Neil Armstrong’s Scout hat, Silver Buffalo Award among items to be sold by Heritage Auctions

By Bryan Wendell | November 17, 2018

A collection of memorabilia from Neil Armstrong’s time in Scouting, including his Boy Scout hat, Silver Buffalo Award and a variety of Scout patches, will be auctioned off this week in Dallas.

The Scouting artifacts are part of the Armstrong Family Collection, presented by Heritage Auctions and Neil Armstrong’s sons, Mark and Rick. The pre-auction is underway; the formal auction is held Thursday through Saturday.

At least 28 of the 3,000-plus items in the collection are Scouting-related. The most valuable item, which has a current bid of $2,600, is a size large olive-green Scout hat worn by Armstrong as he progressed through Scouting on his way to becoming an Eagle Scout.

That’s followed by Armstrong’s Silver Buffalo Award, currently going for $2,500. The Silver Buffalo, which is the highest honor the BSA presents to adult volunteers, was awarded to Armstrong in 1970. The winning bidder will receive the red-and-white medal, matching lapel pin, certificate and a program from the ceremony.

Are those items a bit out of your price range? There’s also a number of council, National Jamboree and World Scout Jamboree patches currently listed for less than $50.

One of the most interesting items is a pair of letters sent by BSA executives in 1970 to Neil Armstrong’s dad, Stephen. In the letters, the executives thank Neil Armstrong for attending the BSA’s 1970 annual meeting, which was “a thrilling experience at Denver.”

“When Neil was introduced, the Scouters gave him a thunderous standing ovation,” the letter states.

Current bid for the letters: $1.

Noteworthy non-Scouting items in the collection include a piece of a Wright Brothers wing that Armstrong took with him to the moon, a gold pin from Gemini VIII, and letters sent to and from Armstrong before his Apollo 11 mission.

“There will be flown items, autographed items and items of historical significance,” Mark Armstrong said in a news release. “There will be items that make you think, items that make you laugh and items that make you scratch your head.”

See the BSA items in the collection

Go here to see the 28 Scouting-related mementos in the collection.

Even though most of these items likely will go to private bidders, Heritage Auctions will photograph and catalog each piece. That way they can be referenced later by researchers or others with interest in these Scouting artifacts.