Sunday 31 July 2016

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale - LIST 193 - more Lang Collection

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale - LIST 193 - more Lang Collection

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

……………………………………………………LIST 193

July 26, 2016

Dear collectors,

Here is another assortment of Lang Collection items. As with the last batch these are all (with the exception of the DaG (429) – the first listed piece below which also does not have a collection label – just the info on a sticker on the side of the container) are in Riker boxes with a Lang Collection label. Once more, these boxes do raise the shipping costs quite a bit (to around $5 or $6 for US orders and much more on overseas sales). I will offer this option: As last time, overseas orders will be have to individually calculated if you want the Riker sent along with the specimen. Without it the usual cheapest (jewelry box in a padded envelope) for around $12 will work fine. For US sales, I’ll pay the shipping if you want to leave me with the Riker as this saves me the need for a larger box and extra packing (plus I can re-use the Riker to make more of my Sahara arrowhead displays or such). Regardless, the sample(s) will still be shipped with their labels.

DAR al Gani (429), Libya: Carbonaceous chondrite (C3) – ungrouped. Found 1998. Tkw = 253 grams.
This is a quite fresh looking fragment in a membrane box. It does not have any fusion crust unfortunately, but does show some chondrules (and holes where, very clearly, some chondrules were but have since fell out) in a very light gray matrix. This does have some minor light brown spots from oxidation and or adhering dirt on one side but is otherwise very fresh. I checked photos of known pieces of this and this matches perfectly, so there is no doubt that this is the correct material.
1.00gram fragment in small membrane box – 17mm x 8mm x 5mm - $80 SOLD

DAR al GANI (475), Libya: Ordinary chondrite (H3.4) S3, W3. Found May 1998. Tkw = 269 grams.
This is a cut end piece. It is nearly a complete end piece but has one end cut off that looks to have removed about 1cm of surface area from the piece. This has been polished on the cut surfaces but the largest intersected a natural internal crack so some of the polished areas are now missing (around 15% or so) and likely broke out during cutting or polishing. Regardless, the polished areas do show lots of chondrules (and one large 6mm or so clast on the larger surface). This particular H3 shows chondrules as well as or better than any I am aware of. Usually H3s have really small, hard to see chondrules in dark matrix so only careful observation allows one to see them – not so with this meteorite specimen.
10.4 gram end piece with one edge removed – 24mm x 20mm x 11mm - $60 SOLD

DAR al GANI (521), Libya: Carbonaceous chondrite (CV3). Found 1998. Tkw = 1567 grams.
This is very clearly a weathered complete individual or natural fragment. There is no discernable fusion crust remaining but the generally rounded shape says that this is quite possibly an old individual. The Meteoritical Bulletin records say that 22 pieces of this meteorite were recovered. This particular specimen has a small piece of cloth glued to it with the number “18” written on it in blue ink (kind of old museum style labeling). Not sure what this means for sure, but it could mean that this was the 18th piece recovered though I am not certain who recovered these pieces and how careful they were with record keeping (back then new desert meteorites were far more special than now). Anyway, this is a nice solid little specimen.
11.8 gram individual as found – 35mm x 20mm x 12mm - $75 SOLD

DHOFAR (132), Oman: Achondrite (Ureilite), S3, W3. Found March 18, 2000. Tkw = 5.01kg.
The reports say that one stone was recovered. The pieces here are slices with the exception of the largest which looks to be a natural fragment that spalled off of the outer surface of the main mass (but does have a cut edge that clearly shows that the piece is indeed ureilite). Looking over the specimens, I can see that this one was, like most ureilites, very hard to cut and polish. Most of these have one cut face that shows how the saw blade struggled (and sometimes offset substantially) in trying to cut through this stuff. Regardless, each specimen has at least one face that has been polished flat and shows the classic granular ureilite texture but many still show some saw marks on their surfaces (except the thicker 2.8g and 7.9 gram pieces. I suspect that those got the better polish because they could be easily held onto and less likely to burn your fingers while polishing, unlike the thinner ones).
1) Part slices:
a) .5 grams – 10mm x 7mm x 3mm - $15
b) 1.6 grams – 15mm x 12mm x 4mm - $35
c) 2.8 grams – 14mm x 12mm x 5mm - $55
d) 3.8 grams – 30mm x 20mm x 2mm - $75
e) 7.9 grams – 42mm x 13mm x 4mm - $135
2) Natural fragment with small (20mm x 5mm) cut edge:
11.6 grams – 35mm x 26mm x 7mm - $175

NWA (1182): HED achondrite (Howardite). Found 1999. Tkw = 780 grams.
A single “mostly crusted” stone was found. These two specimens are small part slices that each have one natural edge. Each piece has at least one small patch of actual crust on that natural edge The smaller has the tiny patch the larger piece’s natural edge is mostly crusted. The interior of this meteorite is quite nice. These show a nice typical howardite texture with small clasts of many different colors (browns, white, gray and bright green (Diogenite fragments likely)) in a light gray matrix.
1) Part slices:
a) .82 grams – 15mm x 9mm x 2mm - $15
b) 1.4 grams – 15mm x 15mm x 2mm - $25 SOLD

NWA (1793): Ordinary chondrite (L3), S3, W1. Found October 2002. Tkw = 585 grams.
This is a complete slice of the only stone found (well, the only one recognized and reported at the time). The edged is completely crusted, though most of it (a bit over ½) is wind-polished. The interior is quite fresh and shows lots of metal , much o it in interesting short (1cm or so long) veins. This does have plenty of chondrules (which show clearest on the back not fully polished side) but they are very hard to see as they are in a fairly dark (shock darkened) gray matrix.
64.8 gram complete slice – 80mm x 35mm x 8mm - $200 SOLD

Tuesday 12 July 2016

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale List 192 - 12JUL2016

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale List 192

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

……………………………………………………LIST 192

July 12, 2016

Dear collectors,

Here, finally, is an offering. I think it has been nearly two months since my last one.

Today is the first chance I have had all summer to pull together an offering. This is a quickly pulled together offering at that. These are items that I got from Alan Lang and all but the thin howardite slices -NWA (8559)- come with a Lang Collection label. These are also all in Riker mounts so the shipping will be a bit higher on these ($4 to $6 maybe for US orders) as they will require boxes and extra packing. For overseas orders it might be best to consider letting me ship the sample on its own as I suspect that a Riker (or similar) could be picked up overseas for cheaper than the shipping will be to send it on now (the post office actually lowered our domestic shipping rates a few cents recently but seems to have jacked up overseas rates substantially to make up for it. The past few overseas orders that I have sent out I expected $9 to ship were now $13 – and that was for my usual small specimen in a small jewelry box in a padded envelope!). I’ll try to let any overseas buyers know what the rough shipping costs will be either way and let them decide from there.

DAR al GANI (313), Libya: Ordinary chondrite (L/LL3). Found April 24, 1997. Tkw = 3294 grams.
Now here is one that I believe is the opposite of the NWA chondrites listed below. This one is listed as a W2 for the weathering grade but I see very little fresh metal left in it. Regardless, it does show lots of chondrules in a very dark (nearly black) matrix. I wish they had done the sub-typing on this one. The huge spread in the Faylites in this and the dark matrix hint that this might be a really low sub type number. These are small slices. They have natural edges so they are complete slices of natural fragments.
1) Slices:
a) 1.3 grams – 15mm x 12mm x 2mm - $25
b) 6.4 grams – 42mm x 20mm x 2.5mm - $95

DAR al GANI (442), Libya: Ordinary chondrite (H3.6). Found 1998. Tkw = 188 grams.
This is a nice complete slice. It has nice black crust completely around its edge, aside from a 4mm natural chip. The interior shows lots of metal in a medium brown matrix. There are lots of chondrules present but they are not super easy to see at first glance (H chondrites generally have quite small chondrules). However, tipping the specimen so light reflects off of the metal shows lots of chondrules – many of them armored (surrounded by metal and sulfides).
13.4 gram complete slice – 40mm x 29mm x 4mm - $100


DAR al GANI (521), Libya: Carbonaceous chondrite (CV3). Found 1998. Tkw = 1567 grams.
This is a complete slice of a fragment, though the longest edge has a curved shape that is likely the original exterior of the meteorite. This CV has a very different look to it than most. This is dark brown and very hard, almost glassy (most CV’s are light gray and soft). The hardness of the piece allowed this slice to take a high diamond polish, something not really possible with the typical CV specimen. Some chondrules and CAIs are visible, but nothing like the typical CV. I looked up a couple pictures of this material available on the Meteoritical Bulletin site and this is definitely the right stuff.
6.7 gram complete slice – 55mm x 18mm x 2mm - $90

DHOFAR (125), Oman: Primitive achondrite (Acapulcoite) S1, W1/2. Found January 26, 2000. Tkw = 2697 grams.
This riker has two small thin part slices. The smallest is .17 grams and measures 9mm x 4mm x 1.5mm. The larger piece is .55 grams and measures 12mm x 9mm x 1.5mm. Both piece show a typical granular acapulcoite texture.
.72 gram thin slices (2 pieces) - $40

NWA (1203): Ordinary chondrite (H5). Found 1999. Tkw = 716 grams.
I am not sure if much of this has ever been available to the collecting world. It was classified ion Tokyo and has an unlisted owner for the main mass. Regardless, this is actually a pretty nice complete slice. It has nice dark fusion crust around most of the edge. Despite its W3 in the Bulletin report, this is also quite fresh inside as well. There is lots of fresh metal and a number of clear breccia clasts visible in a nice light brown matrix. Frankly, this is every bit as nice as some of the Plainview, TX slices I have had recently.
77.1 gram complete slice – 85mm x 70mm x 4mm - $100

NWA (1224): Ordinary chondrite (L5). Found 1999. Tkw = 93 + grams.
I put a + on the total known weigh as I know it can’t be correct as I have 102 grams here. Regardless, this is a meteorite I wish I had more of as it has a wonderful breccia texture. It has lots of thin dark shock veins (and this is only a S3?) surrounding angular to rounded light to medium tan fragments. The back sides of these have nice dark chocolate brown to black crust (the smaller piece being pretty much completely crusted and the larger having some old surface chipping covering about 30%). This, along with the abundance of fresh metal makes me question a bit the W3 weathering grade assigned to this stone. Note, the larger piece has a high diamond polish that hides the structure a bit. Lower sanding/ polishing levels (around 220 grit) tend to show breccia textures better. However the super nice polish job has me hesitant to back sand this, so I’ll leave it as it is for now.
1) End pieces:
a) 50.9 grams – 50mm x 40mm x 15mm - $100
b) 51.2 grams – 60mm x 33mm x 20mm - $100

NWA (8559): HED achondirite (Howardite). Found April 1, 2013. Tkw = 1758.8 grams.
Here are a couple nice thin complete slices of this meteorite. The research report on this find says this meteorite is composed of 20% diogenite, 30% basaltic eucrite and 50% cumulate eucrite material (pretty much a complete run of the common Vesta surface materials). These slices have the classic howardite look angular clasts of different colors (white, gray black, etc) in medium gray matrix. The smaller piece has a couple larger clasts that are clearly eucrite fragments (completely different from each other texturally). The larger piece has a couple larger obvious black inclusions. The larger of the two (about 1cm x 1cm) looks to be (and likely is) a CM2 fragment (I almost sold this piece to a new collector at the Colorado Springs show last month, partly because of this feature. Unfortunately, they started flashing the lights saying “show is over for the day NOW” – despite the show having the best foot traffic of the day. The collector lived far enough away that he could not come back the next day to finish deciding if he was going to take this or the pallasite slice he was looking at).
1) Complete slices:
a) 39.9 grams – 105mm x 63mm x 2mm - $550
b) 42.1 grams – 115mm x 75mm x 1.5mm - $600