Michael Collins (Apollo 11) - possibile Autopen

Hi there!

I recently bought this Michael Collins piece at a flea market in Germany. The owner was working as a photographer in Cape Canaverall and traded it with the NASA press guys for some photo equipment. It does seem to fit the classic Autopen versions, but has some slight variations.

The line of the last "s" is longer - it generally appears to be a bigger signature than what's usually found on such pieces.

It is slightly smeared and Collins was left-handed. This doesn't exclude Autopen, but the direction of the smear makes it interesting.

I also noticed two dots at the top left corner that seem to have been made by the same pen.

I would love to hear your thoughts!

Tags: 11, Apollo, Astronaut, Collins, Michael

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Martin Peters on September 6, 2023 at 1:04pm

This appears to be a Pattern 2 autopen.

Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on September 6, 2023 at 1:36pm

The jagged curve on the end of the "l" stroke is the giveaway even w/o a matching template.

Permalink Reply by murnau1888 on September 7, 2023 at 3:17pm

Thank you very much! You mean the one at the end of "Michael"?

Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on September 7, 2023 at 3:32pm

Yes. It is an Autopen, # 2 pattern, as noted previously. What is useful is knowing how to ID these things w/o a matching pattern. Earlier Autopens simply cannot handle or reproduce certain curves. Go back to 1960 and the machine could only produce a series of tight zig-zag patterns in the attempt to do a curve. Judy Garland's 1960 Autopen Fan Club image is a perfect example. I am sorry I no longer have a usable scan of this. It is not only "dots" as this item appears to demonstrate.

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