Thursday 14 March 2013

Blaine Reed Meteorites - List 134 - more after Tucson stuff 14MAR2013

Blaine Reed Meteorites - List 134 - more after Tucson stuff

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
…………………………………………………………………LIST 134
March 14, 2013

Dear Collectors,

Here is another offering of things I brought back from the show. I am sending this out at an odd early time as I will, once again, be leaving town for awhile. I don't plan on leaving until the 20th or 21st but that would only leave me one or two days, at most, to take and pack orders if I waited until the proper time to send this out (which would have been the 19th). I am not certain exactly how long I will be gone (helping out my uncle in Phoenix), but should be back sometime around April 3rd (I'll try to have the date, once I have a better handle on it, left on my answering machine).

ALLENDE, Mexico: Carbonaceous chondrite (CV3.2). Fell February 8, 1969.
I got this in a bag with a card that said Allende or Murchison. Unfortunately, it is definitely just Allende. This is a cut fragment (kind of a ½ end piece/ bookend cut) that is quite fresh. It does have some crust – about a 25mm x 10mm area. Nothing exciting but I do have to say that all Allende I have offered the past couple years has sold quickly.
10.6 gram cut fragment – 35mm x 14mm x 12mm - $90

DAR al GANI (476), Libya: Martian (shergottite). Found 1998. Tkw = 2015 grams.
This is a nice little end piece of this well known Mars rock (and likely rare as such). It shows the classic dark olivine crystals in a mixed light and dark green matrix.
.73 gram end piece - 13mm x 8mm x 5mm - $500

DIMMITT, Texas: Ordinary chondrite (H3.7). Found 1947. Tkw = 147 kilograms.
This is a really nice end piece of this interesting meteorite. It is fairly thin so it has a good surface area. The back is much better than average for Dimmitt. This has very nice distinct (weathered) fusion crust covering most of it. There are some areas of secondary crust/ late break but not much. Best of all though, this is a Monig specimen and comes with a TCU Monig Collection label.
105.6 gram end piece – 70mm x 55mm x12mm - $200

D'ORBIGNY, Argentina: Achondrite (angrite). Found 1979. Tkw = 16.55 kilograms.
Here is a nice small lot that would be great for resale. It has three larger pieces that are around 7mm in size and a capsule that contains pieces around 2mm to 4mm size. Total weight is just under .8grams. This has got to be the weirdest meteorite in existence. From the textures of these pieces, I would never guess that this was a meteorite. Rare and interesting.
.79 grams of fragments - $230

HUCKITTA, Australia: Stony-iron (pallasite). Found 1924.
Here is a rare one. This is NOT the usual oxidized material but a nice small end piece that is fresh! This has a couple dark olivines as are usual in Huckitta but the metal is bright and fresh. Years ago a handful of these small fresh Huckittas came out. I am not aware of any further pieces turning up since.
2.6 gram end piece – 15mm x 10mm x 5mm - $100 – fresh metal.

KATOL, India: Stone. (primitive achondrite). Fell May 22, 2012. Tkw = about 10 kilograms.
These samples are from a larger piece that I broke up using my chisel press. This material is SUPER FRESH (looks like it was probably picked up minutes after the fall) and I did not want to risk contaminating it in any way by attempting to cut it. All but the smallest piece has some fusion crust. The mid-sized pieces have secondary crust and the larger have really nice areas of primary crust. The largest piece even has scuffs/ skid marks from where it hit the ground. This, to my knowledge, has not been classified yet, so I'll have to make some "provisional" information cards to go with these pieces. It is clear on inspection though, that it is some kind of primitive achondrite (complete metamorphosed chondrite) but its color and texture don't match any others (acapulcoite, winonaite, lodranite, etc.). Really nice and strange stuff!
1) Fragments:
a) 1.31 grams – 10mm x 8mm x 7mm - $110
b) 2.59 grams – 15mm x 10mm x 7mm - $210 – 11mm x 5mm secondary crust patch.
c) 3.73 grams – 16mm x 13mm x 9mm - $290 – 12mm x 12mm secondary crust.
d) 10.7 grams – 22mm x 22mm x 8mm - $770 – 22mm x 20mm primary crust.
e) 23.1 grams – 32mm x 20mm x 20mm - $1500 – around 40% primary crusted.

PLAINVIEW (a), Texas: Ordinary chondrite (H5). Found 1917, may have fallen spring 1903.
Here is a complete slice of this always popular material. This meteorite is technically a find but there was a large piece (25 pounds) that was found in a horse pen the day after a fireball was witnessed in the area in 1903. The type and texture of that piece matches the other Plainview (a) stones (I have had actual pieces in the past that were cut from that specimen). This slice was cut from a piece that was somewhat fragmented and found later. This shows distinct fusion crust along about 1/3 of its edge with the remainder being thin secondary crust or natural breaks. This particular piece is different/ special in that it seems to have a large (roughly 30mm x 25mm) darker inclusion on one end that looks like it might be an impact melt zone.
69.9 gram complete slice – 80mm x 35mm x 8mm - $280

Wednesday 6 March 2013

Blaine Reed Meteorites -List 133 - after Tucson irons 07MAR2013

Blaine Reed Meteorites -List 133 - after Tucson irons

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
…………………………………………………………………LIST 133

March 6, 2013

Dear Collectors,

This is going out a day late as I got stuck in Denver for a day longer than I had planned due to bad weather closing the road I need to take home on Monday (didn't get back until late last night).

Now I'd like to make a few somewhat long- winded comments on some things.

FIRST: This is something that I have already lost many hours of time on the phone with (and more in typing e-mails) and want it to get out as far and wide as possible to reduce this work load. I am NOT going to Russia! I know the excitement of a new fall (and this is an important one) and how everyone can't wait to get a piece of it. However a "simple" trip to Russia to buy some of this material is neither simple nor particularly smart (in my opinion) at this point. The government there is trying to put a lid on people taking this stuff (I have heard rumors of them going after the few E-Bay listings of this material there have been) and I CERTAINLY don't want to be the one caught stepping on their toes (or those of others that may be involved in the money side of this fall) in acquiring this stuff. This sounds like a sure recipe for trouble. Also, the price is definitely going to be the highest right now, with many of the locals thinking this stuff is "more valuable than gold" (I wonder who gave them that silly idea on nightly news and national radio programs). Given this current false hype (and the freshness of the event) the locals are very unlikely to want to sell at anything near a reasonable price right now. Over the years, I have observed the hype and high prices of many new falls (and this hype is certainly deserved for the "freshest" new alien on our planet). What I have seen is that the prices for this new material is pretty much always (over a period of a few years any way – inflation can make pretty much anything go up in price over decades) the highest right after the fall. Almost always, there is eventually enough material to bring the prices down, often substantially once the hype has died down and the "gotta own some now" buyers have been satisfied. So my actions on this fall are boringly as such: As there is obviously a lot of material being found I will probably just sit and wait until things cool down a bit and my usual friends and suppliers from Russia get some of this stuff make it available at reasonable prices. These guys are good at dealing with the "issues" of the area and making things quite cheap. Then I hope to offer nice, affordable pieces. I know many of you worry "buy now or never get any". I do understand this view. There are indeed cases where the material never makes it into collector's hands in substantial enough quantities to bring the prices down (or even satisfy the initial demand), but this is rare. My advice has always been; Buy the smallest piece of a new fall that will keep you from loosing sleep at night over not owning a piece. This way you will have a piece but not be betting the ranch on it. Later, when things settle down, buy a bigger piece (if you still want one). Most likely, the price per gram will be less than it was when the news was fresh. Likely worst case is you might end up paying a similar price as when it was new (I am having real trouble coming up with an example where even this has been the case recently, even Sutter's Mill, Alahatta Sitta and Katol recently have dropped quite a bit from their original prices). Having seen this time and time again over the years (with many specific examples I won't go into here) I really DO NOT want to get tied up in the early high prices (hoping to get a little bit higher prices on the way to cover my expenses) and then end up having everyone who bought a piece from me upset with me if/when the value comes crashing down months later.

SECOND: Many of you sent e-mails expecting responses while I was at the show. Unfortunately, I really do not have e-mail access at the show. I don't even bring a computer – Blake does but he is only in Tucson for a few days at the beginning and end of the show these days. The hotel has wireless but it is very sketchy in my room (works best while sitting on the toilet with one foot in the bathtub). Even if these things weren't an issue, the simple truth of the matter is I simply don't have time to do e-mails during the show. I know, hard to believe but here is the general schedule. I wake at around 7AM, make/ have coffee, take a shower, call home perhaps, set up the room (move/ clean cases, re-stock bins set out new material etc.), have breakfast and then I have 20 minutes maybe to walk around a bit and maybe buy some things from the folks set up at my hotel before I have to get my door open by 10AM (though I often had people pounding on the door asking me to open much earlier many days so I didn't even get this little bit of "break" some days). Then it is all people all day. I generally had the room open until 10PM most nights (but much later some nights if people were hanging out). Then it was take the stuff off the bed, set up clothes and such for the next day and get to bed around 11:30 or midnight if I was lucky. Then wake up the next day and start over (rinse and repeat) for 16 days. I know you may think I should be able to do e-mail while trying to run the room during the day but this is really not the case. The foot traffic was fairly slow but still busy enough that I was never even able to get out of the room for more than (literally) a few minutes before being radioed that some one or something required me to return (I never even had the time to go through a watch and clock magazine I had brought with me, expecting to finish it during "slow times". Nor did I have the chance to go see all of the other dealers and friends at other hotels). Plus, I think it is a bit rude, even bad (show anyway) business perhaps, to ignore people in your room so you can pay more attention to your computer or phone. I know, the world is a different place these days and I, perhaps, need to update my thinking. However, a dinner I had with friends a couple years ago kind of burned this bias into my mind. I had not seen them quite some time (years) but they all spent the entire time playing/ texting with their phones. Hardly a word among us was spoken. Left me kind of feeling "what's the point of this get together?" when it was obvious all anybody really wanted to do is focus not on the people around them but on the world in their phones. So, I do know some of you were not happy that I did not handle the e-mails while gone, but I really honestly do not have the ability or time while at the show. I do try to at least go through them and deal with any critical things right before and right after (as soon as I can borrow a computer) though. However, it takes me nearly a week more before I am home, unpacked caught up and more or less "back in business". I apologize for this, but I really don't see a way around this problem at this point.

Anyway, enough of all of that. Here are a few items (irons this time) that were left with me at the show. Grab them now before they get sent back to the owners.

Enjoy!

BOXHOLE, Australia: Medium Octahedrite (IIIAB). Found 1937.
It has been a long time since I have had any piece o this meteorite and I can't recall ever having one this large. The Boxhole's I recall were all few grams to few tens of grams in size. Now here is a nice shaped and sculpted 429 gram individual! Even better yet it has great provenance (important as some Boxhole pieces look so much like Henbury that sometimes you wonder if…..). This comes with a Ron Hartman Meteorite Collection label.
429 gram natural individual – 85mm x 55mm x 20mm - $1300

CAMPO DEL CIELO, Argentina: Coarse octahedrite (IAB). Found 1576.
This is a really interesting slice that Darryl Pitt left with me. As you can imagine, it must be aesthetically pleasing if he had it. This was labeled as a "Transitional silicated" piece and that it truly is. About two thirds of the piece is heavily silicated, showing distinct clast texture to the silicates (looking very much like Udei Station or Landes). The other third is pure clean iron. One side of this piece is polished and the other is etched. A really nice and interesting specimen.
99.3 gram silicated complete slice – 100mm x 70mm x 3mm - $450

CANYON DIABLO, Arizona: Coarse octahedrite (IAB). Found 1891.
Here is a really interesting shaped "rim specimen". This is a nice sculpted thin individual that has a metallic ring to it when tapped. These sculpted generally thin pieces were found near the edge of the crater. These will not etch if you polish them (I know this from experience). I was told that there delicate shape (and lack of etching) is from them being highly heated during the blast that formed the crater (I think it was Glenn Huss that told me about these). Anyway, this is a really nice natural individual with an interesting thin shallow dish shape.
224.4 gram natural individual – 90mm x 55mm x 10mm - $280 SOLD

GIBEON, Namibia; Fine octahedrite (IVA).873.6 gram complete slice – 210mm x 150mm x 4mm - $3600
"click on image to enlarge"
GIBEON, Namibia; Fine octahedrite (IVA). Found 1836.
This stuff has gotten surprisingly hard to come by these days. I sold ALL of my small pieces at the show and have people waiting for me to pull out all the rest of my small pieces (I'll be changing my main catalog to etched Seymchan iron). This is a really nice complete slice at a price well below what I bulk lot wholesaled the smaller pieces for. I could easily sell this to those 2 customers as well if I was will to cut it into smaller squares (these are jewelry artists that are wanting my pieces). I really don't want to do that to this piece to make the sale (the fact that it has been cold, snowing and windy since I got home certainly helps make that decision). I got this from a collector in Texas right before the show. It was never coated so it had some minor rusting along natural cracks near the outer edge (as many Gibeons have). This is etched on both sides. Excellent slice!
873.6 gram complete slice – 210mm x 150mm x 4mm - $3600

HENBURY, Australia: Medium octahedrite (IIIAB). Found 1931.
Here are a couple nice natural pieces I got from the same person. The smaller is pretty typical shrapnel shape. The larger is a really nice piece with nice shape and nice sculpting. These are priced at (or even slightly below) what the Australian sources are charging for Henbury these days. Frankly, I am quite surprised this big piece didn't sell at the show (but then it's a lot of grams so not a cheap specimen).
a) 66.7 gram natural shrapnel shape individual – 46mm x 33mm x 10mm - $130
b) 787 gram sculpted individual – 120mm x 75mm x 30mm - $1575

MUNDRIBILLA, Australia: Medium octahedrite. Found 1911.
Here is an interesting shaped individual. It has a fairly large deep hole on one end giving it a quasi pac-man look. Surprisingly, this nearly 200g piece is actually fairly large for what is available for this material. This has not been cleaned in any way and has a really nice mottled medium brown patina. A really neat specimen.
184.7 gram natural individual – 50mm x 40mm x 30mm - $170 SOLD