CAG Certifies Space Age Artifacts from Sister of Buzz Aldrin

Collectibles Authentication Guaranty® (CAG®) has certified medals and postal covers from the Potter-Aldrin Family Collection. These important Space Age artifacts were given by astronaut Buzz Aldrin to one of his sisters, Fay Ann Potter. They are being offered in a Heritage Auctions sale of space-related memorabilia on Nov. 12, 2021; bidding is already underway.

The medals include two examples of the Apollo 11 Robbins Medal, both certified by CAG as having been flown on the July 1969 mission in which Aldrin and Neil Armstrong were the first two people to walk on the moon. One has Serial Number 23 and is graded CAG MS 68 (lot 50238) while the other has Serial Number 52 and is graded CAG MS 69 (lot 50237). Bidding for each had already exceeded $17,000 more than a week before the auction.

CAG-certified Apollo 11 Robbins Medal graded CAG MS 68 and pedigreed to the Potter-Aldrin Family Collection. Click images to enlarge.

The Robbins Medals were struck for astronauts to take along on their missions and to retain as keepsakes or to give away as they saw fit. In addition to their connection to the historic mission, the Apollo 11 Robbins Medals left their imprint on circulating coinage. The design of the eagle landing on the moon was adapted for the Eisenhower and Susan B. Anthony dollars.

Aldrin's Other Mission

The auction also includes medals from Aldrin's only other trip to space, the Gemini 12 mission in November 1966. The docking with a target vehicle in Earth orbit as well as Aldrin's three spacewalks successfully wrapped up the Gemini Program, which laid the groundwork for the moon missions.

CAG-certified Gemini 12 1966 Flown Gilt-Sterling Fliteline Medal graded CAG MS 62 and pedigreed to the Potter-Aldrin Family Collection. Click images to enlarge.

The two space-flown Fliteline Medals (the predecessor of the Robbins Medals) from the Potter-Aldrin collection are a gilt/sterling example graded CAG MS 62 (lot 50162) and a silver example graded CAG MS 64 (lot 50161). The obverse shows the capsule pointing toward the roman numeral XII, invoking the image of a clock striking midnight.

Who was Fay Ann Potter?

Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr. had two siblings, both older sisters. Fay Ann Potter was the younger of them, and her mispronunciation of the word "brother" is how the future astronaut got his nickname of "Buzz." She passed away in 2012.

The Heritage sale also includes Space Age artifacts from The Armstrong Family Collection™, including a Robbins Medal and a piece of the Wright Flyer that were flown on the Apollo 11 mission. To learn more, click here.

Other CAG-certified Potter-Aldrin Family Collection highlights in the sale include:

• an Apollo 7 Robbins Medal (1967 Flown #225) graded CAG MS 65 (lot 50233)
• an Apollo 8 Robbins Medal (1968 Flown #209) graded CAG MS 66 (lot 50234)
• an Apollo 9 Robbins Medal (1969 Flown #270) graded CAG MS 66 (lot 50235)
• an Apollo 10 Robbins Medal (1969 Flown #265) graded CAG MS 67 (lot 50236)
• an Apollo 12 Robbins Medal (1969 Flown #186) graded CAG MS 68 (lot 50239)
• an Apollo 13 Robbins Medal (1970 Flown #296) graded CAG MS 69 (lot 50240)
• an Apollo 14 Robbins Medal (1971 Flown #147) graded CAG MS 69 (lot 50241)
• a lot of three Buzz Aldrin Signed Postal Covers with 1969 Postmarks certified by CAG as genuine (lot 50305)
• a lot of three Buzz Aldrin Signed Postal Covers with 1979 Postmarks certified by CAG as genuine (lot 50306)
• a lot of three Buzz Aldrin Signed Postal Covers with 1989 Postmarks certified by CAG as genuine (lot 50307)