Lunar Sword

The solid gold and jewel-encrusted sword presented to astronaut Richard F. Gordon, Jr.
by King Hassan II of Morocco, for his role in piloting Apollo 12 to the Moon!

In November, 1969, Apollo 12 crewmembers Charles Conrad, Alan Bean, and Richard Gordon
successfully accomplished the second manned lunar-landing.

The mission was piloted both to and from the Moon by Richard F. Gordon, Jr.,
in his role as the mission's "Command Module Pilot".

After safely returning to Earth, the crew embarked on a world-tour on behalf of President Nixon,
at which time they made a state-visit to Morocco as the personal guests of King Hassan II.

To commemorate the historic occasion of mankind's second landing on the Moon,
King Hassan II presented each crewmember with a solid gold and jewel-encrusted sword of state.

Each sword was comprised of over one troy pound of hand-carved 22K gold, encrusted with gems,
and housed in a fitted and hand-tooled Moroccan goatskin presentation case.

After Apollo 12, astronauts Conrad and Bean chose to remain NASA astronauts,
and later each respectively commanded the first two Skylab missions.

As government employees, both Conrad and Bean made the decision to donate their swords
to the American people, and accordingly delivered them to the State Department.

It is believed that the State Department, in turn, then transferred both swords to the Smithsonian.

However, after Apollo 12, Richard Gordon chose to retire from NASA, and as a private citizen,
chose to retain his sword for his personal space collection.

The sword then remained in the "Richard F. Gordon, Jr. Space Collection" for thirty-one years,
until being acquired by Peachstate Historical Consulting, Inc. in 2001.

"The Sword of the Moon" is a name symbolic of its presentation to one of only twenty-four men
to ever fly there, and its recognition of mankind's second lunar landing!

Over the years, Peachstate has been privileged to catalog and appraise
the personal space collections of many of the pioneer astronauts and their families.

In all that time, we've never seen an official State decoration from any nation (much less royalty)
awarded to any astronaut that approaches the replacement value of this sword.

The following certified appraisal makes this point abundantly clear!

King Hassan II of Morocco was one of the greatest world monarchs of the twentieth century,
and enjoyed a thirty-eight year reign that lasted from 1961 until his death in 1999.

During that time, he was a staunch alley of the United States, and a close confidant
to every president from John F. Kennedy to Bill Clinton.

He was also a pilot, which led to a natural camaraderie with the numerous
astronauts whom he was proud to call his friends.

He was also one of the Arab world's great peacemakers, and a friend to Israel.

King Hassan II encouraged Sadat to go to Jerusalem to meet with Israel's Prime Minister,
which led directly to the "Camp David" peace treaty between Israel and Egypt.

King Hassan II was also both a great force in modernizing his ancient kingdom,
and establishing internal democratic reforms throughout the land.

He was also a master builder, and his lasting masterpiece is the "Hassan II Mosque".

This modern "Taj Mahal" took 35,000 people seven years to build,
and endures today as the largest religious edifice in the world, after Mecca.

We believe that the opportunity to acquire an artifact as important as
"The Sword of the Moon" is a very special one.

This sword represents a royal presentation piece of a caliber typically seen only
in national museums or institutions such as the Smithsonian, or the Kremlin.

It was awarded by one of the twentieth-century's greatest monarchs,
to one of only twenty-four men in human history to ever fly to the Moon!

It also bears an impeccable provenance, with an accompanying official
signed photographic certification certificate directly from the astronaut himself.

Finally, the Conrad and Bean swords are likely institutionalized,
and as such permanently out of private hands.