Armstrong check skyrockets to $27,350!

On the very morning of his historic launch, the first man on the moon settles a debt but assuredly jests, "Don't cash it…I will be coming back"

An absolutely amazing and one-of-a-kind item from the first man on the moon: personal check, 6 x 2.75, filled out and signed in-full (including his rarely-seen middle initial), “Neil A. Armstrong,” payable for $10.50 to NASA official Harold Collins on the day of the Apollo 11 launch, July 16, 1969. The story goes that Armstrong had previously borrowed $10.50 from Collins, then repaid the loan to him on launch day to make sure his debts were settled should anything happen during the mission. When presenting the check to Collins, Armstrong told him, “Here’s a check for the loan…but don’t cash it because I will be coming back.”

Harold (Hal) Collins began his NASA career as Contracting Officer during the Mercury program and went on to serve as Chief of the Mission Support Office at the Kennedy Space Center, retiring in 1973. His participation was integral to the U. S. space program and he worked closely with, and came to know, all of the astronauts.

Attractively suede matted and framed, with a typed caption and a color portrait of Armstrong preparing for the Apollo 11 mission, to an overall size of 21 x 14. In very fine condition, with a central vertical fold.

The significance and collector appeal of this item cannot be overstated. This is the only Armstrong Apollo-era check we have seen, and one of a handful of items signed in-full that have ever been offered for sale. But the fact that the check was also filled out on the morning of the launch of an event considered to be one of Man’s greatest accomplishments elevates this prized item to a level of important historical significance seldom seen! Pre-certified Scott Cornish and RRAuction COA.