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Flown Series 1963A one-dollar bill carried on Apollo 9 as part of its official certification process, serial number L57117234E, and signed in black felt tip by the prime crew, "David R. Scott," "Russell L. Schweickart," and "James A. McDivitt." Encapsulated and graded by PMG as "Choice Uncirculated 64," with the label noting the provenance: "Ex. Dr. Robert Dillaway / Flown Aboard Apollo 9, 1969 / NAA/FAI Flight Certification Bill / Jefferson Space Museum Collection."
During the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs, the National Aeronautics Association (NAA), working in conjunction with the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) in Paris, certified official world records for spaceflight. Before advanced telemetry could reliably verify flight altitude, duration, and speed, a unique verification method was used on crewed missions: U.S. dollar bills were carried aboard spacecraft to confirm the identities of the astronauts on board.
Prior to launch, the serial numbers of these bills were recorded and the notes were placed aboard the spacecraft. After recovery, the bills were presented to a certifying official, who compared their serial numbers with the pre-flight records to satisfy the identification requirements of the FAI Sporting Code. These flown bills were therefore not carried as souvenirs, good-luck charms, or personal mementos like other pieces of flown currency; instead, they served a specific historical and functional role in the formal certification of each mission.
Accompanied by an explanatory letter signed by Apollo 9 CDR Jim McDivitt, in full: "During the Apollo manned flight missions, dollar bills would be provided to the astronauts by a witnessing National Aeronautic Association ('NAA') official. The bills, usually three in number (but sometimes including four or five per flight), would be autographed by the crew, and then placed aboard the spacecraft and flown. These bills would then be recovered by this official from the spacecraft after splash down and serve as the basis for certification of the identity of the astronauts of each flight and also serve as proof of flight for that mission's NAA flight record certifications.
These bills were the personal property of the NAA witnessing official, and were returned to him as his personnel property. The bills were acquired by the NAA witnessing official as crisp, new dollar bills, and with consecutive serial numbers. For the historic flight of Apollo 9, three brand new one dollar bills were flown on behalf of R.B. Dillaway, the NAA witnessing official for the flight. Each bill was consecutive in serial number and signed by the complete crew in black felt tip marker.
On December 29, 1976, 22 flown one dollar bills signed by the astronaut crews from Apollo 7 through Apollo 16, were formally donated as a permanent gift to the Smithsonian. For the flight of Apollo 9, the donated flown bill to the Smithsonian is recorded as serial number L 57117235 E, and is signed in black felt tip marker by the crew of David R. Scott, Russell L. Schweickart, and James G. McDivitt.
The bill that accompanies this certificate, with serial number L 57117234 E, and originally acquired from the R.B. Dillaway collection via auction, bears the preceding serial number of the Smithsonian flown bill, and also bears the crews original signatures in the same black felt tip ink, and in the same placement and style as on the Smithsonian bill - making this one of the very few official flown NAA flight certification bills in private hands. (According to the accompanying NASA and Smithsonian records, the third bill has potentially been lost to history and is unaccounted for.)"
Also includes copies of paperwork pertaining to the disposition of known 'flight certification' dollar bills, plus two photographs of McDivitt posing with the flown dollar bill. When presented with it, he immediately recognized it and recalled its use during the flight. He discussed the flight certification process and the importance of it to the astronauts, who had to fill out hundreds of pages of submitting material in addition to the bills in order to verify their international space flight records.
The Richard Jurek Collection.
This item is Pre-Certified by STEVE ZARELLI
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