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David Frohman, President of Peachstate Historical Consulting, Inc., has recommended that the
Charles M. Duke, Jr. "Apollo 1 Archive" be donated instead of sold for profit to collectors
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January 31, 2000
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Earlier this month, David Frohman, President of Peachstate Historical Consulting, Inc.,
discovered the "Apollo 1 Archive" in the holdings of Apollo 16 Moonwalker Charles M. Duke, Jr.
David Frohman has now issued a statement about when and where his firm will market the archive,
which bears an initial pre-appraisal estimate of nearly one-million dollars. "In a situation such as this, dealers would typically pay 50-60% or so of the estimated retail value of the archive. In this case, that might mean $500,000.00 in proceeds to General Duke, with Peachstate then also eventually realizing $500,000.00 or so in profit before taxes as we then sold the archive page by page to collectors over the decades," Frohman said. "That being said, while I would welcome the very lucrative financial rewards that would come from Peachstate marketing this archive to our clientele, I cannot in good conscience allow that to happen!" "There is a time and a place to sell appropriate artifacts to private collectors, and Peachstate does so every day. Indeed, over the years we have endowed some of the world's finest private space collections", Frohman stated. "However, that being said, the historical importance of this absolutely unique archive is beyond measure. Therefore, I cannot ethically recommend to General Duke any other course of action then to donate this archive intact to a suitable public institution where it can be properly conserved and carefully studied by scholars", Frohman said. "The public good must win-out in this situation over any private gain", Frohman reiterated. "I am also delighted to report that General Duke shares my philosophy in this matter, and we now look forward to locating a suitable public institution together for this archive. |
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