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Apollo 12 Grumman Tie Pins

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Tie tacks and lapel pins were popular choices as souvenirs to take on the early space missions but these Grumman tie pins from Apollo 12 are one of the better-known examples.


The Apollo 12 tie pins were apparently produced by Grumman, with 50 being flown in the Apollo 12 Lunar Module. Half of the flown pins were kept by the astronauts and the other half distributed by the president of Grumman, Lou Evans.

Apollo 12 tie pin front
Apollo 12 tie pin back

The Apollo 12 tie pins are gold tone, round, and measure 5/8" in diameter.

The front shows a cratered lunar landscape with an enameled American flag, and the reverse has the text

"FLOWN TO THE MOON BY AN INTREPID CREW
APOLLO XII
NOVEMBER 1969"

over a set of Navy wings and the names of the crew.

FLOWN availability - A few of these pins have been sold at auction by the Apollo 12 astronauts over the years and examples that they gave to others or which were presented by Grumman have occasionally surfaced.


Grumman 1st Manned Lunar Landing pins

It's worth noting that the Apollo 12 pins used exaclty the same design as the pins created by Grumman to celebrate the Apollo 11 mission. The only difference is on the reverse, where the Apollo 11 pins have "1st MANNED LUNAR LANDING".

These pins were widely distributed to Grumman employees at the time and appear fairly frequently on eBay, where they tend to sell for $55 to $65 on average.


Annex: Apollo 12 Tie Pins sold at auction or identified in private or museum collections

SourceSold viaSale DateLot no.PriceReference / Notes
unknownSuperiorOct 28 1995653Approx $700
ConradOdysseyFeb 27 1994unknownApprox $500
SuperiorOct 26 1996443$776
Ex-ConradOdsseyMar 25 1995unknownUNSOLDWith US flag lapel pin
Ex-ConradChristiesSep 18 1999153$9,775Auction listing 
BeanSuperiorOct 27 2001unknownunknown
Ex-ConradSwannApr 12 2003unknown$4,600
Ex-ConradSwannMar 18 2006unknown$5,750
GordonHeritageMar 25 200858087UNSOLDAuction listing 
Ex-GordonGoldbergNov 7 2009614$2,400Auction listing 
Ex-GordonHeritageNov 17 201041105$3,107Auction listing 
Al BishopeBaySep 10 2014121433097921$15Auction listing 
unknownRRAuctionApr 28 2015197$3,108Auction listing 
ConradRRAuctionJun 25 20155057$9,800Auction listing 
GrummanLeland LittleMar 4 2017376$3,540Awarded to James C. Harrington ; Auction listing 
unknownRRAuctionApr 19 20186404$2,701Auction listing 
GordonHeritageNov 14 201950389$5,625Auction listing 
GordonHeritageNov 21 202050228$8,750Auction listing 

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