; do Autopen signatures sometimes come in different ink colors on these multi-signed photos? it's the case on the Apollo 8 litho I have.

Thanks again for the valuable info Steve, much appreciated :)

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on November 25, 2014 at 12:08pm

Typically Autopens would be signed all in the same pen. But I have seen them with different colored pens and you will also see a mix of real and Autopens on the same piece. There is no hard and fast rule.

Private message me an image of the A-8 and I will take a look at it.

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Permalink Reply by In Amoramento on November 25, 2014 at 1:56pm

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Permalink Reply by In Amoramento on November 25, 2014 at 1:54pm

Hi Steve,

Seems like you can't PM someone unless you're in their circle, so here's that example - Thank you

<a href="http://s1115.photobucket.com/user/Innamoramento1/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps7c5881c5.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1115.photobucket.com/albums/k558/Innamoramento1/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps7c5881c5.jpg" border="0" alt="8-1 photo image_zps7c5881c5.jpg"/></a>

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on November 25, 2014 at 4:57pm

The Apollo 8 is all Autopens as well. Not sure why they would use different colors. Pure speculation, maybe they Autopenned the Anders and Borman and then set it aside for Lovell to actually sign. Then he got busy and asked to office to "take care" of his mail so they ran it through the Autopen machine a second time with a different pen. 

Each astronaut had his own policy with what they should do with the mail. Some wanted to actually sign everything, some wanted to sign nothing and they used the Autopen almost exclusively, and others may have had standing orders to set it aside and only Autopen it if the stack gets too big or if I don't make it into the office.

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Permalink Reply by In Amoramento on November 25, 2014 at 6:58pm

Steve, thank you very much for the thoughtful answers and valuable info, really appreciate it :)

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