From what I understand, these covers were likely produced by (or for) Eberhard Cölle, a stamp and space cover dealer in Germany. I believe they were made in the 1970s or possibly the early 1980s, using older blanks. It seems as though most were genuinely canceled for real events but never originally cacheted, however some of the “Cape Canaveral” cancels seem questionable to me. If anyone has more information about these covers, i’d love to hear it. Additionally, many of the vibrant cachet designs shown below are actually applied labels rather than being printed directly on the envelopes.
Let’s begin with these four Apollo covers (Apollo 1/2/3/4), which also appear to be Eberhard Cölle creations. The cancels closely resemble each other, and the envelope stock is nearly identical to the other covers shown below. It is possible these covers were canceled in 1966/1967, with the cachet designs added later, or alternatively, the cancels themselves may be inauthentic.
1965 | Back to Year choices
Gemini 2 Launch – 19th Jan 1965:
Ranger 8 Impacted Moon – 20th Feb 1965:
Gemini 3 Launch – 23rd Mar 1965:
Ranger 9 Impacted Moon – 24th Mar 1965:
Gemini 4 EVA – 3rd Jun 1965:
Gemini 4 Splashdown & Recovery – 7th Jun 1965:
Gemini 6 Launch [SCRUBBED] – 25th Oct 1965:
Gemini 7 Launch – 4th Dec 1965:
Gemini 6 Launch [DELAYED] – 12th Dec 1965:
Gemini 6 Launch – 15th Dec 1965:
Gemini 6 Splashdown & Recovery – 16th Dec 1965:
Gemini 7 Splashdown & Recovery – 18th Dec 1965:
1966 | Back to Year choices
Apollo AS-201 – 26th Feb 1966:
Gemini 8 Agena Target Vehicle Launch – 16th Mar 1966:
Gemini 8 Splashdown & Recovery – 17th Mar 1966:
Surveyor 1 Launch – 30th May 1966:
Gemini 9 Augmented Target Docking Adapter Launch – 1st Jun 1966:
Gemini 9 Rendezvous – 3rd Jun 1966:
Gemini 9 EVA in Space – 5th Jun 1966:
Gemini 9 Splashdown & Recovery – 6th Jun 1966:
Apollo AS-203 – 5th Jul 1966:
Came from same place as the AS-201 and AS-202 covers on this page, so i’m 99% sure this is from the same manufacturer
Notice the similarity between this cachet design and the SCPS logo which started in 1973. Maybe a coincidence, but I don’t think so !
Gemini 10 Target Vehicle Launch – 18th Jul 1966:
Gemini 10 Stand-Up EVA – 19th Jul 1966:
Gemini 10 Rendezvous – 20th Jul 1966:
Gemini 10 Splashdown & Recovery – 21st Jul 1966:
Apollo AS-202 – 25th Aug 1966:
Gemini 11 Target Vehicle Launch – 12th Sep 1966:
Gemini 11 Launch – 12th Sep 1966:
Surveyor 2 Impact on Moon – 23rd Sep 1966:
Gemini 12 Launch – 11th Nov 1966:
Gemini 12 Target Vehicle Launch – 11th Nov 1966:
Gemini 12 EVA – 13th Nov 1966:
Gemini 12 Stand UP EVA – 14th Nov 1966:
Gemini 12 Splashdown & Recovery – 15th Nov 1966:
LATER | Back to Year choices
Surveyor 3 Mission ? – 19th Apr 1967:
Surveyor 3 Mission ? – 22nd Apr 1967:
Surveyor 5 Analysis of Lunar Soil – 10th Sep 1967:
Apollo 4 (AS-501) Launch – 9th Nov 1967:
Surveyor 7 (?) – 9th Jan 1968:
Apollo 6 (AS-502) Launch – 4th Apr 1968:
Apollo 11 Launch – 16th Jul 1969:
Apollo 11 Moon Landing – 20th Jul 1969:
Apollo 11 Splashdown – 24th Jul 1969:
Apollo 12 Moon Landing – 19th Nov 1969:
Apollo 15 Lunar Rover Post Office – 2nd Aug 1971:
Space Shuttle Test Crews Named – 24th Feb 1976:
Lower Body Pressure Test for Space Shuttle – 29th Nov 1976:
10 Year Anniversary of the Apollo 1 Fire – 27th Jan 1977:
Space Shuttle Test Flight on Boeing 747 – 28th Jun 1977:
Voyager 2 Launch – 10th Aug 1977:
Voyager 1 Launch – 5th Sep 1977:
Pioneer Venus 1 Launch – 20th May 1978:
Pioneer Venus 2 Launch – 8th Aug 1978:
Space Shuttle Columbia Arrives at KSC – 26th Mar 1979:
10th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing – 20th Jul 1979:
20th Anniversary of the Launching of Chimp Miss Sam Mercury Test – 1st Jan 1980:
Space Shuttle STS-1 Launch – 12th Apr 1981:
