posted 11-22-2019 03:57 PM               

Space Cover #540: Apollo 11, plus 50

This week's Space Cover of the Week presentation highlights cancels and covers from the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Shown are six very special covers that I wish I could take some credit for, but I obtained them from Ken Havekotte, who was involved in servicing the covers from KSC and Cape Canaveral. The covers shown include the First Day of Issue of the two Apollo 11 50th anniversary stamps, and Apollo 11 50th anniversary pictorial cancels from both KSC and Cape Canaveral.

The two covers above show that, with the top cover, Ken made excellent use of a fifty-year-old unused Apollo 11 official VIP card, by affixing a JF Kennedy commemorative stamp to it and having it canceled at KSC on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch. Below it is another previously unused cover (with cachet designed by Paul Calle), with one of the two Apollo 11 anniversary stamps and canceled at Cape Canaveral for the moon landing 50th anniversary. And also applied was an "Eagle Landing" pictorial cancel also from Cape Canaveral.

Making use of two more unused fifty-year-old covers, Ken added both newly issued Apollo 11 anniversary stamps to them and had the top cover canceled at KSC for the moon landing anniversary, and applied one of the "Eagle" Cape Canaveral cancels to the other stamp. At the bottom, a Dow-Unicover, bears both Apollo 11 anniversary stamps, with the top stamp canceled on July 19, 2019, the first day of issue of the stamps at Cape Canaveral, and the bottom stamp canceled with the Cape Canaveral "Eagle" cancel for the moon landing anniversary. So this is a combination first day of issue and 50th anniversary cover.

The top cover, with a crew portrait cachet, was canceled with the large and impressive "50th Anniversary Apollo 11" pictorial cancel at Cape Canaveral, and the bottom cover, with a crew walkout cachet, was canceled with a KSC "Apollo 11 Launch" cancel.

Later I'll present more Apollo 11 50th anniversary covers and cancels, including an "Apollo 11 Man on the Moon" canceled cover from Houston, TX, and from Alameda, CA, a "Hornet+3/Welcome Aboard/Apollo 11" pictorial cancel.

posted 11-26-2019 08:03 AM               

Here are two more Apollo 11 50th anniversary covers, one from Houston, TX, with the Man on the Moon cancel and cachet picturing Buzz by the flag. The second cover has the Hornet+3 cancel from Alameda, CA, and a cachet picturing the recovery.