Rare Apollo 13 medals appear in coins sale

Rare Apollo 13 medals appear in coins sale

You have until Sunday to take part in Kuenker's auction, featuring this space collectible

German auctioneer Kuenker's online coins and medals auction will close on Sunday (February 28).

The sale has a varied range of rare numismatic gems for collectors, ranging from ancient to modern times.

Featured among the lots are Greek, Roman, Oriental, Byzantine and other collectible world coins and medals.

Among the more unusual medals on offer is one that will interest Space collectors -four gold medals from the famously aborted Moon mission, Apollo 13.

The Apollo 13 mission was thwarted when an explosion onboardcaused a loss of electrical power and failure of both oxygen tanks. However, the crew survived and returned safely to Earth.

Their story was successfully told in a Hollywood adaptation starring Tom Hanks.

The lot features four differently sized gold medals

Each Apollo 13 medal bears the emblem of the mission: three jumping horses on a flight path between the Earth and the Moon.

According to Kuenker, the medals are in four different sizes: 660.05 mm (66.99 g), 29.89 mm (17.43g), 22.74 mm (6.94 g) and 17.78 mm (3.49 g) - a total of 93.52 g.

The medals carry an estimate of 2,200.

Kuenker doesn't specify whether this medal was flown or not (meaning that it has been up in space). A flown Apollo 13 badge sold for an incredible $23,000, earlier this year.

In other Kuenker news, the auctioneer is gearing up for its Spring auctions between March 8-12, with highlights including a historic Polish coin from the 1576-86 reign of King Stephen Bthory.

Image: Kuenker