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Highly sought-after flown Apollo 15 ‘Sieger/Crew-Owned’ postal cover carried to the lunar surface aboard the LM Falcon, numbered 134/300, signed in the lower left corner in black felt tip by Dave Scott, Al Worden, and Jim Irwin. The reverse is numbered “265” and initialed by NASA's general counsel S. Neil Hosenball. The cover is accompanied by two certifications documenting its flight aboard Apollo 15 and its subsequent identification by the crew.
Included with the flown cover is a certificate signed "David R. Scott, July 19, 1983," which reads: “This cover is #134 of 300 postmarked just prior to the launch of Apollo 15 on July 26, 1971 at Kennedy Space Center; stowed aboard the spacecraft in a sealed fireproof packet; carried to the lunar surface in LM ‘Falcon’; returned to earth in CM ‘Endeavour’; and postmarked immediately after splashdown on August 7, 1971 by the U. S. Navy Postal Station aboard the recovery ship USS Okinawa."
Also included is a one-page typed notarized certification, signed “Alfred M. Worden,” “David R. Scott,” and “James B. Irwin,” dated July 19, 1983, reading, in part: “Postal covers were carried aboard the Apollo 15 Mission, which postal covers were stamped and postmarked at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on the date of the launch, July 26, 1971, and carried aboard the Apollo 15 Spacecraft during the entire term of the Mission, to include landing on the moon, and were returned to the Earth at the termination of the Mission on August 7, 1971…The postal covers were in the possession of one or more of the undersigned until 1972, at which time they were deposited with the United States Government…The undersigned have this date inspected Postal Cover No. 134, bearing NASA Serial No. 265, and aver, affirm and certify that said Postal Cover is a cover which was carried aboard the United States Lunar Mission – Apollo 15.” All three crew members have also added their initials to a small correction in the text. In overall fine condition, with light curling to the flown cover and Scott-signed certificate.
The Apollo 15 crew agreed to carry 400 of these ‘Sieger’ covers on the mission, with 100 intended for German stamp dealer Hermann Sieger and the remaining 300 to be retained by the astronauts. Ultimately, 398 of the covers were carried aboard Apollo 15, leaving 298 in the crew's possession after the mission. Carrying postal covers, flags, medallions, and other small objects as personal mementos was already an established practice among Apollo astronauts.
During preflight training, Deke Slayton introduced the Apollo 15 crew to his friend H. Walter Eiermann, a public relations specialist. Eiermann was friends with many of the astronauts, and through German philatelic dealer Hermann E. Sieger had been paying fees to astronauts for signing blocks of stamps. Eiermann suggested to the crew that they sign and carry 400 postal covers on the mission as lightweight mementos. The covers would be provided for the arrangement with Sieger, with 100 intended for Eiermann and Sieger and 300 to be divided among the crew. Scott submitted the cachet design to Kennedy Space Center official Harold Collins, and NASA personnel subsequently assisted in postmarking and packaging the covers. Scott did not formally seek authorization for the covers, however, and they were omitted from his personal property preference list before he carried them aboard Apollo 15.
After the mission, 100 covers were sent through Eiermann to Sieger, who began selling them to collectors. When the arrangement became public the following year, NASA impounded the 298 covers remaining in the astronauts' possession on June 30, 1972. The covers were subsequently held in the custody of the National Archives.
A subsequent Department of Justice review concluded in December 1978 that NASA had no valid property claim to the 298 crew-owned covers. In February 1983, Worden brought legal action against the government seeking the return of covers held in federal custody. An out-of-court settlement was reached that July, and 359 covers were returned to the Apollo 15 astronauts: the 298 covers from the Sieger group and 61 additional covers claimed by Worden. The certifications accompanying the present cover are dated July 19, 1983, coinciding with the return of the covers to the crew.
