Out of This World: Space-Flown Paper Money

It is among the rarest feats of humankind: achieving human space flight. While exact numbers vary based on definitions (defining where ‘space’ starts is surprisingly difficult), it is generally believed that fewer than 700 people have been to space. And while space flight is becoming easier, with commercial companies now offering everything from short suborbital trips to longer stays at the International Space Station, its hefty price tag means that, for most people, space flight is as elusive and mysterious today as it was a century ago. However, after our sale of seven 24-karat gold Sacagawea dollars, flown aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia in July of 1999, this got me thinking. Was there ever any paper money flown into space?

Space flight is a carefully calculated operation where every ounce of weight counts. Typically, NASA astronauts are allowed to carry a small bag of personal items in a personal preference kit. This kit is limited to 3.3 pounds, meant to carry ‘personal items for use as mementos,’ and all items are carefully recorded before lift-off. Popular items are medals, flags, mission insignia, and postal covers, and desirability depends on the item and the mission they were carried on, who signed them, and their provenance. Not surprisingly, among the most desirable are those flown on Apollo 11, followed by other lunar missions. It turns out that while some paper money was carried, the quantity was relatively small. With stamp collecting in its heyday, astronauts preferred postal covers, which could be sold quickly on the open market for a nice profit above their (government) salary.

It turns out that space-flown paper money is a lot rarer than covers, flags, and other such items. Unlike a small quantity of coins and special medals there’s never been a coordinated effort by NASA to carry paper money into space. The handful of examples that exist were mainly carried privately; it seems that, as early as the Gemini program, some astronauts carried $2 notes for good luck (these would have been Legal Tender Notes, or ‘Red Seals’), the story of many of which are documented on the Jefferson Space Museum website. Another story I could find is related to Apollo 15, which carried a fairly sizable quantity of $2 and $20 notes. However, by accident, a number of these were left on the moon, where they (presumably) remain. Now, a mission to recover these is surely cost-prohibitive, but they certainly would be very collectible!

In 2002, the European Space Agency (ESA) gave Belgian astronaut Frank de Winne three sets of Euro banknotes (released earlier that year) along with 15 national sets of euro coins to take with him to the International Space Station (ISS). These notes were signed by Wim Duisenberg, then President of the European Central Bank, and were subsequently sold at a sealed-bid auction to benefit the ESA education fund. Unfortunately, auction results do not appear to have been published, although a later newsletter from ESA reveals three institutions to have bought the sets. To date, none of the three sets have reappeared at public auction.  

The most commonly seen space-flown notes were carried in the early 21^st century by Russian cosmonauts to the ISS and cancelled there with a special handstamp that is present in the Russian section for precisely this purpose, although again with weight being so critical, even these are rare. The handstamp is also seen on a unique mock-up proof in the collection of the Bank of Canada Museum, which was used to unveil the new design of the $5 note in a video broadcast by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield in December 2012. Besides a ‘SPECIMEN’ stamp, it also carries an impression of the same Russian handstamp.

While this list is not exhaustive, it should be no surprise that space-flown paper money is rare. If you have any items on this list you wish to sell, or other space-flown numismatic items such as coins or medals, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Dennis Hengeveld at [email protected] or call 800-458-4646.