For those of you that don't know me, I've got a Ph.D. specializing in interpreting satellite imagery, and I'm a space memorabilia junkie for items from the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo era (~ 1959 - 1972). The prime backer behind the Astrodome in Houston was a Big space fan. During the 1960's, he got the Gemini astronauts, and one other group, to sign dollar bills for his collection. These bills were NOT flown. Each Gemini crew (Geminis 3 - 12) signed one of these bills. Here are the 10 Gemini bills and some flight highlights: GT3. (The G stands for Gemini, the T stands for Titan, which was the launch rocket). "Gus" Grissom, John Young. First manned Gemini flight. First human flight to change orbit. GT4. James McDivitt, Ed White. First US walk in space. GT5. "Gordo" Cooper, "Pete" Conrad. Longest mission (at that point in time) ever, 8 days. GT6. Wally Schirra, Tom Stafford. First rendezvous in space. GT7. Frank Borman, Jim Lovell. Longest mission (at that point in time) ever, 14 days. First rendezvous in space. GT8. Neil Armstrong, Dave Scott. First docking in space. Mission almost ended in disaster when one of the thrusters stuck in the "on" position. GT9. Tom Stafford, Gene Cernan. First attempt by humans to do serious work while "walking" in space. GT10. John Young, Michael Collins. First use of another (docked) rocket (on the docked Agena booster) to propel a spacecraft in space. GT11. "Pete" Conrad, Dick Gordon. First creation of artificial gravity in space. GT12. Jim Lovell, "Buzz" Aldrin. First truly successful performance of space "walking" tasks. The next bill has been signed by ALL 7 Mercury astronauts and the comedian Bill Dana the "unofficial" 8th Mercury astronaut. Dana created a skit called "Jose Jimenez" the "reluctant astronaut" that the other astronauts really liked. While there are almost certainly other bills with the Mercury 7 astronaut signatures out there (although not many I suspect), I highly doubt there are many, if any, others that have Bill Dana on it too. Still, just to get all 7 Mercury astronaut signatures in one place is very desirable, and is worth far more to space memorabilia collectors than just the 7 signatures taken by themselves. Mercury 7. Scott Carpenter, Wally Schirra, "Deke" Slayton, "Gordo" Cooper, John Glenn, Alan Shepard, "Gus" Grissom. Bill Dana.
That is a very unique collection. I especially like the 2nd to last $1 note the Series 1963A Star Note. Not worth a lot of $$$ even in Gem condition but having the Astronauts Sig's is just down right cool... Thanks for posting this...great to see them all. RickieB
Thanks guys! I'm a coin guy (particularly Franklin half dollars), not a note guy. Could you guys please enlighten me as to the notes? I know squat about them. Thank you!
Nothing really special about the $1 notes.. as mentioned the star note caught my attention but the 63A is a fairly common issue worth around $12-$14 in Gem condition.. Sig's make them really cool... RickieB
