I recently obtained the below letter, handwritten by Apollo 15 Moonwalker Jim Irwin, in which he discusses the sale of one of his 'cherished A-15 First Day Covers'. This letter comes from the 'Ulrich Loeffler autograph and space collection' as described below. It appears that Irwin is talking about the 'Apollo 15 Surface Flown Crew Covers' which were on the moon with him and fellow Moonwalker Dave Scott during the Apollo 15 Mission. In this letter, Irwin tells Loeffler that 'The cost of the cover is requested $5000'. Toward the end of the letter, Irwin tells Loeffler he will be 'with Siegfried Fritz in November' and asks Loeffler if he should 'bring one of the flight covers'. In addition to the cover references, Irwin also writes 'Thanks for your good wishes for Ararat and Noah's Ark search'. Beginning in 1973, Irwin led several expeditions to Mount Ararat in Turkey searching of the remains of Noahs' Ark. I also find it interesting that Irwin ends the letter with 'Your Grateful Brother From The Moon'.
Irwin served as Lunar Module Pilot for the Apollo 15 Mission which lasted from July 26 to August 7, 1971. Unfortunately, Irwin passed away prematurely from a heart attack in 1991. It is awesome to think that this American Hero actually wrote this letter and now it is in my collection!
This letter ties in nicely to my post entitled 'Apollo 15 Sieger/Crew Owned Mail Cover Flown to the Moons' Surface'. That post explains that there was a batch of 298 covers which Irwin and Scott had with them on the moon. After their return to earth, these covers were eventually divided up between Irwin, Scott and Apollo 15 Command Module Pilot Al Worden. Each of these 298 covers was assigned an identifying number. I have cover number '240', as can be seen in the below picture. It would be interesting to know which numbered covers each of the astronauts took into their possession so I could know which one originally had cover '240'.
IRWIN LETTER
ULRICH LOEFFLER AUTOGRAPH
AND SPACE COLLECTION DESCRIPTION
MY APOLLO 15 SURFACE FLOWN COVER
NUMBERED '240'
LOA SIGNED BY IRWIN, SCOTT AND WORDEN
DATED JULY 19, 1983
IRWIN (AND COVER '240'!) ON THE MOON