Posts: 851
From: Celina, Ohio
Registered: Feb 2000

posted 03-25-2009 03:35 PM               

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quote:

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Originally posted by mjanovec:
Also, since "GT-3" stands for Gemini Titan 3, I'm guessing it flew on that mission (which took place in 1965, the year after the dime was minted).

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The GT-3 dime is a VERY rare "one of a kind" dime in that it was the ONLY dime that Gus carried aboard GT-3. The dime was flown specifically for Guenter Wendt. I bought that dime years ago and later parted with it when I started down sizing my Aerospace collection.

While on the topic of Grissom related dimes, here is a scoop for collectSPACE historians. There is a 1967 dime that resides within the charred remains of Apollo 1. I hid it in the spacecraft myself. The dime has special etched markings on it that only I can verify. It also has a number 1 etched on it. It's location within the spacecraft is only known by myself and Scott Grissom.

In regards to the topic of collector vs museums and space artifacts I would like to ad my two cents worth. When we as collectors began to collecting space related artifacts it was because of our love and desire to preserve something that was related in one way or another to our interest in the space program, and to own a piece of history. In most cases, NASA and museums were NOT interested in such relics. In NASA's case such relics were sold at auctions or sold as scrap (such as ground support equipment, launch pad parts, and even flown shuttle parts and equipment of today). The key is, that we as collectors had the insight to recognize, preserve and cherish these items which will be passed on to future generations. Take the launch pads for example.The once impressive ICBM and IRBM row is just a memory on a postcard or photo. Thanks to a few of us old timers relics from those once impressive structures have been saved for future generations. I think it is great that this generation of collectors continue the quest of collecting and preserving flown and non flown artifacts, as they are doing what museums should have been doing for years, not to mention it is great to own a piece of history! As collectors we are only care takers of these items as most of them will end up in museums anyway down the line.