Blaine Reed Meteorites List #281 18AUG2025 - Coming Denver Show

Blaine Reed Meteorites
P.O. Box 1141, Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
brmeteorites@yahoo.com

Dear Collectors

It has been a long time since I sent out an offering. Part of this is because I have been so tied up this spring/ summer (soon to be fall) with many other things. Part of it is that I simply have not had new things to offer. The few new things I have gotten this summer have quickly sold to people simply calling and asking about/ for new/ different things. There has not been a lot of this BUT it has been more than enough to soak up the things I had planned on putting on offerings like this. The things being offered here I had planned on debuting at the Denver Show. I suspect that I would have already sold most of these if I had NOT set them aside for this purpose.

DENVER INFO:
Yep, that show is coming soon, too soon for me, frankly. I have lots of prep work that needs doing and a completely NEW venue I have to figure out how to fit in (and that will require new tables and equipment from what I am seeing). YES, we are in yet another NEW/DIFFERENT place for this show once again. This new spot, hopefully, will be long term and is certainly easier to reach from the other shows than we were last year. This new location is Delta Hotel, Denver Thornton. This is located on the South East corner of the intersection of I-25 and 120th (actually, it is in back behind the shopping center on that corner). I will be in room 114 (yes, a hotel room once more, unfortunately. I will not be able to have the open, inviting space where people could hang out I had in the last two show locations. No such space was available in this new distinctly smaller venue so back to a room for me. At least I was able to have a ground floor room). I want to be open the afternoon of September 4th (the show is having a “soft opening” then) but I question my ability to get things set up by then. This new spot is NOT so easy to work with like my last new spot was (the space I had last year was fantastic for easy set up). So, I suspect it will take a considerable amount more time to jig-saw things into the room nicely. At worst, I plan to be open by 10am Friday (September 5th). I will try to be open a bit earlier (9am?) on other mornings of the show. I will stay open until 9, 9:30, 10pm most nights (visitors depending. No people around at all, then maybe call it a night earlier). The show runs through Saturday September 13th. Barring any plagues, big health crisis, national emergencies, war, what have you, I plan to stay through the end (some people are closing up earlier to either set up at or visit one of the other shows that only runs the last few days of this time period). I’ll send out more “show announcements” if any of this changes for any reason.

Click on image to enlarge.

AUSTRALITE BUTTONS
Well, nice partial buttons anyway. These both have nice complete cores (that show strong pressure waves on their leading rounded face) and differing amounts of the flange left surrounding it. I bought these in Tucson and then forgot I had them. They had gotten put kind of where they belonged- with Australites. I re-discovered them while packing things up for the Creede show a couple weeks ago (I bring some Australites there). I got them from a guy that had a fairly good assortment of Australites. Most of his were exactly like the ones I already have (cores, no flange). Some of them were fairly large (but not larger than ones I already have) and he had a pretty large price on them. I was able to finally convince him to sell me just the buttons after showing him that I had plenty like the others (and at a price cheaper than he was asking for his) and I was NOT going to buy the entire lot. Anyway, I ended up with 3 pieces (one I am keeping for the time being – it is very similar to the large one offered here). He said that these came out of a museum –The South Australian Museum in Adelaide I believe. Stupid me didn’t write it down believing that I would remember (and then managed to forget that I even had the things). The smaller piece does still have its museum number painted on it (looks like 1202). The larger piece has been repaired. I am just happy that whomever found the pieces was smart enough to keep them together and then put them back together later (likely a museum worker). The smaller piece has about ½ of its flange intact (in two segments across the core from each other). The lager piece is closer to ¾ intact. Nice pieces. Not cheap, but then, given the fact that the two “complete” buttons I have been offered in the past couple years (they were labeled “complete” but I never got to see how complete they really where) were $4500 for one and $5000 on the other has me thinking that these are actually not unreasonably priced.
a) 3.12g button. ½ flange intact – 20mm x 15mm x 9mm - $700
b) 5.69g button. ¾ flange intact – 23mm x 20mm x 12mm - $1100

SAN ANGELO, Texas: Iron. Medium octahedrite (IIIAB). Found 1897. Tkw = 88kg.
This is yet another piece I got in Tucson and then forgot about. I re-discovered this one with some Sericho individuals I needed to cut in half for Denver. I had set it aside as it had a thin skin of rust browning over substantial parts of it (it had been in a humid climate and didn’t look to have a protective coating of any kind on it) so I set it aside in the pile of “needs work” things (that pile can get pretty big at times). I went ahead and simply cleaned the rust off (with the rust removal kit I got from Bill Mason years ago). I thought about sanding the thing down, re-etching and such but decided to leave this as is as much as possible. Part of this is because I, frankly, suck at etching and part of it is that this does look to be something of a historic specimen at some levels. This has an old (really old) label with it that shows it was once part of the Illinois State University collection. The guy I got it from had it and a few other more common things that they were parting with to get some fancier, rarer things for actual display for their collection. I can understand this. This piece likely just lived in a drawer in a back room there. This is certainly NOT a visually exciting piece. It is basically a square cut specimen (with one edge natural) and the etch does not show well (this is likely from one of the more heated/ shocked areas of the meteorite that was noted in research work done on it). Regardless, I suspect that this is a very hard to get meteorite. I can only recall ever having an ugly little bar with a bunch of holes drilled in it (iron research work in the early days generally used those drilling shavings from such holes) that was maybe 12 or 15 grams in my entire past. The notes on this (in Buchwald’s Iron Meteorites) say that Ward’s Scientific Establishment bought the bulk of the piece after it was found. The label that came with this says “Donor: Wards Nat’l Science Establ”.
123.0 gram part slice – 50mm x 47mm x 5mm - $1200.

SILVERTON, Texas: Ordinary chondrite (H4). Found 1938. Tkw = 14.16kg.
These are pieces that I did get fairly recently. Getting them brought back a lot of memories. This was one of my first “field recovery” meteorites (where I’d spend a couple weeks in an area, knocking on doors, handing out fliers, talking with people to see if they had plowed up any meteorites). The guy that had this was determined to keep this as a “family heirloom”. I ended up offering a pretty substantial amount of money for it in front of his wife at the end. He was still determined to keep it. It seems his wife had better ideas for the $ this thing would bring them. It was the next morning (like well before sunup morning) that he came to seek me out at the motel I told him I was staying at (“in case you change your mind, I’ll be at…”). Rather than do something nice like knock on the door (he did have the room number) he simply sat in his truck honking his horn (yeah, everyone else staying there got woken up too). He insisted on cash though (I usually gave a check as it does act as something of a “bill of sale” showing I DID pay for the thing. I have heard of some getting hit with legal actions after they bought a meteorite with cash only to have the original owner come after them later, claiming that they were never paid. I did NOT want to get into that position (so I ended up making him sign a full “bill of sale”). Unfortunately, it was Saturday morning. NO banks were open Saturday in the area. I had to go up to Amarillo to find an open bank (and take a big cash advance on my credit card) to make this work. Got that done, went home with the stone. Troubles started. Not legal, but research. I had to have this compared to every other meteorite of a similar type that was found within 15 miles of this one. Well, the most likely candidate was Silverton, Tx. The problem here was that the ONLY place that had a thin section that would allow this comparison to be done (to the satisfaction of the Nomenclature Committee anyway) was a place in Germany. I sent them an already made-up thin section of my (10.1kg) stone to make it “quick and easy”. Nope, it still took years to get that done. Yep, it turned out to match the piece that was found back in 1938. These two pieces came from Jim Schwade who got “them” from me back in February of 1991 (probably at the Tucson show that year). Each comes with one of his labels. However, while measuring things for this list I noticed that these two pieces actually fit together to form a much large part slice (there is still one cut edge – likely the piece I cut off of this, likely the center slice of the stone I got, for research work). I looked up Silverton in Jim’s collection catalog and, yes, there is (was, anyway) a 585g “part slice” listed for this meteorite there. It seems that it got dropped or such (broken in shipping?) at some point. The weights on the labels are very slightly higher than the weights of the pieces. This is because I sanded one side back to 220 grit so you can actually see some of the structure of this meteorite. Both sides were fairly highly polished. As such, they were very dark brown and did not show much of anything with the naked eye.
a) 250.2 gram slice – 130mm x 90mm x 7mm - $850
b) 331.3 gram part slice – 130mm x 120mm x 7mm - $1125
c) both pieces - $1700

WHITECOURT, Canada: Iron. Medium oct. (IIIAB). Found 1906. Tkw = 140.9kg.
This is a completely natural as found individual. Nothing has been done to it since it was found. It has a classic shrapnel shape to it. When I’d show Sikhote-Alin shrapnel pieces to people in the past I made it a point to tell them that this is NOT how a meteorite really looks. For the most part, it isn’t. BUT, once a crater is involved….. Now we have at least three different meteorites that look (almost exactly) like this (Sikhote-Alin, Gebel Kamil and Whitecourt). Enough so that it would be hard to sort them out from one another without the aid of scientific equipment. I got this piece in Tucson and kind of planned on keeping it for myself. I may still do that if it does not sell. Currently, I don’t think I have ANY meteorite specimen from Canada at the moment and it might be kind of interesting to have a display showing the 3 meteorites currently known meteorites that look so similar (yes, Henbury and/or Boxhole could qualify but they tend to be a lot smaller and not quite so obviously shrapnel shaped).
225.4g shrapnel fragment as found – 75mm x 45mm x 20mm - $1200
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Shipping:

Well, once again, the post office has increased prices (a lot). I knew about the increase in the basic “forever” stamps (and stupidly missed buying some before the cost went up in July) but did not see an increase in other shipping costs. That seems to have now come about. I mailed my first package (actually just a padded envelope with a very small item in my smallest jewelry box) since August 1st and it ran me over $7 for “ground advantage”!!! (it would have been around $15 for priority as they really penalize you if you do not have “standard packaging” with priority. Basically forcing you to use a flat-rate box or really get screwed on shipping rates). Speaking of flat-rate/ priority rates. It now looks like $12 is needed to send a small flat-rate box (yeah, I know. You can get it for more like $11 if you do all the work online and print the label yourself. However, I have been finding lately that that system has been having LOTS of problems lately and I am only able to do such less than half the times I try).

I have no idea on what changes have happened in overseas/ out of the country rates. I’ll have to custom quote those kind of shipments for now.

Blaine Reed Meteorites - List 280 30APR2025

Blaine Reed Meteorites
P.O. Box 1141, Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
brmeteorites@yahoo.com
LIST 280 - April 30, 2025


Dear Collectors

This (interestingly) is probably my first list in 20 years that I don’t have a single NWA meteorite on.

As I mentioned above, some of these things I have only a very small amount. However (aside from Richfield and Cape York) I have checked a bit and found that, if I have sold a piece you were hoping to get before you could contact me, I should be able to get very similar replacements. I’d just need a week or so maybe to get my hands on it.

A note concerning the photos in this offering:
I want everyone receiving this post with imbedded group photos of the items on this list that the item pictured MAY NOT be the identical item you receive (except for cases where I have clearly labeled an item as “the only one this size” or similar). I usually have (and sell) multiple pieces of each size of the items listed (sometimes MANY of them – far to many to put all in a photograph for people to pick from). What I normally do is send the first person that asks for a particular item the largest piece available in whatever size range it is that the specimen they are buying belongs to (when I send a piece that is not in the photo, you generally get a very similar but slightly larger piece). This came about as MOST of my sales from these periodic larger catalogs come from the paper mailed version of this offering where no photos exist so customers don’t know exactly what the piece they ordered looks like (and are usually quite happy to receive a slightly larger specimen instead). So, you can certainly request the exact item in the group photo and I am happy to send it if someone else hasn’t already requested it. Please let me know if you would likely ONLY be happy with receiving that actual pictured piece(s) and I will NOT do any substitution(s) in your order.




CAPE YORK, Greenland: Medium octahedrite (IIIAB). Found 1818. Tkw = about 58tonnes.

This is one thing I did manage to work on (on one of the few nice days we have had). I picked up a 200g rectangular slice of this in Tucson. Hated to cut it down, but I did have a couple people wanting a smaller piece of this. I figured that others would as well. This meteorite was likely known by the native of the Greenland area for hundreds of years. They spent large amounts of time beating on these irons to get iron for knives and spear points. Some of these items were given to Capt. J Ross in 1818 and it didn’t take long for them to be recognized as meteoritic. In 1898 R.E. Perry located and loaded up (for a trip to New York) the three known masses. Luckily for the natives, they were (in general) supplied with “modern” iron implements as replacements. These are all rectangular slices etched on one side.
1) Part slices, etched on one side:
a) 10.7 grams - 20mm x 18mm x 3mm - $175
b) 23.0 grams - 31mm x 26mm x 3mm - $360
c) 44.0 grams - 43mm x 37mm x 3mm - $760 - NOT in photo, but very similar.




AMO, Indiana: Ordinary chondrite (L5). Fell December 10, 2024. Tkw = about 70kg.

I was offered some of this in Tucson (and did put some pieces out for sale). The price back then was $120/g. News got out that a large piece (53kg found by Robert Ward) had been discovered (and was even on display a short walk from my room). Of course, speculation that a large amount of this material were about to be dumped on the market had people believing that prices would soon plunge. Yep. Prices did drop somewhat, but they certainly have not plummeted. I suspect that this might be one of those falls where prices don’t ever get really cheap. The big pieces were (so far) found by people that plan to keep them and keep them intact. Smaller pieces have been found, but not that many. I have not had anyone offering me any of this material in any quantity since its fall. Anyway, I decided it might be kind of nice to offer some of the newest US fall on this list. IF you really feel the want/ need to own a piece of this new fall, maybe stick with buying a small(ish) piece for now. That way, if the price does drop from here, you can be thankful you didn’t spend a fortune to get the biggest piece of this you could get as soon as you could get it. But then, if the price stays here (or starts to go up) then you can be happy you already have a nice piece of this meteorite in your collection.
1) Slices/part slices:
a) .57 grams - 10mm x 7mm x 2mm - $35
b) 1.14 grams - 11mm x 11mm x 2mm - $69
c) 1.8 grams - 19mm x 11mm x 2mm - $103
d) 3.3 grams - 22mm x 18mm x 2mm - $180
e) 6.4 grams - 34mm x 27mm x 2mm - $340
f) 13.9 grams - 50mm x 35mm x 2mm - $720
g) 35.9 grams - 80mm x 80mm x 2mm - $1795 – complete slice.



RICHFIELD, Kansas: Ordinary chondrite (LL3.7). Found 1983. Tkw = 41kg.

I once had the entire mass of this meteorite. I had it cut up into slices about 6mm or so thick before I found out what it was. This meteorite has lots of areas that have been darkened by solar wind implanted gasses. Those areas do a god job of hiding the chondrules. The piece I first cut open (a solar wind area) looked very, very much like an L5 so I told the person cutting it to cut it the standard chondrite thickness (which was around 6mm at the time for a stone this large). Only later did I find out that this was, a rare and desirable meteorite type. I have long since sold all of those large slices (though I do have a 517g custom framed complete slice that has been cut down to only a few mm thick - $4000) and now only have small pieces (that I too have split into thinner pieces). I’ve priced these a lot lower than what pieces of this brought back when I first offered them. My inventory records seem to show that I have only a total of around 150g of this material remaining (the big framed slice is a consignment).
1) Part slices:
a) 1.2 grams - 13mm x 10mm x 3mm - $10
b) 2.5 grams - 18mm x 16mm x 3mm - $20
c) 5.6 grams - 25mm x 25mm x 3mm - $44
d) 10.7 grams - 35mm x 30mm x 3mm - $82
e) 13.6 grams - 55mm x 30mm x 3mm - $100




NORTON COUNTY, Kansas: Enstatite achondrite (Aubrite). Fell Feb. 18, 1948.

I really, really hesitated to put these on this list as I have so very few of them. However, these are a special enough item I felt it would be a good idea to let as many people as I can know about them. I have also looked into getting more/ replacement pieces and it does look like I should be able to get some. Aubrites are a really rare item on their own. I have had very few of them go through my hands over the years. However, these particular pieces are far more special yet. These all fluoresce (with a 365nm filtered LED black light) very brilliantly. There is no mistaking the fluorescence of these pieces. They all have a sizable amount of iron free olivine patches that fluoresce a brilliant yellow (I’ll try to get a picture of these under black light I can send people who ask for it. Not sure it will work, but I will try). These are all ex University of New Mexico specimens. Each is a smallish fragment with a number (in black on a white painted spot) painted on it.
1) Natural fragments that show good fluorescence:
a) 3.8 grams - 17mm x 15mm x 10mm - $190
b) 4.8 grams - 22mm x 13mm x 10mm - $240
c) 5.9 grams - 22mm x 18mm x 12mm - $295






IMILAC, Chile: Stony-iron (Pallasite). Found 1822.

All I have had to offer for this meteorite the past couple decades has been the little “shrapnel”, wild shaped pieces, that have had their crystals turned to a sandy texture (I do still have some, but not a lot, of those - $15/g). I can’t recall the last time I had a truly nice, fresh slice of this meteorite to sell (even as a single piece or on consignment). Which is kind of a shame as it is positively one of the very prettiest meteorites in existence. I picked up a small (very small) selection of really nice slices in Tucson this year. Actually, I ended up getting them from a couple different sources (one etched their slices, one stuck with the simple but beautiful high polish). These are NOT cheap but they are superb ”stained glass window” effect stable pallasite slices. Seymchan (now running $15 to $20/g on a good day) is stable but it rarely has really nice clear crystals like this material has. If these (or the particular size piece you want) sells quickly, fear not. I (with a little time) should be able to obtain nice replacements for any of these pieces/ sizes.
1) Thin cut full and part slices:
a) 4.5 grams - 21mm x 18mm x 2.5mm - $180 – polished slice.
b) 10.7 grams - 30mm x 24mm x 3mm - $430 – etched slice.
c) 21.1 grams - 44mm x 30mm x 3.5mm - $840 – etched slice.
d) 41.8 grams - 65mm x 60mm x 2mm - $1600 –polished complete slice.



PHILIPPINITE: Tektite from Philippine Islands. Bikol Province “Bikolite”.

These I do have a fairly good selection of. I lucked into these through a trade in Tucson. Yes, I already had (and have offered) plenty of Philippinites in the not terribly distant past. However, I have not had ones like these. These are the really classic deep grooved specimens (my other, smaller pieces have grooving but it is quite shallow – only a few mm deep). If you have seen a picture of a large classic Philippines tektite then you know what these look like – generally quite large, round with really interesting deep groves and knobs. However, these are from Bikol whereas many (most?) of the classic ones I have seen labeled as Rizal province (“Rizalite”). I had my source double check that these were indeed really from Bikol. “Yes, absolutely” was the answer. Not sure if that makes these more interesting or rare. Not sure it really matters. I am offering these at below the price that was asked for me to pay (“wholesale”) in Tucson for similar pieces just a couple years ago.
1) Natural individuals as found:
a) 31.4 grams - 38mm x 35mm x 20mm - $70
b) 68.4 grams - 50mm x 40mm x 25mm - $150
c) 114.8 grams - 50mm x 45mm x 45mm - $235
d) 152.5 grams - 55mm x 50mm x 45mm - $300
e) 187.4 grams - 65mm x 50mm x 40mm - $350
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Shipping:
US Shipping: Well, postal rates have increased yet higher. It seems that the very cheapest I can send one of my jewelry boxes in a padded envelope now cost just under $6 ($5.65 is the very cheapest rate I have gotten so far this year). I will still just stick with $5 for postage on these small things for now. This is for the “ground advantage” I have mentioned in the past. It still looks like that method is still getting things were they need to be pretty much as fast as the “First-class” method that once existed (and, so far, I have not had a package disappear because it got lost in a truck full of larger packages). For things people prefer to send “Priority”, the costs are $10 for fairly small things (whatever can fit in a small flat-rate box) and around $18 for large things (things that need a medium flat-rate box).

For overseas shipping, it does look like the “First Class” option still exists (thankfully, because most overseas small flat-rate costs are bumping up against $50 these days). I will, likely, need to custom quote even the “first class” jewelry box in a padded envelope none the less. Those used to be around $15 or $16. However, I seem to recall that such a package was quoted at closer to $35 going to France a couple months ago (that customer decided to go with the faster Priority).

Blaine Reed Meteorites - List 279 19MAR2025

Blaine Reed Meteorites
P.O. Box 1141, Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
brmeteorites@yahoo.com

LIST 279 - March 19, 2025


Dear Collectors,

Here is the third “after Tucson” offering. I will (likely) have a couple more at some point. However, thanks to various projects (trying to maybe pull together a larger “Spring” mailed/ e-mailed offering), possible trips (visiting the Denver Spring show next month) and more may keep me too busy to put out more of these e-mail offerings for a while (most of the remaining “new” items I brought back from Tucson are mine or belong to someone that is not in a hurry to have me return them so there is not the immediate need/ rush to offer them as some of the pieces I have already offered).

As last time, if you see something you want but need to wait for some $ to come in, let me know. I’d be happy to set things aside for you (I have permission from pretty much everyone these specimens are from to do that.).



CARICHIC, Mexico: (H5). Found 1983. Tkw = 17kg.
This has to be one of the last “new” meteorites Glenn Huss (American Meteorite Lab) offered. The find date is only a couple years earlier than when he closed/ retired. This piece is a nice complete slice. The catalog number painted on it (on the edge) is “H438.5” so it is one of the earlier pieces he traded or sold of this meteorite. I do see some records of pieces of this meteorite out there in an internet search, but not many (and didn’t find any for sale). The interior is pretty typical of a somewhat weathered H chondrite – a fair amount of (generally small) fresh metal flakes, some (but not a lot) chondrules in a mottled medium to dark brown matrix. The natural edge has the classic meteorite rounded “corners”. Much of it shows weathered fusion crust but some of it is old natural chipped (from the fall?) surfaces. This comes with its original American Meteorite Lab label.
302.8 gram complete slice – 120mm x 115mm x 7mm - $1800

DEAKIN (007), Australia: (H6). Found 1989. Tkw = 1.06kg.
I remember having some of this to sell myself years ago. Those piece came from the same place as this one: David New. For a few years, he had a good assortment of different Australian meteorites for sale. I bought specimens of all the different ones I could get for my “micro collection” and others in multiple pieces to sell (to, maybe, help pay for the ones I kept). This piece is an interesting complete slice. About 2/3 of the edge has the classic crusted meteorite shape. I don’t see actual crust on those areas though. If it is there, it is hidden under a light orange/tan layer of adhering material (dirt or caliche). The remaining areas of the edge are clearly areas where a piece has broken or chipped off (but very long ago. There are no recent looking broken/ chipped surfaces). The interior is, as to be expected with an older H find, a medium to dark brown. There are lots of metal grains (many somewhat oxidized to a quasi-metallic looking magnetite/ hematite) and, also to be expected for a Type 6, no real clear complete chondrules (some part chondrules though) visible. This comes with its (now likely 35 year old) original David New label.
74.8 gram complete slice – 85mm x 50mm x 5mm - $400

KUNYA-URGENCH, Turkmenistan: (H5). Fell June 20, 1998. Tkw = 1000kg.
The card that comes with this specimen says that Jim Schwade got this specimen from me back in June of 1999. It is apparent that he got this from my mailed offering sent out that month (I actually found a copy of it!). This piece represents the largest I had available (I had a “42.8g” piece on the list but I often have pieces similar to the pieces actually listed on those mailed lists and whomever asks first gets the largest piece in the size they asked for. I still do this today). On that list (now 25 years ago) I had this material priced at $4.50/ gram. I don’t have this piece priced much higher (I may change this if this does not sell on this offering as a quick check shows others pricing this material at closer to $15/g). To be honest, this is not a terribly pretty piece. It has a lot of rust on its surface. But then, I recall pretty much every piece I had of this did. I kind of wonder if someone, when offering to buy this material after the fall, made the mistake of offering to buy it strictly by the weight. That mistake was made with Juanchenge(which fell only a year earlier). The first pieces of that meteorite to come out were really nice (and also close to $10/g). Weeks/ months later, everything seemed to be rusty, surprisingly so soon after its fall (same as this). What I learned was the Chinese finders of Juanchenge were dropping the meteorites in buckets of water for days/ weeks. They may not look it, but stone meteorites are often quite porous. Let water sink into/ fill those pores and you get a substantially heavier meteorite that brings you more $ when you are being paid strictly by the gram (instead of adding in completeness, condition and such as part of the pricing equation). This does have a patch of fusion crust (about 30mm x 15mm) that clearly shows a thumb-printed texture. This comes with a Jim Schwade Meteorite Collection label.
43.2 gram fragment with crust – 40mm x 30mm x 15mm - $250



SARATOV, Russia: Ordinary chondrite (L4). Fell Sept. 6, 1918. Tkw = 328kg.
At one time, I had a pretty good pile of this meteorite, including pieces that were many kilos in size (this was like 25 or 30 years ago). Lately, I rarely see a piece or Saratov, large or small. This is an interesting meteorite. I have always liked it. Probably its most obvious feature is that it is quite friable (though not quite as bad as the Bjurbole, Finland meteorite). It is not hard to simply rub this thing and have chondrules start to fall out (the matrix turns to fine dirt if you do this). It is really common, when receiving a piece of this, to find at least a few chondrules that have managed to escape on their own in whatever box or bag the piece is received in. The Jim Schwade label that comes with this piece has the weight as 696 grams. My weight has it at 694.7 grams. So, only about a gram difference from when the card was made up (some years ago). Some of this MIGHT be humidity escaping the specimen (Illinois is far more humid than I am here. This meteorite is very porous and will absorb some moisture if left unprotected in a humid place) but I suspect that a good portion may be due to chondrules making a break for it (I know there were a few loose in the bag when I got it). Anyway, this is a really nice nearly fist-sized specimen that has a nice patch of fusion crust (about 55mm x 70mm in size) on one end. As mentioned above, this comes with its original Jim Schwade Collection label.
694.7 gram fragment – 100mm x 60mm x 55mm - $2100

SELMA, Alabama: Ordinary chondrite (H4). Found 1906. Tkw = 140.9kg.
This is another David New specimen. I did have some of this (smaller, much smaller) meteorite for sale years ago (and I seem to recall that all of those came from David New as well). This piece look like it might have been a museum collection specimen at some point. It has an old (looks like it has been there a long time) number painted on it in a very Nininger-like way – black numbers on a white (now cream colored due to age) rectangle. That number is “3856”. This piece is actually larger than those in some famous museum collections (and entirely missing in many others) and may be rare as such. This piece is an end piece that has part of the “bottom” cut off of it – so a “bookend”. Actually, it stands up perfectly as a bookend on its own. No display stand needed. The interior shows a lot of fine fresh metal grains in a medium to dark brown matrix. There are certainly lots of chondrules visible but you have to look a bit closer to see them. All of the exterior surfaces of this piece look to be old natural fractures. I don’t see anything that I’d feel confident in calling “weathered fusion crust” on it. Regardless, this a nice looking specimen of an older historic find that not a lot of has gotten out into the collecting world. This comes with its original David New label.
604.8 gram bookend – 120mm x 95mm x 30mm - $2400

TSAREV, Russia: Ordinary chondrite (L5). Found 1969.
Now I have had quite a bit of this meteorite in recent history. In fact, I know I have a number of slices remaining (just need to dig a little bit to find them). However, I don’t have the old David New label to go with any of those pieces. I thought that that this was a part slice, looking at it in its Riker. Nope, it is actually a cut end piece (an end piece that has two sides cut that makes it basically rectangular). The back side is original rounded natural weathered surface. What is more interesting is that the back side has a deep natural hole/ thumb-print that goes all the way through the piece. So, this specimen has a natural hole near one of the shorter ends. Interesting piece!
73.3 gram cut end piece – 65mm x 39mm x 10mm - $300

Shipping:
I will probably have to custom quote most of these. I can probably get the Kunya-Urgench in one of my standard jewelry box inside a padded envelope ($5 for “ground”). It and the Tsarev and Deakin pieces would fit just fine in a Priority small flat-rate box ($10). The other things (Carichic, Selma, Saratov) will require substantially larger packaging.

Blaine Reed Meteorites- List #278 11MAR2025

LIST 278 - March 11, 2025

Blaine Reed Meteorites
P.O. Box 1141, Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
brmeteorites@yahoo.com

Dear Collectors,
Here is the second in a series of “After Tucson” offerings. It is likely that I will be cramming more of these offerings much closer together time wise than I usually do (but then, last year, I hardly did any of them the entire year). This is partly because many of these things are consigned items. The owners may want some of these back before I get a chance to try and sell them. I’d rather try to earn a little $ sending them to a buyer than just spending shipping money to send them back home. I don’t think some of them would be terribly happy if I waited until summer to offer their items to collectors (but then, maybe I could hold them for the Denver show if they didn’t sell then).

I do know “tax time” is upon us. I myself need to get that taken care. I generally have to wait as various museums and institutes send me 1099 forms (that MUST be reported on/ in my taxes). Unfortunately, a good number of them wait until the last legal day (March 31st I think) to send them out to me. Anyway, I do know many of us are worried about taxes. I also know many of us will be getting a refund (I will this year, thanks to the solar/ battery backup system I spent the later part of last year getting up and running). IF you are one of those lucky folks that are going to be getting a refund AND you see something on this list (or past and future ones for that matter) you want and would like to spend some of that refund $ on it, just let me know. I’ll be happy to set aside the item you want until your refund money comes in. All I ask is, if you do set something aside with me for this, let me know ASAP if, for some reason, you change your mind on wanting the specimen after all.

CAPE YORK, Greenland: Iron. Medium octahedrite (IIIAB). Found 1815.
This piece does belong to me. It did not come with any kind of label. I couldn’t do anything with it in Tucson as I was not exactly certain just what it was (I had my suspicions though). Yes, I had the XRF and I could have run it to get its makeup (Ni, Co, Ge, P, S…). However, the actual data I needed (analysis results on different iron meteorites) were all in a book sitting on a shelf in my office. Thankfully, my suspicions (from remembering very similar pieces floating around years ago) turned out to be correct (or this would have ended up being very expensive Toluca or El Sampal for me). The XRF data clearly says this IS a piece of the famous Cape York meteorite. There was indeed a fair amount of this available years ago. Not so much these days. I don’t think I have had a piece of it in around 10 years or so. I do have people asking for pieces of this from time to time. So, (this is NOT intended to be any kind of threat) if this does not sell as is fairly soon, I will cut this into smaller pieces to offer on a future list (maybe even my Spring 2025 mailed list, if I do one). This is a very typical rectangular slice (all cut edges) with a nice medium octahedrite etch and only a few tiny troilite inclusions. I’ll make up some kind of label for this and (if the buyer wants) put it in a Riker.
211.1 gram rectangular slice – 95mm x 80mm x 3.5mm - $3000

DALGETY DOWNS, Australia: Ordinary chondrite (L4). Found 1941. Tkw = 217kg.
I offered some of this material on a recent mailed catalog (my January 2024 one, actually). I ended up selling quite a lot of it from that offering. All of those were substantially smaller than this piece. This is a piece that came (years ago) from David New (I think I even bought a number of pieces of this meteorite from him when he first brought it out all those years ago). Like my smaller pieces, this has a good amount of metal (not a ton – remember, this is an L-type) in a matrix that is mixed chocolate brown and light tan. This piece is a thick part slice. It has one cut edge with the remainder being the typical old natural fractured surfaces this meteorite typically shows (I don’t ever recall seeing ANY actual fusion crust, weathered or not, on a piece of this meteorite). This specimen comes in a Riker with its original David New label.
106.8 gram part slice – 70mm x 50mm x 10mm - $425

FORREST LAKE (b), Australia: Ordinary chondrite (L6). Found Oct. 1980, Tkw = 26kg.
I sure remember this meteorite! I think it was the second stone meteorite I ever got a piece of. I got a nice slice of it from Robert Haag, actually. At that point, he had it listed as Forrest(b). Now (with the finding of many more meteorites in the “Forrest” area) this is officially Forrest (002). I suspect that this particular specimen got into collector’s hands very early after this meteorite was found and recognized. At least before the area was “simplified” to just Forrest (otherwise there might have been lots of odd names. Forrest Lake, Forrest ditch, Forrest rock…..). Regardless, this is actually one of the better pieces of this meteorite I have seen. Just looking at it in the Riker, I thought it was a thick slice. Nope, this is actually a nice end piece. Most of the back side does look to be an old natural fracture surface but the edges do show fusion crust (and thumb-printing) in some areas. The interior is the typical fine-grained metal in a nice mottled light tan to brown matrix. This comes with its original David New label.
132.8 gram end piece – 80mm x 60mm x 10mm - $600



GRETNA, Kansas: Ordinary chondrite (L5). Found 1912. Tkw = 58.7kg.
Interestingly, this one comes with an old Cureton Minerals Co, Tucson label. I remember them from very early in my collecting days. I even remember visiting them at their house in Tucson and buying a few things from them one time. I know I had some pieces of this meteorite (both as collection pieces and for sale) and those came from them. This is a nice ½ slice. It has one cut edge. The remainder is split between fusion crusted and old natural fractured edges. This has a good amount of metal visible in a nice mottled brown and tan matrix. This comes in a Riker and (of course) comes with its Cureton label.
95.5 gram ½ slice – 70mm x 55mm x 8mm - $450

SALAICES, Mexico: Ordinary chondrite (H4). Found 1981. Tkw = 24.5kg.
This is actually a really nice specimen. It has a ton of fresh metal in a mottled dark green and brown matrix. This has a high polish on both sides. This would, actually, make really nice lapidary material (cabochons and such). NOT going to do that to this piece though. This is a complete slice – no cut edges. A bit less than half of the edge is obviously weathered fusion crust. The remainder is old natural fracture surfaces. I may be showing a bit of ignorance here, but this has a clear “S167” painted on the edge in Huss or Nininger style but I do not know who’s collection (private or University) this may have come out of. This comes in a Riker with its David New label.
98.2 gram complete slice – 80mm x 65mm x 5mm - $450

SELDEN, Kansas: Ordinary chondrite (LL5). Found 1960.Tkw = 1.56kg.
Here is a meteorite that I am fairly certain that I have never had a piece of. This is not terribly surprising as only a single stone was found. Also, looking over the listing of what institutions have how much of this in the British Museum’s “Catalogue of Meteorites”, it shows that Fort Hayes Kansas State College has the main mass where they list the “main mass” and list that as the total 1.56kg found weight as their collection piece size. Well, that cannot be completely correct as other institutions (but only around 6) have (generally fairly small) pieces. This is an interesting piece. It has the odd look of many classic LL meteorites – very little metal and a mottled light to medium brown matrix that just looks different from H’s and L’s. This piece is basically an end piece (and probably quite rare as such) that has had its bottom and one small end cut off. Maybe call it a bookend? It does stand up very nicely on its own outside of its Riker. The best part though, is the fact that the “natural” part of its backside is (mostly) obvious thumb-printed fusion crust. A likely rare (locality/ name anyway) meteorite that I have not seen a piece of before. This comes with its original David New label (where it has this as an “AMPHOTERITE” – what they used to call LL type meteorites years ago).
48.6 gram part end piece – 53mm x 35mm x 15mm - $500

Shipping:
Pretty much any of these should be able to be safely shipped in a small Priority flat-rate box (if you are only buying one of them anyway). As such, US shipping on any of these is $10. I probably need to check overseas rates again (they seem to change almost weekly these days) but I think it cost me around $45 to send a small flat-rate box to Europe a couple months ago and around $32 on one going to Canada more recently.

I can (and generally will) look into rates for “Ground Advantage” here in the US. However, I have found recently that there are substantial penalties for not using a “standard box size/ shape” (basically any box that is not post office supplied) that often make the costs of shipping “Ground” as much or even more than using whatever size Priority flat-rate box would hold the item(s). I’ll let you know if Ground will save you money. As for overseas/ out of US shipments, I can only use priority, unfortunately. This is because First-Class is not allowed for a package that has a value at or above $400 (a value that all of the pieces here exceed, at their listed prices anyway).

Blaine Reed Meteorites for Sale- List 277 03MAR2025

LIST 277 - March 3, 2025

Dear Collectors

I survived Tucson, though there were some difficulties. Those “difficulties” were that I managed to catch whatever bug it was going around early in the show. It seems that everyone ended up catching it at some point during the show. I just seem to have gotten hit harder than pretty much anyone else around me (I think this has to do with one of the medications for gout I am taking. Apparently, it weakens the immune system making it more likely for you to get ill and be more ill when it happens. I am dropping that med from my routine for now). It wasn’t that I was feeling all that bad, actually, I was just tired and was fighting a fair amount of “brain fog”. These things caused me to alter my usual M.O. at the show. I felt fine during the day but, as evening set in, I’d get really tired. I just couldn’t stay fully awake, with it and social. So, this year, I ended up closing up early (around 9:30 or so) compared to what I’d usually want. I hated to be anti-social this way but I just needed the extra rest. Hopefully, things will be back to normal next year (but then who knows what bug will be going around next year’s Tucson Germ and Malady exchange. There always seems to be something).

Anyway, this first “after Tucson” offering is composed of things that are consignment and fairly expensive (overall price, not when considering price/gram and/or what they are). I want to see if I can sell some of these things BEFORE sending them back to whatever home they may need to go to. I am pricing most of these a bit below what they were priced at the show. All of these are in Riker (where possible), even if the “group photo” does not show them that way.



GARNETT, Kansas: ordinary chondrite (H4). Found 1938. Tkw = 4788grams.
Here is a piece of a meteorite that I am not sure I have ever had a piece of. This probably not terribly surprising as some 3400g of this stuff is locked up in museum collections. Regardless, this piece must be a slice (complete slice) right out of the middle of the meteorite. This is a (comparatively) large complete slice weighting 276.8g (a bigger piece of this meteorite than many/ most museums have). This is a nice looking thing, actually. The interior shows some breccia texture and lots of metal in a mixed/ mottled greenish and brown matrix. This meteorite was obviously found a considerable amount of time after it fell. The exterior edges have the nice softened, rounded edges you’d expect but there is no (apparent) remaining fusion crust. The edges are weathered to a distinct orangish brown. This weathered edge is actually about 1/8”thick. This really looks nice and offsets the interior beautifully. The best part of this specimen is that it is a NININGER piece and has its original early AML label! This label supports the thought that there are probably not that many pieces of this meteorite out there (or, at least, that this was an early/ important piece of it) as it has the number 428.3 (the 3rd piece of this meteorite Dr. Nininger cataloged). This particular label also has handwritten info (in pencil). That consists of “#36” and “contains Cu” (this meteorite contained grains of native copper). This also comes with a David New label. A nice piece that is probably rarer and more important than it looks at first glance.
276.8 grams complete slice – 140mm x 100mm x 8mm - $2900

KENNA, New Mexico: Achondrite (Ureilite). Found 1972. Tkw = 10.9kg.
This will most likely be the most expensive thing I have on any of these “after Tucson” lists. This is a Huss American Meteorite Lab specimen. It has a very clear number (H159.80) painted on its back side and comes with its proper matching paper AML label. This is a one half slice. It has one cut edge. The remainder is natural/ fusion crusted edge. It is obvious, looking at the back of this specimen, that Kenna is NOT a soft meteorite to cut (as most Ureilites are not). Glenn Huss used his wire saw to cut this (he had one many years before any of the rest of us even knew about them). The deep, meandering grooves tell the story that the saw had considerable trouble cutting this. There is easily 1/8” variance in the cut surface levels. I really hate to think the time (and diamond sanding belts) Glenn had to use to polish the front side of this. Can’t recall the last time I even saw a piece of this meteorite. Not sure I have ever had one in my hands that had the AML label either.
31.7 grams part slice – 90mm x 35mm x 3mm - $7900

NOYAN-BOGDO, Mongolia: Ordinary chondrite (L6). Fell Sept. 1933.
Well, it is clear that the Catalog of Meteorite and the Meteoritical Bulletin have something wrong on this. The Tkw is listed as 250g. The piece I have here is almost 50 grams more than that. I suspect that more was found at some point (but not terribly long after the fall or reporting as this piece is very fresh). I do see pictures of other pieces that do indeed show that this is “the right stuff”. However, I did not find anyone offering any of this meteorite for sale at this time. This is a really nice complete slice (with fusion crust complete around the edge). I do realize that it IS large and beyond the budget of most collectors. As such, IF I get interest in numerous smaller pieces of this (closer to $20/g) I may end up buying this piece myself and breaking it up for those collectors (like me) that would like to have a smaller piece of this. This comes with its RA Langheinrich Meteorite Collection label.
297.4 gram complete slice – 140mm x 130mm x 6mm - $4900


OURIQUE, Portugal: Ordinary chondrite (H4), brecciated. Fell December 28, 1998. Tkw = 20kg.
Now this piece is NOT in a Riker (for obvious reasons). This is a large natural fragment. It has fusion crust (with obvious thumb-printing) covering about 1/3 of the specimen. The remainder is natural fractured surfaces that clearly show the brecciated structure of the interior of this meteorite. I suspect that this would look really good as slices (a possibility if it does not sell as it is – I wouldn’t mind a nice slice of this myself). Mike Farmer saw this in my case and commented how rare a piece this size is. He could not think of where a piece this large would have come from (he was the original distributer of this meteorite). Well, it clearly came from him, as it has its original Michael Farmer Meteorites label (with his original address that was walking distance from where I set up in Tucson these days). What little digging around I did, it looks like most of this material is being priced right at $20/g (admittedly smaller pieces) these days.
373.4 gram crusted fragment – 100mm x 60mm x 50mm - $4000

PIERCEVILLE (b), Kansas: Iron oxide. Medium octahedrite (IIIAB). Found 1952. Tkw = 104.5kg.
I have had pieces of this meteorite in the past. They were all small (10g or 20g sized fragments) and certainly did NOT have a Nininger label. Buchwald’s “Iron Meteorites” book says about half of this meteorite went to London and 22.7kg went to ASU in Tempe, AZ. This piece is a complete slice of whatever fragment it was cut from (it has no cut edges). The interior is the quasi metallic blue-gray typical of magnetite and hematite (which much of this probably is). This has a couple interesting natural holes that go completely through the slice. The edges of these have a quasi- layered look and are likely reflecting remains of the crystal structure of the original metal. Not certain, but I suspect these holes are where inclusions (graphite, troilite) weathered out. This has a fairly strong Nininger number (that was likely white but now is more cream colored) – 675.84 – painted on the edge. This comes with its original and proper AML label.
297.7 gram complete slice – 120mm x 115mm x 6mm - $1900

ZHOVTNEVYI, Ukraine: Ordinary chondrite (H6). Fell October 10, 1938. Tkw = 107kg.
Here is yet another meteorite that I don’t believe I have ever had a piece of. This is (as it should be) a very fresh slice. It does have one cut edge (along the bottom as I have it set up in the Riker. The remaining edged is mostly fully fusion crusted, except a several cm long area (upper right corner in the photo) where the stone probably chipped on impact. Not sure exactly how rare this meteorite is in collections (72kg of it is in Russia), but I suspect that there are not too many pieces floating around out there (I couldn’t find anyone offering any when I looked). I’d hate to do it, BUT if I get enough people asking for smaller pieces (closer to $20/g) I may break this piece up (I’d like to keep a piece myself) like the Noyan Bogdo above. . However, I suspect that someone out there will realize that they can make some good money doing the same (particularly those that have better access to on line retail venues than I have). This comes with its original RA Langheinrich Meteorite collection label.
310.5 gram part slice – 160mm x 100mm x 5mm - $4500

Shipping:
On these items, I'll probably have to custom quote shipping.

This is largely due to the fact that they are far bigger than something I can put into one of my usual small shipping packages (all of these but the Kenna are too big for a small Priority Flat-rate box as well). I might end up having to use Medium Flat-rate boxes for most of these. I certainly WILL look into using other "custom" (not standard size priority flat-rate) boxes. However, with the postage changes (which seem to be happening almost monthly these days) I have noticed BIG penalties (higher costs) for using "your own box". In some cases, you can still get off cheaper than the Flat-rate box big enough for the item (generally by shipping by "ground advantage" which, as far as i can tell, gets things done just as fast as 'First Class" ever did), but it is becoming ever less common.

Blaine Reed Meteorites
P.O. Box 1141, Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
brmeteorites@yahoo.com

Blaine Reed Meteorites for Sale- List 276 12JAN2025

Blaine Reed Meteorites for Sale- List 276  12JAN2025

Blaine Reed Meteorites
P.O. Box 1141, Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
brmeteorites@yahoo.com

LIST 276 - January 11, 2025

Dear Collectors

Happy New Year!

TUCSON SHOW INFO: I will be on the road from January 27th until around February 18th. For the show itself, I will be in my usual spot “Days Inn” (665 N. Freeway, Tucson) and I’ll be in my usual room - #134. I should be open by mid to late morning Friday January 31st. I will likely stay through the bitter end (unless security issues become a problem like they did in the “second week” of the Covid year’s April show) which would be February 15th. I open the door most days at 10AM. I will have the door open most evenings until around 9:30pm or so (or later if people are visiting/ still wandering about) but there may be a couple nights I will be out for dinner or such for a couple hours but that should be rare.



ALETAI, China: Medium octahedrite (IIIE-anom). Found 1898. Tkw = around 74 tons.
Here is find that may end up making Gibeon look small. Several multi-ton pieces have been found (including the 1898 28 ton Armanty meteorite – now recognized to be a piece of this material- that was the 4th largest meteorite known until recently). The strewn field is already recognized to be 430km in length! Apparently, the incoming meteoroid hit the atmosphere at a very shallow angle and skipped along the top of it, dropping meteorites as it went. This is nice looking material. It has a wonderful, vibrant etch. Some pieces have graphite inclusions, sulfides and even chromite. I have a few pieces that even have crystals of pyroxene or olivine (this is a detail my XRF will not sort out) as well. These are listed below. In Denver, I saw some sources of this asking around $5/g (and quoted me $3.50/g wholesale) on similarly prepared material (for the usual non-silicated pieces. I had no idea that pieces with olivine or pyroxene crystals existed until I saw these in my batch).
1) Etched part slices. Etched on both sides and spry coated.
a) 4.9 grams - 16mm x 15mm x 2mm - $16
b) 9.5 grams - 28mm x 17mm x 2mm - $30
c) 18.3 grams - 36mm x 25mm x 2mm - $55
d) 27.2 grams - 45mm x 30mm x 2mm - $80
e) 47.7 grams - 70mm x 42mm x 2mm - $140 – only one this size.
f) 82.3 grams - 95mm x 33mm x 3mm - $225 – only one this size.
2) Etched slices with some olivine/pyroxene in them:
a) 5.9 grams - 27mm x 13mm x 2mm - $35
b) 10.8 grams - 40mm x 14mm x 2mm - $60 - not the piece in the photo.
c) 22.1 grams - 40mm x 32mm x 2mm - $125
d) 31.4 grams - 51mm x 31mm x 2mm - $175



GOLD BASIN, Arizona: Ordinary chondrite (L4). Found Nov. 2005. Tkw = 127kg.
As promised on an earlier list, I did cut some of the pieces I got from the retired metal detector guy that called me right before I left for Tucson last January. This is a VERY old fall. Research suggests that this fell around 20,000 to 25,000 years ago. As such, this represents the oldest known strewn field known outside of Antarctica. Regardless, most of these are quite nice inside. They show still plenty of fresh metal, lots of chondrules in a pleasant mottled light tan and gray(almost blue, actually) matrix. I have a fair number of the smaller pieces but don’t have a lot of the “larger” ones (I have only ONE of the 131g size pieces) as not many “large” (several hundred grams and bigger) pieces of this were found.
1) End pieces:
a) 9.5 grams - 24mm x 22mm x 8mm - $15
b) 18.2 grams - 31mm x 23mm x 10mm - $27
c) 30.9 grams - 34mm x 27mm x 16mm - $45
d) 61.3 grams - 45mm x 35mm x 20mm - $85
e) 131.0 grams - 68mm x 59mm x 18mm - $170




SEYMCHAN, Russia: Stony-iron meteorite (Pallasite). Found 1967.
Well, I have no idea the total known weight of this meteorite, but it is a fairly large amount. I do know that there does not look to be any more of this coming out. Whoever has it, has it. I have talked with the folks that recovered this material and they told me “no more looking”. The expeditions to the recovery area are very difficult and expensive. After spending a couple $million
and finding only 100kg or so on the last two attempts it is NOT hard to see why they say “no more”. I got a good deal on these particular specimens and I suspect that these will be the last sub $10/g Seymchan Pallasite I will be able to offer. These pieces ARE all pallasite. However, the crystals in these tend to be larger, darker and in large, dense masses (very little metal in the areas where the olivine resides). The metal areas, likewise, seem to be concentrated. The plus of that (aside from the overall aesthetics) is that the metal areas do (for the most part, there are some exceptions) show nice etch structure (pallasites, in general, do not). I have had similar type pieces in the past and they do sell well. I’ll have these in Tucson but will probably have them priced a little higher than here. The “replacement” prices I am being offered on Seymchan pallasite of any type are getting quite high (my “better quality” pieces that I like to put in custom frames were now $18/g my cost in Denver this past September!).
1) Part slices. Iron areas etched both sides:
a) 10.8 grams - 22mm x 22mm x 4mm - $85
b) 17.0 grams - 37mm x 25mm x 4mm - $130
c) 27.0 grams - 37mm x 34mm x 5mm - $200
d) 37.9 grams - 60mm x 32mm x 4mm - $275
e) 104.7 grams - 70mm x 70mm x 4mm - $735 – only one this size.




NWA (14682): HED achondrite. (Eucrite, unbrecciated). Found before 2020. Tkw = 14kg.
Hated to break up the big slice I had of this good looking material. IF this material did not have some caliche along some edges and if the crust, where present, was less wind-polished, it would be VERY easy to mistake this meteorite as a piece of Millbillillie. Millbillillie was the first eucrite we collectors (back in the mid 1980’s) ever got to see and buy (and it was $20/g back then when it first came out!). This has exactly the equigranular light/ dark salt/ pepper texture that most all Millbillillie showed (and pieces of this that don’t have a natural edge could easily pass as Millbillillie – so keep these separate from any Millbillillie slices you might have). There were a few brecciated pieces of Millbillillie, but not many. We collectors got really excited by these pieces (and they did command a premium). Now, with NWA material, it is easy to see that the unbrecciated texture is far, far rarer. Personally, I really like this texture in a eucrite.
1) Part slices:
a) 5.2 grams - 29mm x 20mm x 3mm - $40
b) 10.3 grams - 45mm x 25mm x 3mm - $77
c) 20.5 grams - 65mm x 38mm x 3mm - $145
d) 42.1 grams - 75mm x 70mm x 3mm - $270
e) 89.6 grams - 130mm x 85mm x 3mm - $525




ATACAMAITE, Chile: Impact crater glass.
These are not actual tektites (though they were thought to be right after they were found) but more “processed” than most crater glasses (like Darwin Glass, Irghizites…). I have seen them referred to as “Tektoids”, close to tektite but just not quite. We do know that these ARE associated with a meteorite impact. These things have a high concentration of the impacting body mixed in them. I have seen listed ranges as from around 5% to 15% of their mass being from the impactor. From this large amount of impactor material we can see some pretty clear info on the ratios of Fe to Ni to Co. These ratios suggest that it was the impact of a type IIAB iron that formed these. Age dating suggests that they formed close to 8my ago. Even though these have been found over a large area (roughly 650sq km area) no evidence of a source crater has been found (and may have been destroyed/ buried by later volcanic action). These are typical rounded shape specimens. They are all a little larger than the typical .5g average for those that have been found so far.
Natural individuals as found:
a) .6+ grams – around 10mm x 7mm x 5mm in size - $10.00 each
b) 1.1+ grams – around 12mm x 11mm x 5mm in size - $13.00 each
c) 1.4+ grams – around 15mm x 10mm x 6mm in size - $15.00 each.

Shipping:
US Shipping: It does seem that I can, generally, send small orders (jewelry box in a padded envelope kind) for around $5 still. This is by what they are now calling “Ground Advantage”. Though it is claimed to be going by trucks (and supposedly a couple days longer) I have found that things are getting to where they need to be pretty much the same time as the old “first class” used to. For things people prefer to send “Priority”, the costs are $10 for fairly small things (whatever can fit in a small flat-rate box) and around $18 for large things (things that need a medium flat-rate box).

For overseas shipping, it does look like the “First Class” option still exists (thankfully, because most overseas small flat-rate costs are bumping up against $50 these days). I will, likely, need to custom quote even the “first class” jewelry box in a padded envelope none the less. Those used to be around $15 or $16. However, I seem to recall that such a package was quoted at closer to $35 going to France a couple months ago (that customer decided to go with the faster Priority).

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 275- more after Denver plus 12NOV2024

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 274- more after Denver plus 12NOV2024

Blaine Reed Meteorites
P.O. Box 1141, Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
brmeteorites@yahoo.com


Dear Collectors,

This is another offering of things I picked up in Denver (and one from back in Tucson) and odd things I found while doing what inventory work I have accomplished so far.

Chinga, Russia- Ataxite
click on image to enlarge

CHINGA, Russia: Iron. Ungrouped. Anomalous Ni-rich Ataxite. Found 1913.
It has been awhile since I have had a piece of this meteorite. My last “pieces” were slices and that was around 4 or 5 years ago. This is a nice complete individual. I seem to recall some of these things liking to rust scale. Not this one. It spent most of its “collector” life in a collection out East, in a NOT dry area. A couple of the Canyon Diablo specimens I got with this were in pretty rough shape. This is nice and solid, no evidence of rust scaling. This has a nice a pleasant chocolate brown color with nice smooth surfaces. A great, solid, fill your hand kind of specimen.
1305.2 gram complete individual – 95mm x 80mm x 45mm - $1500

click on image to enlarge

ADMIRE, Kansas: stony-iron (Pallasite). Found 1881.
This is the piece I actually picked up in Tucson. It kind of got misplaced (put with other things it shouldn’t have) so I forgot I even had it until re-discovering it while doing some recent inventory work (I am starting that tedious process early this year). Actually, “loosing” this piece for months is a good thing. I get a little nervous about selling pieces of this meteorite as some just really, really want to fall apart. This one has not had any special storage conditions what so ever – just sitting in a plastic bag in a beer flat box with some other things. At this point, it has remained perfect. I can see no signs of rust anywhere on the piece (keep in mind though, I do live in a fairly dry environment so you should consider special storage solutions (desiccant, air tight container if possible) if you do not. This is a nice complete slice. One side has been etched and the other has a very light etch but is basically just polished. This has a nice range of crystal sizes, from tiny up to a couple cm or so in size. Several of the larger crystals pass light. A nice piece that has proven itself (in my climate anyway) for the past 10 months.
84.7 gram complete slice – 120mm x 65mm x 3mm - $850

GIBEON, Namibia: Iron. Fine octahedrite (IVA). Found 1836. Tkw = ?? lots.
This used to be the most common, cheapest meteorite you could get (25 years or so ago anyway). I remember selling foot-ball sized individuals of Gibeon for right around $1000 back then. These days, the stuff is not so easy to come by (and expensive when you do). This was a “walk-in” piece at Denver this year. Someone simply walked in with it and asked if I might be interested in buying it. The answer was “yes” and he accepted my offer. These kind of things can really help at what might otherwise be a “slow” or challenging show. This was NOT coated in any way. As such, it had some surface rust (as well as some rust along a natural crack line). It was no trouble to clean this off though. I did that and then (after drying the piece) gave it a good spray coating (so it should be fine from now one – as long as you don’t leave it nest to your shower, hot tub or fish tank anyway). This is a complete slice that has been etched on both sides.
164.9 gram complete slice – 105mm x 70mm x 5mm - $330

KORRA KORRABES, Namibia: Ordinary chondrite (H3). Found 1996. Tkw = about 140kg.
These are a couple end pieces I kind of forgot I had. I knew I had them, they were just in a box with some other things. I have inventoried these piece for years now and always just put them back (thinking that I will cut up the bigger piece into a bunch of nice slices and sell those. I just might end up doing that yet if it does not sell here). I decided that, maybe after 10 or more years of not doing this, I should simply try to sell them (and remove a line from my inventory records). So, I’ll offer them here and now and save myself the cutting and polishing work (maybe). Both are natural fragments as they were found with a cut face. They both show lots of chondrules and breccia fragments (the smaller piece, interestingly is fresher, so things are a little easier to see).
a) 73.0 gram cut fragment – 50mm x 25mm x 23mm - $200
b) 444.0 gram cut fragment – 50mm x 48mm x 60mm - $800

KOSICE, Slovakia: Ordinary chondrite (H5). Fell Feb. 28, 2012. Tkw = 4.3kg.
I got this “left” with me in Denver. A friend dropped it off with me and I put it one of the locked display cases for the show. It (obviously) didn’t sell there (if it did, I would not have it offered here). He left the show before it closed and I agreed to let it stay with me. I didn’t have a lot of hope that it would sell at that show (not many actual collectors showed up this year) but figured I could offer it from home (and return it to him when I see him in Tucson, if I still have it). I have pretty much no experience with this meteorite. I don’t believe I have ever had a piece of it before. It IS a reasonably important meteorite though. Its fall was recorder by camera networks (that aided in its recovery) and not a lot was found (the Met Bull reports that 77 stones were recovered. The largest one makes up just over half the total recovered weight on its own). This is an individual as found. It does have a roughly 22mm x 8mm broken area (late fall break or maybe from hitting something hard on the ground) but is otherwise fully covered in nice thick fusion crust. The broken area does show oxidation (not surprising for an H type that spent some time in a wet environment before it was picked up) but the fusion crust shows only minor orange spotting.
29.7 gram complete individual – 28mm x 23mm x 20mm - $500

SIKHOTE-ALIN, Russia: Iron. Coarsest octahedrite (IIB). Fell February 12, 1947.
This is a lot nicer piece than I had originally given it credit for when I bought it. At first glance, you can see it is a nicely thumb-printed individual. You can also see that it has some browning to it (from a very light dusting of oxidation. So thin, I really wouldn’t call it “rust”. Some of it looks almost like the reddish/ purple “smoke” areas on some Allende individuals). Looking just a bit more though, it becomes obvious that this is a really, really nice oriented specimen (this is hidden a bit by the fact that the “back side” also has a lot of thumb-printing). This has a really nice (and clear, once you actually bother to look at it) fusion crust roll-over rim all the way around it. This piece look like someone might have attempted to lightly clean it at some point in the past (just an area on the bottom/ back) but is, overall, fully original un-messed-with condition (and I’d suggest leaving it as such). One note: I am pricing this (per gram) a bit less than the Russians were asking for average, small fusion crusted individuals at this past Denver show.
337.9gram oriented individual – 60mm x 50mm x 30mm - $1900

WILUNA, Australia: Ordinary chondrite (H5). Fell September 2, 1967. Tkw = 150kg.
This is another specimen that was left with me at the show. Years ago (like 25 to 30 years) I used to get this fairly often. It was not cheap (compared to other things, like Tenham) but it was not really expensive either. This is a piece that came from Geoff Notkin (Aerolite Meteorites) at some point (and comes with its Aerolite Meteorites label). This is really a classic example of this meteorite. This is basically a complete individual. It does have a small (roughly 18mm x 5mm) broken area that shows the light tan interior (which contrasts nicely with the fusion crust around it). The rest of the stone is completely crusted. The crust does have some signs oxidation. Not a lot, but this does help show off the contraction cracking in the crust (these lines form when the glass that is the crust cools. It shrinks a tiny bit and that can result in an interesting kind of geometric crack structure. Think “mud cracks” on a tiny scale.
63.6 gram individual – 42mm x 30mm x 28mm - $950

Shipping:
US Shipping: I can still send my typical “small” orders (item in a jewelry box in a padded envelope) for $5. Actually, it costs me closer to $6, but $5 is ok for now (I am not trying to make $ on “shipping and handling”). Now, this method though is “ground”. So far, it seems to get things where they need to be just as fast as “first-class” did (which was supposedly mostly air). For those that feel better using “Priority” mail, starting costs are right around $10 (small flat-rate box). I’ll probably need to custom quote larger things but I’d think that $18 (medium flat-rate box) would likely be the upper limit (I don’t have many things that would require even a medium flat-rate box).

For overseas shipping, it does look like the “First Class” option still exists, thankfully. However that last overseas thing I shipped (a couple weeks ago to Europe) it seems that “First-Class” rates have risen quite drastically. I think for an order that fit in a small priority flat-rate box first class would have been something like $35. For that order, we decided on priority (largely because the overall value was above the $400 limit for first-class) which ran $48. Overall, Ill need to custom quote pretty much any out of country orders.