An Apollo 11 flown beta cloth mission insignia will star at Heritage's Space Exploration Signature Auction, which runs from October 14 to November 2.
Beta cloths were fire proof patches first produced for the Apollo 7 mission. An estimated 1,350 were flown on subsequent missions, ensuring their rarity at auction.
 The beta patch is signed by all three crewmembers |
Accompanied by the signatures of the three astronauts, the six by six inch swatch comes from the private collection of "the forgotten man of Apollo 11" Michael Collins, the original designer of the insignia.
Collins himself has signed "Carried to the Moon aboard Apollo XI/ July 1969" above the patch.
No estimate has yet been provided for the piece, yet we believe a price of $20,000 is not out of the question, considering previous auction results.
Signed photographs of the three Apollo 11 astronauts on a single item are worth up to £9,950 ($16,150), according to the PFC40 Autograph Index, while a similar Apollo 11 flown beta cloth, accompanied by the signatures of the three, sold for $16,000 in 2007.
A beta cloth patch from the less celebrated Apollo 14 mission sold for $6,660 at the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation's fall auction last month.
With Apollo 11 memorabilia expected to soar in demand and value following the recent death of Neil Armstrong, we believe now is the time to buy. View our space memorabilia for sale here.
The auction will also feature an Apollo 11 space flown Robbins medal. Another of the 440 Apollo 11 flown medals, originally from the family of Skylab 4 astronaut Gerald Carr, made $31,070 at a May auction.
A space flown page of the Apollo 11 flight plan will also appear at the sale.
We will bring you full results in November.
