Z2901

Space Shuttle Landing

Project Mercury

Crew - Carpenter, Cooper, Glenn, Grissom, Schirra, Shepard & Slayton

Collins Cover Announcement 

High Value $3.20 Priority Mail

Space Shuttle with Drag Chute

A Tribute to the Project Mercury Astronauts

I could not let this century end without a Collins cachet tribute to the seven original Project Mercury astronauts. This high-value, Priority Mail stamp, picturing the space shuttle, seemed like the perfect opportunity to do it. The shuttle flights are now routine but only a few short decades ago these seven daring Americans paved the way. They had the "right stuff."

My hand painted cachet is straight forward and direct. It is based on a news photograph of the group. No frills or embellishments are used or needed. All of them - Carpenter, Cooper, Glenn, Grissom, Schirra, Shepard, and Slayton - are shown the way they were. They are the men who led the United States into the Space Age.

This is a cover not to be missed, and, in fact, an extra should be considered. Many ingredients combine to make it an appealing collectible. It has a high value $3.20 stamp. It's a space topical which enhances its desirability. It has a hand painted Collins cachet that pays tribute to an exciting time in our recent history. It will probably sell out very quickly, causing it to increase in value on the open market. But, most of all, it is a First Day Cover that closes the Twentieth Century by honoring a group of men possessed of courage and dedication. The original seven astronauts of Project Mercury. They had the most important ingredient of all. The Right Stuff. Item #Z2901 - $16.50.