Wednesday 23 October 2013

Blaine Reed Meteorites- List 142. More interesting small rarities

Blaine Reed Meteorites- List 142. More interesting small rarities

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
…………………………………………………………………LIST 143

October 22, 2013

Dear Collectors,

Here is my second “after Denver list”. Much like the last one, this is mostly small, inexpensive (from an overall price stand point not necessarily from a price per gram view though) but interesting things offering. Some of these things are meteorites that I am certain I have never had pieces of before.

BURSA, India: (L6). Fell 1946. Tkw = 25 kilograms.
I am quite certain that this is a meteorite that I have not had a piece of before. I am not certain that I have ever had a meteorite from Turkey before. As much of the things on this list, these are small fragments. Unlike many of the other pieces listed though, the plastic research vial contains the lot of smaller pieces in this case. Part of this is because there was no real stand out pieces size wise but part of it was that most of these small pieces show nice patches of fusion crust (not the case with the larger but single piece specimens).
a) .04 gram fragment in a capsule - $12
b) .075 gram fragment in a capsule - $20
c) .133 grams fragments (most showing crust) in plastic vial - $40

DHURMSALA, India: (LL6). Fell July 14, 1860. Tkw = 149.4 kilograms.
This is a batch of fragments (up to 4 or 5mm in size) in a lidded research vial labeled “Dhurmsala #41a chips”.
.28 grams o fragments in vial - $40

ERGHEO, Somalia: (L5). Fell July 1, 1889. Tkw = 20 kilograms.
This might be one of the ones that I have never offered a piece of before. However, I think I had a piece of this in my micro collection that I sold privately years ago (helped pay or the land I am living on now I think). These are a mix of capsules of fragments, capsules that have only one fragment and the plastic research vial (that is labeled “Ergheo $45a chips” that contains a single (the largest) fragment I had in this batch.
a) .055 gram fragment in capsule - $10
b) .10 gram of fragments in capsule - $20
c) .152 gram fragment in plastic lidded vial - $30

GOLD BASIN, Arizona: (L4). Found 1995. Tkw = about 200 kilograms.
This is a neat little specimen I won at the COMETS auction during the Denver Show. I think this was the first of the specimens being sold with the proceeds going to the club. They put on one heck of an event with great food, beer and fun. To support them, I bid on this. It didn’t cost a lot but I was more than thrilled to help out the club. This piece is interesting in that it comes in its original University of Arizona labeled bag (they were doing research on this material when it started showing up). The bag is labeled with a bright (almost neon) orange label that has “UA 1016, D. Hill” on it. The piece is only 1.8 grams. It is an angular fragment but still has one side (15mm x 6mm) that is obviously old weathered crust.
1.80 gram natural fragment – 16mm x 7mm x 6mm - $10

KUNASHAK, Russia: (L6). Fell June 11, 1949. Tkw = 200+ kilograms.
I still have a slice or two of this that I offered on an earlier list. This however is a batch of fragments (up to 6 or 7mm sized) in a lidded vial that is labeled “Kunashak #741 chips.
1.0 gram of fragments in lidded research vial - $15

NULLES, Spain: (H6). Fell November 5, 1851. Tkw = 8.85 kilograms.
This is one I am certain I have never had before. Not even in my own collection. These are all single fragments in either a capsule or (the largest) a plastic lidded vial. The vial is labeled “Nulles #783 chips”.
a) .16 gram fragment in capsule - $30
b) .26 gram fragment in plastic vial - $50

ORGUIEL, France: Carbonaceous chondrite (CI1). Fell May 14, 1864. Tkw = 10.5+ kilograms.
This is a batch of fragments in a capsule that is in a membrane box. It looks to be that about 2/3 of the weight is in one fragment that is roughly 8mm x 5mm x 4mm.
.25 grams of fragments in capsule in membrane box - $300

SANTA ROSALIA, Mexico: (Pallasite). Found 1950. Tkw = 1631 grams.
Personally, I think this is, perhaps, the rarest most interesting thing on this list. It is not a fall (so there will be a large segment of the collecting community that will have no interest in it) BUT it is a PALLASITE! And not just any pallasite, but one that is probably nearly impossible to acquire (really low total known weight). I think next to falls (perhaps even exceeding falls) pallasites are the most important collection focus (they are generally beautiful and truly rare). I know I have never had any pieces of this one. Two of these pieces have at least some visible olivine and two are “just” metal fragments (though they may show pockets where there was olivine). The largest is in a pill vial labeled “Santa Rosalia 599.1”.
a) .18 gram cut fragment with some olivine in a capsule – 7mm x 4mm x 2mm - $40
b) .37 gram cut metal fragment – 14mm x 5mm x 2mm - $40
c) .72 gram cut metal fragment – 10mm x 8mm x 2mm - $80
d) .54 gram cut fragment with obvious olivine – 14mm x 4mm x 3mm - $150

SARATOV, Russia: (L4). Fell September 6, 1918. Tkw = 328 kilograms.
This is another lidded plastic research style vial that is nearly full of fragments, dust and chondrules. The vial is labeled “Saratov #740 chips”.
1.5 grams of fragments in vial - $10