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Looking for opinion - Apollo 11 Crew Photo

Hello everyone,

I was directed to this site from reddit, specifically looking for the local space expert Steve Zarelli.

I have an Apollo 11 crew photo that I am 99% certain has printed signatures. See here: http://imgur.com/2FaJLDT The bottom right corner of the image has a title: "AP1101 Apollo 11 Crew"

I can not find this exact print/signatures anywhere else. There are photos similar to this one, but the logos, titles, etc are always different.

The only copy that I can find sold on ebay for $800. The original owner claims that the signatures are authentic. The problem is, my signatures are 100% identical. I have zoomed in throughout the signatures to verify and even the imperfections are 100% the same. Also, the signatures appear under the gloss, which leads me to believe they are definitely printed.

I reached out to the buyer and he claims all went well with the transaction. I can see that the buyer even left good feedback.

Ebay link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Autographed-Vintage-Apollo-11-Photo-NEIL-AR...

This leads me to one of two things. The buyer of the $800 auction was ripped off or I have a rare reprint worth $800. I am assuming the first is true. Hopefully someone on here can help me out.

Thanks!

Tags: 11, Apollo, Crew, Photo

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on October 12, 2015 at 6:46pm

Hi Tyler. Good job identifying the preprint. You are correct.

This is a common reproduction signed photo. It was distributed in mass quantities by NASA to schools, libraries, etc. It was produced in two sizes, 8x10 and approximately 16x20.

Coincidentally, I recently wrote a blog post about this: http://www.zarellispaceauthentication.com/blog/2015/8/26/they-both-...

Regrettably, these are sold as authentic hand signed on eBay all the time.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on October 12, 2015 at 6:49pm

By the way, how did you contact the buyer?

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Permalink Reply by Tyler Em on October 12, 2015 at 7:02pm

Sorry about that, I meant to say seller. The buyer did however leave good feedback as described. It is unfortunate to think they will some day realize they were duped.

I was hoping that since my copy had a different border and I couldn't find it anywhere, it was something special. Oh well, no loss at a $1 auction purchase. I will probably throw it on some matte board and hang it for the story.

Thanks for the help!

Edit: just took a look at your blog post. Good catch!