Wednesday 17 December 2014

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 165 - yet more Novak collection items

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 165 - yet more Novak collection items

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
…………………………………………………………….LIST 165
December 16, 2014

Dear Collectors,

Here is yet another selection of items from the Novak collection. This is also likely my last offering for this year.

BRAHIN, Belarus: (Pallasite). Found 1810.
Here is a surprisingly nice slice that has only one short (about 78mm) cut edge. I wouldn’t call this piece fully pallasitic as it has some large zones of iron (which show a really nice etch). A little over ½ of the slice is pallasitic. The olivines are a little sparse (making up around 1/3 or so of this “pallasitic” area) but generally large. This piece does show a few small areas with some minor rust spotting. However, as nice as it was as I got it, I did not risk trying to clean it up for fear that I might end up making a generally stable piece start rusting by applying all the (generally water-based) chemicals I’d need to use to completely de-rust the thing (and also wrecking the great etch this has in the process). I did, however, re-coat the piece as the original coating had bubbled and peeled in spots (what likely allowed the little bit of rust on this to form in the first place). An aesthetic display piece.
331.1 gram slice – 100mm x 90mm x 7mm - $670

CAMPO del CIELO, Argentina: Coarse octahedrite (IAB). Found 1576.
Here is a nice etched complete slice. It had some rust on it but I cleaned it up using Bill Mason’s miracle cure on it. It turned out quite nice actually, though there are a couple really tiny brown spots visible as I only opened up the coating over and treated the lines and larger areas of rusting. Nice affordable piece for showing a really coarse octahedrite.
358.1 gram complete etched slice – 130mm x 110mm x 4mm - $125 -SOLD

CANYON DIABLO, Arizona: Coarse octahedrite (IAB).
Here is a complete slice that came in with a collection I got over a year ago. The thing was completely black with rust, as it had never been coated. I took it to the wire wheel and polished all of that off. The thing was never sanded flat after is cut (likely MANY decades ago). Not wanting to take the time to completely sand it out (I break out in a bit o a rash when sanding irons for some reason) and etch it (a skill I am still quite lousy at, despite my best efforts) I decided to leave it as it is. It actually has an interesting look to it. It shows a lot of elongate inclusions (troilite, cohenite, etc) in a nice quasi shiny metallic background.
130.7 gram complete wire brushed slice – 70mm x 60mm x 4mm - $75

CHINGA, Russia: Ataxite, Ni-rich (ungrouped). Found 1913.
This is a nice complete slice. One side is highly polished mirror-like and the other = ? It shows the fine saw marks that indicate that this was cut using a wire saw but it is dark brown almost black. I kind of wonder if the person that prepared this tried to etch it (pretty useless with this particular meteorite) and only managed to darken the surface in the process. Nice, clean rust-free piece. I have left it as I got it, which appears to be uncoated. I can spray coat it if you want.
143.8 gram complete slice – 125mm x 35mm x 5mm – $215

DIMMITT, Texas: (H3.7). Found 1942, recognized as distinct in 1950.
This is a nice end piece and, thankfully, it still has its large (white lettering on black background – 12AM in this case) Monig label. There also seems to be a hint of some old white lettering along one edge of the back, but it does not appear to be one of the usual white Monig labels (by Glenn Huss). The cut face is the usual dark brown with only a little metal visible (plenty more oxides though) and lots of chindrules (if you really look for them). The back, natural side is quite nice. It is mostly primary crust but the “bottom” that it sits on (this stands up nicely on its own) and the edges are secondary crust.
150.3 gram end piece – 75mm x 55mm x 15mm - $225 -SOLD

GARNET, Sudbury, Canada.
Here, apparently, is a large garnet crystal from the “Sudbury Astrobleme Canada”. Not sure what a meteorite collector had this for (it is a nice crystal regardless) but the label (from FallenStarMeteorites.com) says “Meteorite Genesis” so I suspect that at least someone thinks that the impact brought about its formation. This is not a perfect crystal (it does show a number of good crystal faces though) but it has a nice deep ruby red color that contrasts beautifully with the small amount of light golden colored mica present on one end. Again, not sure it is truly “meteoritic” but nice none the less.
161.5 gram crystal – 40mm x 38mm x 33mm - $40

NWA unstudied:
This stone is likely an H chondrite, at least that is what my Mag-Sus meter is hinting at (I haven’t used the thing enough to sort meteorites reliably yet). It is mostly dark chocolate brown. Some areas (the parts that were obviously buried and suffered less wind) are a bit lighter in color. This is obviously a fragment of a much larger stone. Most of the surfaces are old broken faces (no fresh breaks though). There is a pretty good area (around 90mm x 70mm) that is clearly the original exterior of the meteorite as it shows remnants of crust and obvious thumbprints and rounded edges.
630.2 gram fragment/ individual as found – 90mm x 80mm x 50mm - $160

SIKHOTE-ALIN, Russia: (Coaresest octahedrite (IIB). Fell February 12, 1947.
This stuff has gotten really quite hard to get these days. This is a type piece that has been tough to get at all no matter the time frame. This is a complete etched slice of a fusion crusted individual NOT a slice of a shrapnel fragment. It was rare for anybody to want to cut up a nice thumb-printed individual to produce such slices no matter how available such individuals were. So, this shows the true and proper etch for this type meteorite (not the stretched taffy etch of the much more available shrapnel slices). Not a lot to see on the etch as the bands in this stuff are finger width, but interesting none the less. This also has a complete crusted edge. A neat and rare specimen.
67.8 gram etched complete slice – 100mm x 48mm x 2mm - $170