What is the greatest achievement in all of human history?
An impossible question. With so many answers.
But I know that a lot of people will think that the greatest victory for the people of Earth was finding worlds beyond Earth.
And landing on the Moon - on July 20, 1969, with Neil Armstrong leaving the first human footprint on another world at 2:56am GMT on July 21 - is the greatest achievement in that story. So far.
The Apollo command module Columbia, circling the Moon. Image by NASA.
It defies belief
The raw numbers are astounding.
A more than 8-day journey of 953,054 miles in a craft that got up to a speed of 25,000 mph.
Just three men in a capsule of 210 cubic feet (5.9 m3) perched on top of hundreds of thousands of gallons of kerosene on launch and relying on a complex, staged deployment of 9 parachutes to splashdown safely.
Extraordinary bravery. Astounding technical mastery. Unbelievable skill.
Three instant global heroes, their fame transcended national boundaries and seemed to offer a hope of unity around the world for a moment. Click the image to own this item.
Individual heroism. Old-fashioned pluck. Peerless team-work. Cutting-edge innovation.
It's got everything.
The greatest story on and off Earth
The Apollo 11 mission remains by far the most celebrated and collected space mission by some distance.
Three immortals: Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins.
Their names, images, signatures…
All incredibly valuable and likely to remain so. In fact likely to grow in value.
This is an achievement, a first, that will never fade.
The moment the Apollo 11 mission was successfully and - amazingly - completed safely, turning its three crew men into heroes.
Three legendary names
The first man on the Moon, Neil Armstrong, died in 2012, after living largely privately (through a distinguished academic and technical career) post Moon.
Collins (who remained in orbit around the Moon in 1969) died in 2021, after helping to establish America’s National Air and Space Museum.
Of the three, Buzz Aldrin most embraced the fame that came with humanity’s greatest achievement. He suffered somewhat from coping with his notoriety. As the most public Apollo 11 astronaut he produced a large body of collectibles - he appeared in films, TV, and authored a slew of books. He’s 95 at this writing, in November 2025.
Buzz Aldrin's name on perhaps the most famous Moon image of them all is a draw on so many levels. Click the image to own the item.
Celebrating the age when we escaped gravity
The era of space travel, begun by the Sputnik and Vostok Soviet breakthroughs that the Moon landing was a response to, has produced a huge collecting scene.
For the deepest of pockets - usually institutions - there are the actual craft that went into orbit and beyond.
A Russian Vostok 3KA-2 capsule made nearly $3 million in a 2011 auction, to become the most valuable space artefact yet sold.
Buzz Aldrin’s Apollo 11 mission jacket made $2.8 million in 2022.
A surprising amount of NASA material has ended up in private hands. Would you believe you could own this suit, worn by Michael Collins after splashdown? Click the image to find out how.
Huge interest, high prices, maybe big returns
Astronauts (and Cosmonauts and Taikonauts, as Chinese space crew are known) are often compelling, heroic, and sometimes tragic figures.
People like people and they like to feel close to them.
The lives of the astornauts and the things they lived with and around are great collectibles.
And that’s a huge array of items: documents, clothing, books, photographs, PR material... anything with a personal connection, and particularly a signature.
An Omega Speedmaster heading to space. Image by NASA.
There's a lovely, fascinating hybrid for watch collectors to explore in the flight and space watches produced to meet the exacting standards of accuracy and robustness needed to tackle high-speed, high-altitude, low- and no-oxygen environments: Omega watches went into space first and an 18-karat gold Omega Speedmaster presented to Neil Armstrong as a memento of Apollo 11 was sold in 2025 for $1.7 million ($2,187,500 with fees) to set a record for an Astronaut's watch.
Apollo 11 and the Big Three of space collecting
The three men who went to the Moon far surpass any other individual (and team) in desirability and value. Armstrong - firsts always win out - is the top of the pile. Items that link them as a group have a special appeal.
Our own PFC40 index of autographs finds a Neil Armstrong signed photo at around £11,000 currently, a 1,900% increase in the 21st Century.
Neil Armstrong was a rather reluctant public figure, but his "one giant leap" made him the one name that everyone remembers. Click the image to own it.
The whole crew together - a set with a limited window for collectors - is priced at £17,000, showing averaged annual growth of 31% this century.
Wow. No wonder investors like these items. The auctions of the collections of Microsoft founder Paul Allen were the biggest sales in history, raising $1.5 billion in one evening. There was lots of legenday art, but also a substantial space element to Mr Allen's collecting obsession - including a 1964 Mercury space suit layer that sold for over $50,000.
In common with many powerful Silicon Valley figures Mr Allen was an investor in a new generation of, private, space exploration and investment that is most focussed on a mission to Mars. This new interest in space, from some of the richest people in world history, is also pushing interest and prices up in the collecting sphere.
There could be an investment return on items like these.
If you know a space enthusiast then you need to look at this Apollo 11 collection now.
I don’t know now how many of these items will be left for sale when you click through to see them. You’ll see that they do sell. So, if you see something you like don’t miss out on it.
And I wish you an out of this world Christmas.
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