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Neil Armstrong (1930-2012): Examples of his Autographs

A terrible loss of a great American.

Tags: autographs, neil armstrong

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on October 14, 2012 at 12:05am

I'm really interested in Mr. Zipper's opinion of your piece, Manuel. I don't recall seeing a "g" like yours on a genuine Armstrong, but I think it's got a good chance of being real. I'm not that experienced in space, though.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on October 14, 2012 at 9:09am

The stubby paraph with a more rounded "elbow" is seen on many 1969 examples. And that's why I like to know what it is signed on. If you told me this was an item that was dated to any year after 1970, I'd have an issue with it.

There is one nit I don't like, but generally the shape looks okay and I think it is probably real. But I am only basing that on "shape" and cannot ascertain speed given the fuzziness and fading.

I have seen a number of items that I strongly suspected were artificially aged/faded. They were definite fakes, but made to look old. So, unfortunately, just because it looks old, one cannot presume it is okay when it comes to Armstrong.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on October 14, 2012 at 9:18am

Thanks, Mr. Zipper. I learned something new.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on October 14, 2012 at 9:35am

Here are somewhat similar exemplars... a 1969 (Insurance Cover) and a January 1970 TLS.

Although, the more I look at it, I strongly suspect the signature in question may be pre Apollo 11: 1966 - 1969.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on October 14, 2012 at 9:59am

Thanks, Zippy. Has anyone published a detailed timeline of Armstrong's signature development? It would be fascinating to watch it develop.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on October 14, 2012 at 10:01am

Collectspace has a good timeline: http://www.collectspace.com/resources/autographs_armstrong.html

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Permalink Reply by Manuel Rossi on October 14, 2012 at 10:02am

It's a litho that would have been signed in 1969 just a few months after the mission.

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Permalink Reply by Robin McKay on October 14, 2012 at 6:02am

His autograph must be worth a gold mine now and will become even more scarce, in my opinion. You can get some good Armstrong autographs on some websites but since I live in the UK, the expense of the customs fee alone would be astronomical so I don't know if any UK sites specialise in space memorabilia because like you Steve, space isn't my specialist area, either.

I'd imagine in the future, that Armstrong's autograph will become among the most wanted as I know its very popular now - congratulations to anyone who has one, though.

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Permalink Reply by James McKnight on November 14, 2012 at 2:42pm

Your opinion on this Armstrong...

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on November 14, 2012 at 2:49pm

Wasn't this posted in another thread? I'd want a closer inspection to be more definitive, but from what I can see here it is likely authentic in my opinion. It is consistent with rushed, in-person signatures.

That said, looking at the right side of the G formation, a section of the vertical line appears to have been gone over. There is no way of knowing whether that was done by Armstrong or someone else "fixed" a skip in the signature.