Signed Mercury 7 Sheet Up For Auction

The Live Auctioneers website reports a rare Project Mercury stamp sheet that is signed in two different places by each of the original Mercury Seven astronauts will be put up for auction tomorrow by Blue Moon Coins, Inc.

According to the site, the sheet was obtained by the son of a Navy captain who was working on top-secret missile technology with Lawrence Livermore Laboratories and was invited to a signing event when he was working at Cape Canaveral in 1962.

It goes on to say, "Mercury Seven was the group of seven Mercury astronauts selected by NASA on April 9, 1959. They are also referred to as the Original Seven and Astronaut Group 1. This was the only astronaut group with members that flew on all classes of NASA manned orbital spacecraft of the 20th century — Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and the Space Shuttle. These seven original American astronauts were Alan Shepard, Gus Grissom, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, Wally Schirra, Gordon Cooper and Deke Slayton."

Opening bid is $6,000 with an estimate of $6,000 to $10,000.

According to the Sky Image LAb website, "The stamp was designed, printed, and distributed to 305 post offices across the United States in secret. The postmasters did not know what the stamps were or resembled until official word was sent to unseal the packages and begin the distributions and sale of the stamps. The Project Mercury stamp was released for sale at 3:30 pm, Feb. 20, 1962 upon the spectacular mission and successful splashdown of the astronaut, John Glenn Jr."

For more information and to bid, click here.