Apollo 12 Grumman Tie Pins

Tie tacks and lapel pins were popular choices as souvenirs to take on the early space missions but these Grumman tie pins from Apollo 12 are one of the better-known examples.

The Apollo 12 tie pins were apparently produced by Grumman, with 50 being flown in the Apollo 12 Lunar Module. Half of the flown pins were kept by the astronauts and the other half distributed by the president of Grumman, Lou Evans.

The Apollo 12 tie pins are gold tone, round, and measure 5/8" in diameter.

The front shows a cratered lunar landscape with an enameled American flag, and the reverse has the text

"FLOWN TO THE MOON BY AN INTREPID CREW
APOLLO XII
NOVEMBER 1969"

over a set of Navy wings and the names of the crew.

Grumman 1st Manned Lunar Landing pins

It's worth noting that the Apollo 12 pins used exaclty the same design as the pins created by Grumman to celebrate the Apollo 11 mission. The only difference is on the reverse, where the Apollo 11 pins have "1st MANNED LUNAR LANDING".

These pins were widely distributed to Grumman employees at the time and appear fairly frequently on eBay, where they tend to sell for $55 to $65 on average.