SARASOTA, Fla., July 20,
2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Certified Collectibles
Group® (CCG®) has launched its seventh member
company: Collectibles Authentication Guaranty™ (CAG™), an expert
and impartial certification service that works directly with
collectors, estates, artists and museums to preserve the
authenticity and provenance of artifacts, memorabilia and estate
items at the source.
The first collection to be certified by CAG is the Armstrong
Family Collection, one of the most historic and important
collections of memorabilia of the last 50 years. This extraordinary
collection contains several thousand items from astronaut
Neil Armstrong and his immediate
family members.
Armstrong achieved unprecedented worldwide fame when he became
the first person to walk on the moon in July
1969. His moonwalk represented the absolute pinnacle of
human achievement, a feat that he captured perfectly in his
now-immortal words from the moon's surface: "That's one small step
for a man; one giant leap for mankind."
Armstrong immediately became an American hero and a global
inspiration. He received numerous honors, medals, letters, magazine
features, gifts and other accolades.
Most of these items and other memorabilia were saved. After
Armstrong's death in 2012, his family ultimately concluded that the
collection needed to be shared with others, but they struggled with
the same challenge faced by other estates: how to preserve the
provenance and legacy of the estate items, even after they pass
through many different hands.
The establishment of CAG provided the solution to this
significant challenge. CAG's experts would thoroughly evaluate the
collection and for each item assign a unique certification number,
take high-resolution photographs, describe it in detail and, if
applicable, assign a grade. The items would then be encapsulated in
one of CAG's tamper-evident holders designed for long-term
preservation and eye-catching display.
With the authenticity and provenance now guaranteed by CAG,
virtually all of the Armstrong Family Collection was consigned to
Heritage Auctions, the largest auction house headquartered in
the United States. Heritage
Auctions will offer the Armstrong Family Collection in several
sales, the first of which will be held in November 2018.
The Armstrong Family Collection features many important
keepsakes of the American space program and its most famous and
meaningful moment. Its sale is certain to draw worldwide interest
ahead of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission
next year.
Among the highlights of the Armstrong Family Collection
certified by CAG:
- Apollo 11 Robbins Medals, including an extremely
rare gold example, which were flown aboard Apollo 11. These
medals were commissioned by the astronauts themselves and flown on
all Apollo missions starting with Apollo 7, with the dates being
engraved after the mission was completed. The Apollo 11 Robbins
Medals are graded by Numismatic Guaranty Corporation®
(NGC®), an affiliate of CAG, and certified by CAG.
- Material from the Wright Flyer, the plane that the
Wright Brothers flew to achieve the first successful manned flight
in 1903. Under a special arrangement with the Air Force Museum,
Armstrong carried material from the historic airplane in his
personal preference kit (PPK) on Apollo 11 and was allowed to
retain a portion of it, including pieces of the wing and propeller.
The authenticity and provenance of these pieces is now certified by
CAG.
- A Purdue University Centennial,
1869-1969, Silk Flag that was flown on Apollo 11. Purdue was Armstrong's beloved alma mater, and he
carried its flag with him to the moon. The flag is described and
encapsulated by CAG.
- Important Correspondence, including a congratulatory
telegram from President Richard
Nixon. Another particularly interesting letter in the
Armstrong Family Collection is from a NASA public affairs official
to the Apollo program manager stating that he felt that it should
be left up to the astronauts to decide what to say when they walk
on the surface of the moon. Other letters in the collection include
ones from President Ronald Reagan,
President Bill Clinton, Vice
President Spiro Agnew and then-Vice
President (and future President) George
H.W. Bush. All of the letters are certified by CAG.
- A gold and diamond pin that Armstrong gave to his wife after
it was flown on Gemini VIII, a mission that conducted the first
docking of two spacecraft in orbit in March
1966. This was Armstrong's first spaceflight. A critical
in-space failure almost cost Armstrong and his fellow crewmember
their lives, but Armstrong expertly regained control of the
spacecraft and guided it safely back to earth. The provenance of
the pin is certified by CAG.
- Armstrong's Boy Scout Cap. A young Neil Armstrong joined Boy Scout Troop 25 in
Sandusky, Ohio, and became an
Eagle Scout—the organization's highest rank—at the age of 17.
Armstrong's cap is now accompanied by a CAG Photo Certificate that
features a description of the cap and its noteworthy provenance
along with high-resolution images.
In addition to these unique and highly prized artifacts, the
Armstrong Family Collection features a number of more affordable
items that give collectors of all means a chance to buy something
with a connection to Neil Armstrong.
CAG has certified the provenance of all of these items.
"It is important to us that our father's legacy be honored,
preserved and protected," said Mark
Armstrong, one of Neil
Armstrong's two sons. "CAG certification gave us a platform
to do just that. Most importantly, a significant percentage of the
proceeds of these sales will benefit worthy causes around the world
that both Mom and Dad would have been pleased to support."
"It is an incredible honor to have been selected to certify the
Armstrong Family Collection," says Mark
Salzberg, chairman of CCG. "The moon landing was of
monumental importance for all Americans of a certain age, myself
included, and it continues to inspire nearly 50 years later."
Salzberg added: "We needed to ensure that the provenance of this
great collection would be preserved in perpetuity, so we leveraged
the expertise of our CCG affiliates to form CAG. The Armstrong
Family Collection is the perfect example of a collection that can
benefit from CAG certification."
In addition to CAG, the CCG affiliates are:
- Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC), a third-party coin
authentication, grading and encapsulation service established in
1987;
- Numismatic Conservation Services® (NCS®),
a professional coin conservation service established in 2001;
- Paper Money Guaranty® (PMG®), a
third-party paper money authentication, grading and encapsulation
service established in 2005;
- Certified Guaranty Company® (CGC®), a
third-party comic book and magazine authentication, grading and
encapsulation service established in 2000;
- Classic Collectible Services® (CCS®), a
comic book conservation and restoration service acquired by CCG in
2012; and,
- Authenticated Stamp Guaranty™ (ASG™), a third-party stamp
authentication, grading and encapsulation service established in
2017.
Together, the CCG companies have certified nearly 50 million
collectibles. To learn more about CCG, visit collectiblesgroup.com.
To learn more about CAG and the Armstrong Family Collection, visit
CAGcertified.com.
For more information about the Armstrong Family Collection
sales, visit Heritage Auctions' website, HA.com.
About Certified Collectibles Group (CCG)
CCG is
comprised of seven of the world's leading collectibles service
companies: Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC), Numismatic
Conservation Services (NCS), Paper Money Guaranty (PMG),
Authenticated Stamp Guaranty (ASG), Certified Guaranty Company
(CGC), Classic Collectible Services (CCS) and Collectibles
Authentication Guaranty (CAG). Today, the CCG companies have graded
nearly 50 million collectibles and maintain offices in Sarasota, Florida; London, England; Munich, Germany; Shanghai and Hong
Kong, China.
About Collectibles Authentication Guaranty (CAG)
CAG
works directly with collectors, estates, artists and museums to
preserve the authenticity and provenance of memorabilia and estate
items at the source. Memorabilia, estate items and other diverse
collections benefit from CAG's unique process, holders and
expertise. With authenticity and provenance guaranteed, collectors
have greater confidence, which results in a safer and more vibrant
marketplace.
© 2018 Certified Collectibles Group. All rights reserved.
NGC, NCS, PMG, CGC, CCS, ASG, CAG and CCG are the registered
trademarks or unregistered trademarks of Numismatic Guaranty
Corporation of America, and/or its related companies in
the United States and/or other
countries. All other names and marks referenced in this release are
the trade names, trademarks, or service marks of their respective
owners.
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SOURCE Certified Collectibles Group