BLAINE REED METEORITES- LIST 287 16JUL2026 - LARGE EUCRITES

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

LIST 287 - July 16, 2026

Dear Collectors,

Once again, it has been a considerable time since I sent out any kind of offering. Somehow, I have been all tied up with all kinds of things this summer and the meteorites have gotten ignored. I am trying to fix that. I am now taking and processing my own photos (I pretty much forced Blake to work with me and the device I am using as the camera to show me how to do all of this. I did it such that I had to do all the actual moves. Simply doing it for me while I am not able to even see what is being done does not help or “teach” anything). So, unless the so called camera (actually a “smart” phone that Linda only bought to get the minutes off of) or the computer I am using go on the fritz, I should be able to get photos taken and sent for all kinds of things MUCH faster now. Please let me know if I am screwing something up in these photos. I don’t have any plans to be a master photographer but I don’t want to send out trash that is barely visible either.

I have always like Vesta material. (Yeah, I know, these things look like they are from Vesta but we cannot fully prove which if any of our HED meteorites really are from that asteroid). Aside from the Moon and Mars, it is the only source for some of our meteorites we can point to in the sky (yes, you have to be in a really dark area and really know your way around the sky and where to look to see it. Something I have only been able to accomplish once). The other thing was that these things are priced at what I get for ordinary chondrites! Granted, the NWA one here is closer to what I sell my nicer ordinary chondrites for BUT this is an achondrite likely from a known source! Too good to leave in storage so into the car they went. So, IF you have ever wanted to truly substantial hunk of Vesta (beyond paperweight, well into the door stop and wheel chock for a truck size) here is a great chance. I, personally am hoping to end up with one of the two largest pieces here (I figure I’d let fate decide. I aim for which ever does not sell first).


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JIKHARRA  001, Libya: HED achondrite (Eucrite, melt breccia). Found 2022. Tkw = about 3 tons.
This is, by far, the largest HED recovery of any type. Thankfully, the price fully reflects that. Actually, it may be a bit under. I know this material was everywhere a few years ago but the vast majority of it seems to have already found homes. There does not seem to be pieces of this everywhere anymore. As such, I suspect that the price of this will start to go up before terribly long. I bought a 6+kg piece of this when it came out for more than I am selling these for (but was happy to get it) now I am hoping to upgrade to either the 14.6kg or 24.16kg one (I have already sold the 6kg stone). I think this is probably my best chance to have a struggle a bit to move piece of HED. These particular stones are all complete as found. They are mostly wind-polished but they do still show some patches of nice fusion crust.

1) Complete individuals as found:
a) 1001 grams – 100mm x 85mm x 60mm - $400
b) 2652 grams – 150mm x 110mm x 70mm - $1000
c) 3853 grams – 190mm x 110mm x 100mm - $1400
d) 14,620 grams – 260mm x 200mm x 150mm - $4600
e) 24,260grams – 370mm x 270mm x 150mm - $7500



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NWA 17604, HED achondrite (Eucrite, melt breccia). Found 2023. Tkw = 24.3kg.
This is a bit more expensive but it is actually more interesting material. First, this is clearly a breccia whereas the Jikharra material is more of melt. You can clearly see the clasts inside of this on the exterior surface. I am not sure what was in these stones that burned out during the fall, but these all have nice sculpted shapes and a couple of them have really deep pits/ caves (up to 4cm or so deep on the largest stone). These also show some patches of fusion crust. Some of which is very fresh – still having the proper classic shiny black crust of a fresh eucrite fall.

1) Complete individuals as found:
a) 1016 grams – 100mm x 90mm x 60mm - $865
b) 1325 grams – 130mm x 90mm x 65mm - $1100
c) 2873 grams – 160mm x 130mm x 85mm - $2150

Shipping:
Given the sizes of these pieces, I think I will need to custom quote the shipping of any of these anywhere. I do know that a good number of them would fit in a medium flat-rate box (now $21. Yes, the post office just raised rates yet again a week or so ago). I have found that, if I am careful, I can use my own box for things and keep it as reasonable (I am NOT going to say “cheap” here) as a flat-rate box. Regardless, I’ll try to keep shipping as reasonable as I can on any of these pieces.

BLAINE REED METEORITES- LIST 286 14MAY2026 RARE Orgueil CI1 for Sale

Orgueil, 162 years after it fell!

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

LIST 285 - May 14, 2026

Orgueil CI1
Click on image to enlarge.

ORGUEIL, France Carbonaceous chondrite (CI1). Fell May 14, 1864.
I just noticed that this is going the same day it fell, 162 years ago! As mentioned above, these samples consist of small fragments (from around small sand grain sized to a few mm sized, generally). The large lots are in glass vials. The small lots are in capsules. In the photo, I have the capsules lose, on their own. When I sell/ send any of these, I will put those capsules in a labeled magnifier box (exactly like the one that is up and to the right of the actual samples in the photo).
Fragments in either a capsule or glass vial.

CODE-
1Aa) .05 grams in a capsule - $125
1Bb) .10grams in a capsule - $250
1Cc) .25 grams in a capsule $600
1Dd) .50 grams in glass vial - $1100
1Ee) 1.0 grams in glass vial - $2200

Please specify the listing Code when contacting. 

Dear Collectors,

  This is kind of an "off the cuff" offering. I really had not planned on doing this RARE FALL offering. I got this material from Alan Lang a couple decades ago. I think he got it as part of a trade he had done with the Paris Museum some years earlier. I did sell some of this material way back, but that has to have been something like 15 years or so ago. I have had it set aside since before the European mission to land on a comet (where the landing craft ended up on its side in a canyon against a steep cliff wall such that it could not collect any data). My hope was that whatever data that landing would have collected might have shown that this material (CI1 meteorites) was likely from comets. I watched the Meteoritical Society’s magazines and bulletins to see what, if anything, the orbiting craft was able to learn about this. I don’t recall seeing much of anything being reported about any possible ties between CI1s and comets for years (it takes considerable time between data collection and/or sample returns before useful information starts getting published about it). Then I heard about the “upcoming” sample returns from carbonaceous asteroids (one through Japan and the US’s Osirus Rex mission). So, decided to set this stuff back until hearing what was learned from those. So far, I have not heard much (but then, I am not currently receiving the Meteoritics and Planetary Sciences magazines). I may be jumping the gun here and may end up wishing I had not done this offering, but here it is (and at prices equal to or a little lower than what I sold this material for when I did offer it years ago. Not that it has become less interesting scientifically or otherwise but some collectors have likely already filled the “CI1” hole in their collections with an NWA find. As such, I suspect fewer people will feel the need to have a piece of this). This offering came about from someone contacting me wanting display worthy pieces of rare or unusual meteorites with the emphasis on historics and falls. This one checks all the boxes. Well, the historic, fall and rare ones. “Larger display worthy” maybe not so much. The potential buyer did end up passing on this as all of my “samples” were indeed just crumbs/ fragments in vials or capsules. They wanted a substantial single larger piece. I, once upon a time, did have such things. I originally had a really nice 2.8gram crusted fragment. However, I ended up watching it (on its own) breaking into smaller pieces. Getting frustrated at seeing this, I ended up selling those fragments while they still had good size to them. It has been my experience that (even in a very dry climate, maybe a sealed, air-tight desiccated container would yield different results) this material does seem to be prone to making itself into exactly the kind of pieces I am offering here today.

Shipping:

US:
They have indeed raised rates again recently (this is starting to feel like a weekly thing. Hello 1970’s inflation!!). The last small package I sent (a jewelry box in padded envelope) ran me $9. The specimen was a little larger than some (and certainly larger than any piece being offered here would be) so I’ll stick to $8 for this basic shipping for now. As for priority – it looks like they have raised the rates for a small flat-rate box to a bit over $14 now (!!!). I have not shipped anything this way since the rate increase but I did have a small flat-rate box package come in from Kansas a couple days ago and noticed the shipping cost was OVER $14! So, I’ll be at $14 for small flat-rate box shipping at this point.

OVERSEAS:
It has been some time since I have sent anything out of the US. With all the hassles and paperwork these days, that us something of a blessing. At this point, anything going overseas, I will need to look up shipping costs. However, the last packages I sent out of the US were about $17 for my basic small/ cheap specimen in a padded envelope to Canada and around $25 going to Europe. For small priority flat-rate boxes I think it was around $30 to Canada and around $45 to Europe.

BLAINE REED METEORITES= LIST 285 04MAY2026

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

LIST 285 - May 4, 2026

Dear Collectors
Here is my second “consigned things brought home from Tucson” list. Like the last one, these are all consigned items that (if not sold) be going back to the owner. This will not be done for at least a couple weeks, so do try and let me know if something here interests you, even if you will not be able to take/pay for it until later (it would be much more difficult for me to try and get a specimen back into my hands later.




GUADALUPE Y CALVO, Mexico: Hexahedrite (IIAB). Found 1971. Tkw = 58.67kg.
This is another piece of that meteorite that was used as a dog food bowl on a ranch in Mexico. They had large dogs that would drag off (and hide/lose) regular bowls. Of course, with the money they got from selling us this meteorite, they were able to come up with an alternate working solution (who knows? Maybe they are using a big hammered copper nugget these days). This piece came to Fredric through me some years ago (it has a copy of the old made on a physical typewrite info card I made when I first had this meteorite with it). This piece is most certainly one of the ones I sold for Jim Schwade some years ago. Somehow, I think Fredrick had something of a moisture issue in his house (even though it was in Tucson). Not sure if it was a hot tub, fish tank, or what but many of the iron meteorites I got from him show some rusting (see the NWA 11446 slices pictured in the last offering and the Seymchan below). For some reason, ALL of these things were completely uncoated. I know, some years ago, some people were saying “never coat a meteorite, that will just seal in moisture”. I call Bulldink on that. Dry the thing first and it won’t be a problem. I have done actual tests (uncoated, coated, waxed….) and found that coating a meteorite that has lots of iron in it a huge benefit. Of what I have gotten from Fredrick and or Timothy, this is, by far, the most oxidized. However, in this case, it has done something kind of amazing. The rust on this piece is thin (not the type that would promote further rusting risking the piece. More of a medium grade surface coating) but I decided to not clean this because of what this coating of oxidation has done. Somehow, this has brought out the Nuemann lines unlike ANY meteorite I have ever seen. I remember the cut and polished face that was on the meteorite when we bought it showed these really well. Unfortunately, that cut was oriented really awkward for further cutting so we cut it in a different direction. Unfortunately, that direction made the Nuemann lines barely visible no matter how much effort Marlin put into etching this stuff. Here, they are super strong and vibrant – the best I have ever seen. It would be really easy to polish off this oxide coating, if that is what someone really wants but no amount of fiddling with etching will bring this structure back to life after. I have spray coated this meteorite to keep it long term protected from further oxidation (but still, DON’T put it next to the shower, hot tub or fish tank PLEASE).
342.1 gram part slice – 120mm x 70mm x 5mm - $1400

NWA (8262): L-Melt breccia. Found 2013. Tkw = 1226grams.
Not all that long ago, this would have been a very expensive meteorite. I think the firsts of this type I saw were cat Mountain, AZ ($100 hundred +/gram I think) and Chico, New Mexico (a lot cheaper but you had to buy a pretty big piece to get both textures). This slice reminds me of a miniature Chico. About ¾ of the piece is highly shocked/ distorted chondritic material (that has a lot of vesicles in it – just like Chico) and the remaining ¼ is obvious flow melt material. Unlike Chico though, this is a nice hold in the palm of your hand complete slice. This piece is in a Riker type box (maybe not in the group photo though) that comes with a WWMeteorites.com label.
30.5 gram complete slice – 70mm x 45mm x 3mm - $95

NWA (17418). HED achondrite (Diogenite). Found 2024. Tkw = 4.88kg.
This is a nice end piece with a cool shape. This meteorite reminds me strongly of Dhofar (700). It has the same solid crystalline composition (looking kind of like a greenish Ureilite more than a Diogenite). Mixed in this are some dark (nearly black( inclusions (likely chromite). The back side is all clearly old exterior, no fresh breaks or modifications. There are a good number of black shiny areas that look like crust but I suspect that these are actually wind-polished chromites. This piece is in a Riker.
20.3 gram end piece – 55mm x 24mm x 10mm - $220

NWA (8022): Lunar meteorite (feldspathic breccia). Found 2013. Tkw = 1226 grams.
This is a specimen that required me running it on the XRF to be sure it was not something that accidentally mislabeled. Nope, this is indeed a moon rock. However, it has something of a different look to it than most. To be honest, this looks a LOT like many eucrites/ howardites I have seen. This even has a lot of small brown spots scattered all through it (which are likely oxidized iron meteorite bits that got mixed into this from impacts while sitting on the moon) – making it look even more like an HED. This is a nice end piece that has some obvious smooth greenish gray fusion crust on the back. This Stephan specimen is very well priced and I have thought of buying it myself to cut up and offer to collectors as it has a different look to it than Lunars I have sold in the past.
71.0 gram end piece – 50mm x 23mm x 30mm - $1800

SEYMCHAN, Russia: (Pallasite). Found 1967.
This is actually one of the all iron pieces. Given its thickness, I suspect that this is one of the earlier sold specimens. When this stuff cfirst came out, the Russians were doing the cutting as they wanted the “value added” by turning the stuff into slices (could get a lot higher $/g for something that isn’t a hundreds of kilos chunk). The problem was that they were cutting the pieces to something on an awkward thickness. They were, generally, seen as too thick by collectors but they were thin enough that there really wasn’t an easy/ safe way to split them into thinner slices (that was before wire saws. A wire saw can probably cut this piece into several thinner slices but it would cost a fairly shocking amount of money to get that done, unfortunately). This is really kind of a long bar with only one of its shorter edges being a natural surface. This piece has been etched on both sides and does show a good etch structure. This was another Stephan piece that was uncoated. Like the others, this does show some (very minor) surface discoloration from oxidation (limited to one side). This could be completely renewed by someone that actually knows how to etch (don’t look at me, I really suck at etching). Frankly, it is safe (now coated) staying the way it is. This comes with a Matt Stream “Streaming Meteorites” label. This is priced well below what the Russians would charge for a similar piece these days.
523.5 gram part slice – 140mm x 50mm x 9mm - $780.

Shipping:
PLEASE NOTE-

 USPS POSTAL RATES HAVE INCREASED BY ABOUT 8% ABOVE THE COSTS LISTED BELOW A CUSTOM QUOTE ON SHIPPING MAY BE REQUIRED.

US:
I have indeed found that even my smallest jewelry box in a padded envelope now costs a minimum of $8 to send now. I know that there is yet a further shipping rate increase in the works. I have heard that package shipping rates will be going up (or may have already) another 8% or so. I won’t work about this until I actually see/ experience it. So, for JUST now, basic shipping will be $8. For small priority flat-rate boxes $12 should be fine. For things that are not light or small and won’t even fit in a small Priority flat-rate box I’ll probably need to custom quote the shipping.

OVERSEAS:
It has been some time since I have sent anything out of the US. With all the hassles and paperwork these days, that us something of a blessing. At this point, anything going overseas, I will need to look up shipping costs. However, the last packages I sent out of the US were about $17 for my basic small/ cheap specimen in a padded envelope to Canada and around $25 going to Europe. For small priority flat-rate boxes I think it was around $30 to Canada and around $45 to Europe.

BLAINE REED METEORITES FOR SALE- LIST #284 17APR2026

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

LIST 284 - April 14, 2026

Dear CollectorsI know, it has been a looong time since I have sent out any kind of e-mail offering. I have been busy with all kinds of things. Most things simply pop up as I go through each day (and eat up a surprising amount of my time). Others are longer term that I try and chip away at (with varying degrees of success) when I can. I got back from Costa Rica recently. I had hoped to chip at one of my largest issues while there, but it was not to be, unfortunately. I had hoped to get a membership with one of the “private” hospitals in San Jose. Then I was going to get scans to see what can be done about my hip and back. The hip I know- it has to be replaced. I completely wore it out with all the mountain climbing and hiking I did (way over did) over the years. However, the back is a fairly new thing. I suspect those problems are from my right leg now being a bit shorter than the left (no cartilage left in the right hip means that leg is a tiny bit shorter now which means lower back is out of alignment which means – endless pain and numbness in my back and left leg).
Kevin had lined up a hospital that had a very highly rated doctor for these things for me BUT we found that the rules had changed. It once was pay the yearly membership ($250 range, payable on the spot in cash, if you like) and you could immediately get scans (if the equipment was not being used at that moment) and the doc would get back to you with diagnosis and options for fixing. Nope, now you have to pay with a credit card (and they will NOT tell you what the membership cost is – just that it will be billed monthly and you will know the amount when you get your bill (!!!!!). An appointment for scans will then have to be made – A minimum of 2 weeks in advance and THEN someone might get back to you. Oh, they will only accept message from and send message to you through “Whatsapp” no phone, email or ANY other form of communication accepted or available. BOTH private hospitals have gone to these new ways. As such, neither I nor Kevin signed up for their services. So, it seems I am back to local doctors fighting with stubborn (“you are too young to need hip replacement, so we won’t cover it”) insurance companies to hopefully get back to actually walking like a human, rather than more like a zombie for me.

Anyway, the things listed here are all things I brought home from Tucson. These are all consignment items that will be returned to their owners if they don’t sell here. Not a huge rush, but do try and let me know if there is something you are interested in (even if you need to wait some time before actually being able to take it) fairly soon so I can be sure to keep it in my hands for now. Many (most actually) of these things are actually from Fredric Stephan. Well, actually his brother now. I was shocked to hear that Fredric passed away not that long ago. I enjoyed seeing him at the Tucson show each year and he usually had some really neat things for me to sell for him. Sad to lose one of our own but it is something we have to accept (not happily though). I will have at least 2 of these offerings that contain things of his and hope to work with Tim (his brother) to be able to offer more in the future.

A note about the photos:
Usually, I take the pictures for these offerings outside in natural sunlight. I was not able to do this this time. I delayed putting this offering together and sending it by days waiting for usable weather. We have been in an endless run of either overcast/ cloudy or very windy (and often, like right now, both). On the few days we did have sun at the proper times (midday is best) we had strong winds (like 30+mph) even in the mornings. Weather reports said we’d have this for the foreseeable future as well. I finally gave up and had these pictures taken inside. The light is less strong as a result but the biggest issue is that the light has been filtered through a “low –E” window. This gives the light something of a green undertone. Probably not a big deal for the particular items photographed on this list but it is something I figured people should know.



ARROYO AGUIAR, Argentina: (H5). Fell Summer 1950. Tkw = 7.45kg.
This is a Fredric Stephan specimen. To be honest, I was surprised that this is a fall. It does have some fresh metal in a largely medium to dark brown matrix but, overall, has a more aged look to it. The story on this says it was picked up “soon after” the fall. It was found some 50cm deep in the ground when the rancher who saw it fall finally located just where it had hit. Maybe “soon” was not as soon as we’d normally expect and maybe the ground was very wet. I did look into this meteorite a bit and found that this slice perfectly matches all of the other pieces of this meteorite I could find pictures of (including some with famous museum/ institution labels) so I know that this is NOT a case of the wrong sample getting put with the wrong specimen. I don’t recall having much of this go through my hands before. Whatever may have would have been small and only a specimen or two total – nothing that I have ever had enough of to be memorable.
56.8 gram slice – 65mm x 55mm x 5mm - $580

GIBEON, Namibia Fine octahedrite (IVA).
These pieces are actually from Al Mitterling. I probably would have sold some of these if I had put them out in Tucson. I did sell a couple similar pieces as those were what I had room for in the display case. I had forgotten that I even had these “extra” pieces until I found them while packing to go home (after Al had already left town). These are all basically blocks/ bookend type pieces and are quite nice. Most of these have one natural face. All other surfaces are cut and etched. These days, it is not terribly common to see any Gibeon available and, when it is, the etched pieces are surprisingly expensive (like $6 to $10/g). If you would like a well-priced little Gibeon paperweight, here is a good chance.
a) 34.9g – one natural face – 24mm x 16mm x 13mm - $140
b) 35.9g block – 21mm x 18mm x 12mm - $145
c) 39.4g one natural face – 24mm x 18mm x 15mm - $160
d) 69.1g one large natural face – 29mm x 22mm x 18mm - $260

NEW CONCORD, Ohio: (L6). Fell May 1, 1860.
I am really surprised that these 2 (Stephan specimens) did not sell in Tucson. To be honest, they are not real large and I did have my room pretty full (as were all of the cases) so they probably did not stand out as well as they should have. Anyway, these are both nice, small, fresh specimens of this fall. The smaller piece has a nice patch of fusion crust along one edge. Both look like that came from Ruben Garcia at some point. They both have labels, but only one still has the “ Mr.Meteorite.com” along the bottom.
a) 1.12g slice with crust – 11mm x 6mm x 5mm - $75
b) 1.76g slice – 15mm x 8mm x 5mm - $80

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana: (H5). Fell November 23, 2003. Tkw = 19.256kg.
This is (for this meteorite) a fairly large natural fragment. It has thick crust covering one side. This piece does show some “weathering” but only in so much as it had once it was found. The main mass of this meteorite was not found until considerable time after the fall. The owner of the home that it fell (completely) through was convinced that it was only powder and crumbs (what was found scattered about each of the floors the thing passed through during the fall) that had made the clear (and fairly large) holes through things (where have I heard this before? I am thinking Carancas (which was never fully investigated) and Chelyabinsk where it was believed (until they pulled up a nearly half ton piece) the mere “air blast” have blown a large hole on the ice covering a lake). It was some days/ week or two before someone was allowed to go under the house and inspect things. Yes, a good sized (footballish?) sized meteorite was buried in the dirt under the house. Unfortunately, it had broken a pipe(I won’t mention exactly what kind of pipe here) such that it was covered in “water” the entire time until it was recovered. As such, this does show some orange rust staining (but not a lot, thankfully).
18.3g fragment with crust – 30mm x 20mm x 18mm - $1800

NWA (7609): HED achondrite (eucrite). Found 2012. Tkw = 249 grams.
This is actually a nice complete slice of a fairly typical unbrecciated basaltic eucrite. To be honest, this thing looks very much like a slice of Camel Donga color and texture wise. However, this is missing the multi millimeter iron blobs that Camel Dongas often have (which can make them difficult to cut nicely). This has nice black crust around all but about 5mm of the edge. This comes in a plastic display box and has an A. Bates Meteorite Collection Label with it.
10.0gram complete slice – 55mm x 30mm x 2mm - $75



NWA (11446): Iron. Hexahedrite (IIAB). Found 2015. Tkw = 13kg.
This one was something of a mystery. I had these (both directly from Fredric and from Tim later) labeled as “Agoudal”. Did not think much of it. Agoudal is also a similar type meteorite (and I had never had a piece big enough to cut and etch). It was Jason Utas that looked at these pieces in Tucson and knew they were “something different”. He came up with the proper ID on these. We were wondering how the confusion came about. I think I know. Years ago, I was offered a “large” (really large for this meteorite) piece of Agoudal. I didn’t really have a need (or the $) for it so I kind of dropped it. I was later told that this had been cut into slices and etched (I think that was the next Tucson). I DID want some of those pieces. However, they had all sold by the time I was able to get over to see the person that had them. The original piece, I seem to recall, was about 13kg. The slices (I got to see a couple, but they were already sold – just waiting for the buyer to come pick them up) looked much like these. Personally, I am very surprised that this was figured out to be a different meteorite. I was shown a nice “large” slice of genuine Agoudal and it does look different. The detailed chemistry though shows that these two are not related. Good catch on someone’s part. Anyway, I have 2 each slices and end pieces. The price is the same as it was when these were “just” Agoudal specimens.
a) 293.7 gram complete slice – 135mm x 85mm x 4mm - $590
b) 359.1 gram complete slice – 210mm x 75mm x 4mm - $725
c) 447.9 gram end piece – 100mm x 70mm x 17mm - $900
d) 768.6 gram end piece – 125mm x 90mm x 20mm - $1500

Shipping:

NOTE- AS OF APRIL 26, 2026 THE USPS IS ICREASING PARCEL/POSTAL RATES BY 6-8% IN ADDITION TO THE QUOTE BELOW. 
US: It seems that shipping rates are going endlessly these days. Sometimes there is an excuse “holiday rush pricing” (that started in October and never did drop back down). Sometimes there is nothing. I noticed a couple weeks or so ago that now even the lightest of my packages (a small specimen in a small jewelry box in a padded envelope – only a bit over 2 ounces total) now costs a minimum of $8.10 to send “Ground Advantage”. Sending this EXACT package by priority is closer to $17 (!!!!). Obviously, it is better to use a small flat-rate box for most things these days (around $12). For things that are not light or small and won’t even fit in a small Priority flat-rate box I’ll probably need to custom quote the shipping.

OVERSEAS: 

NOTE- AS OF APRIL 26, 2026 THE USPS IS ICREASING PARCEL/POSTAL RATES BY 6-8% IN ADDITION TO THE QUOTE BELOW. 
It has been some time since I have sent anything out of the US. With all the hassles and paperwork these days, that us something of a blessing. At this point, anything going overseas, I will need to look up shipping costs. However, the last packages I sent out of the US were about $17 for my basic small/ cheap specimen in a padded envelope to Canada and around $25 going to Europe. For small priority flat-rate boxes I think it was around $30 to Canada and around $45 to Europe.

Blaine Reed Meteorites List #283 04JAN2026 - NEW OFFERINGS AND COMING TUCSON SHOW

Blaine Reed Meteorites
P.O. Box 1141, Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
brmeteorites@yahoo.com
LIST 283 - January 4, 2026

Dear Collectors
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

TUCSON SHOW INFO: At this point, I am planning on being gone from January 27th until around February 17th. However, I MAY try going to Tucson a bit earlier this year just to see what happens. I get people telling me they have been in Tucson for days and are going home before I even unload my car. Years when I have shown up early I hear “not buying anything until everyone else is set up and I see what they have”. Kind of interested to see what the situation is now. IF I do go early, it will likely only be a few days early (leaving around Jan 23rd perhaps). Regardless, 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 30th (as early as the 26th if I do decide to go early). I currently plan to stay through the bitter end which would be February 14th but may leave early if things look like they will be as slow that last week as they have been the past couple years. I will open the door most days at 10AM but will try to make it a bit earlier than that when possible. I will have the door open most evenings until around 9:30pm or so (or later if people are visiting/ still wandering about).

Notes on my “spring” list: I usually do an offering sometime in April/ May. Currently, it looks like I will skip this offering this year. I have a lot of travels (including out of the country) piled up the months after Tucson and I will not have time to gather, prep and list enough material (let alone being home to take, pack and ship orders). I may send out a note (with a few meteorites offered?) sometime mid- summer telling people about Denver in September (currently, I have no show space for this show).

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.


Henbury, Australia: Meteorite Shale/Oxide.
Here are pieces of oxide/shale from the famous Henbury craters discovered in 1931. There have been some arguments as to exactly how this forms. Most believe that it is just by a meteorite oxidizing over many years after reaching the ground and others are thinking it might be a form of “fusion crust”. In this case, the hot metal being exposed to the oxygen rich air blast from the fall or melted and splashed out of the forming crater(s) rapidly turns some into this material (I can personally think of some problems with this idea). Anyway, many of these pieces are kind of cool (and are all affordable) and the biggest is really quite a nice paperweight. One of the 100gram bags would be ideal for those that want to give friends and family a holdable sized piece of “meteorite material” and not spend a lot doing it (and doing this might spark an interest in meteorites and science in some of those people).
1) Meteorite Shale/ Oxide fragments as found:
a) 11.2 grams - 25mm x 20mm x 7mm - $7
b) 25.6 grams - 35mm x 20mm x 12mm - $15
c) 43.0 grams - 48mm x 35mm x 10mm - $25
d) 95.0 grams - 50mm x 30mm x 25mm - $50 – only one this size.
e) 211.9 grams - 107mm x 50mm x 25mm - $105 – only one this size.

2) 100gram+ bag of mixed pieces generally around 2cm to 4cm or so in size - $35



SILVERTON (TEXAS):, Ordinary chondrite (H4). Found 1938. Tkw = about 14kg.
This is a meteorite I got “out of the field” (bought from the finder) many, many years ago. It was 1986 or 1987 when I got it. I had hoped it would be a “new” meteorite. My maps of already known meteorites from the area showed it might not be. The closest likely possibility is that the 10kg piece I bought from the farmer who ploughed it up (in 1981 he believed) was another piece of Silverton - a meteorite that Nininger had reported as three pieces totaling close to 4kg being found in 1938 (so, clearly there was something of a strewn field in the area). I had trouble getting the comparison work done. The only place that had a known piece of one of the original Silverton stones was in Germany. Despite my giving them a slice and pre-made thin-section of my material, it still took some years to get my answer. When I did get the results it was that my “new” stone was indeed now the “main mass” of the Silverton (Texas) meteorite.
1) Part slices:
a) 7.2 grams - 20mm x 15mm x 7mm - $28
b) 14.2 grams - 34mm x 22mm x 7mm - $55
c) 28.9 grams - 40mm x 34mm x 7mm - $110
d) 63.6 grams - 50mm x 50mm x 7mm - $240
e) 164.5 grams - 90mm x 75mm x 7mm - $600 – has 6mm metal nodule.



NWA (12641),Carbonaceous chondrite (CK4). Found 2018. Tkw = 613grams.
This was a single stone recovery. The stone didn’t have any real fusion crust remaining so it was easy to see that it was something interesting right from the start. The interior shows dark gray chondrules (but not a lot of them) in a somewhat coarse-grained matrix (and this stone IS mostly “matrix”) that is mostly gray but has something of a greenish tint to it. This meteorite has quite a lot of Cr rich magnetite (but no fresh metal) in it (in both the chondrules and matrix). Some of this
magnetite has oxidized to orange/brown secondary iron hydroxides (there is not a lot of this though). Research work says that this also has “sparse, small fine-grained Calcium Aluminum Inclusions” (those things that formed first in the cloud that would become the solar system and often contain pre-solar system grains like diamonds a silicon carbides). I have looked at a few cut pieces of this (interestingly, the sides of these slices that have not been sanded show the structure MUCH clearer than the sides that were “polished”) and I have not seen anything that I would say is clearly a CAI (so they are obviously quite small).
1) Slices/ part slices:
a) 1.0 grams - 15mm x 10mm x 2mm - $12
b) 2.1 grams - 28mm x 14mm x 2mm - $25
c) 4.0 grams - 32mm x 28mm x 2mm - $45
d) 8.4 grams - 47mm x 28mm x 2mm - $90
e) 17.2 grams - 63mm x 54mm x 2mm - $170 – complete slice.



MILLBILLILLIE, Australia: HED achondrite (Eucrite). Fell October 1960. Tkw = around 150kg.
Here are some meteorites that, like the Irghizites below, I have had set aside for a loooong time. And I do mean long. These have been set aside for AT LEAST 35 years now! When Millbillille was readily available I made it a point to “stash” some nice small complete individuals. These are all really nice. They do have the usual orange dirt on most of them. I did try several ways in the long ago past to remove this (by both mechanical and chemical methods) but those all ended up looking bad, so I choose to just leave these as they are. These have nice shapes, only minor chips showing the bright white interior and lots of flow lines in the fusion crust. I’ve watched for years and years but have not really seen anything in the way of nice complete (small) eucrite individuals come out of the NWA areas. Complete little individual eucrites are a scarce thing, even including NWAs.
1) Complete individuals (mostly) as found:
a) 8.8 grams - 25mm x 15mm x 15mm - $170
b) 15.7 grams - 25mm x 20mm x 17mm - $300
c) 24.2 grams - 35mm x 25mm x 20mm - $450
d) 59.5 grams - 45mm x 30mm x 25mm - $1100









SEYMCHAN, Russia: Sotny-iron (pallasite). Found 1967.
Yeah, I know, I have offered a fair amount of this over the past years BUT I have not ever offered any in this form. No, not like slice, end piece, whole but in how it is displayed. These pieces are each really nice pallasite slices (the two largest have some larger areas of metal that have a great etch structure that really make these pieces a visual treat). It is HOW they are displayed that is different. These are in a metal picture frame (chrome) and are set between two pieces of glass (the front piece being an expensive non-glare “Museum glass”) so light can pass through to show the wonderful natural “stained glass window” look of these piece. I make these frames all myself. I custom cut the metal frame parts and make the custom cut (black) mats (these are hand cut with a jeweler’s saw to tightly fit the shape of the slice). A LOT of work but these do look pretty nice. I have been told that a good number of these I have made (also with non-pallasite meteorites) are hanging in some museums (including the Smithsonian I was told). I decided that I should not hold these only for shows but offer them to everyone even by mail.
1) Pallasite slices in custom fit metal frame.
a) 62.1 grams – 100mm x 65mm x 2mm – frame is 5”x 7” - $1100
b) 154.9 grams – 140mm x 115mm x 2mm – frame is 7” x 8” - $2350
c) 333.8 grams – 230mm x 120mm x 2mm – frame is 8” x 11” - $4700



IRGHIZITE, Russia: Zhamanshin Crater.
Here is another item I have had set aside for years and years. I can’t remember how long ago I last offered some of these on a list, but it has been a long time. The Zamanshin Crater is 14km (8.6miles) in diameter and is believed to have formed right around 900 thousand years ago. It is also believed to be the most recent impact of size great enough to have possibly created “nuclear winter” environmental effects (but not big enough to have caused mass extinction, thankfully). There are many different types of impact glasses found around this crater and Irghizites are the ones that have generally been looked at as tektites. These are all pieces I set aside as being particularly interesting. They have wild, ropy shapes (often many stretched glass strands piled up on top of each other) and all have natural holes (most have several). These are all standard to somewhat larger than average size and all are a feast for the eyes under magnification.
a) about .8g 10mm x 15mm x 6mm fancy individual - $20

Shipping:

US Shipping: Well, the post office has been raising prices at a faster rate lately. My small specimen in a small jewelry box in a padded envelope now costs me almost $8 now! Lately, the cheapest I have been able to send such a thing (to closer addresses) has been $7.80 (and that is for “ground advantage”) . I think small flat-rate priority boxes are at least $11. Bigger things I’ll probably have to custom quote (though I don’t have any things on this offering that would require anything bigger than a small flat-rate box).

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 #282 30SEP2025 - mailed catalog

Blaine Reed Meteorites

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

LIST 282 - September 29, 2025


Greetings,

A note concerning the photos in this offering:
I want everyone receiving this post with imbedded group photos of the items on this list to be aware 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 make any substitution(s) in your order.



BOXHOLE, Australia: Medium octahedrite (IIIAB). Found 1937. Tkw = 500kg.
it has been a long time since I have seen pieces (of any type) of this meteorite. It was one of my starting meteorites. I had (and could get) lots of small pieces of this and certainly had it on my first catalogs (nearly 40 years ago now). Glenn Huss is who I got it from back then. I have had no real/ reliable source of Boxhole since. To be upfront, ALL of these pieces are actually “Oxide/ shale”. But hey, it is what was available of this semi-famous crater forming meteorite. I have heard that this “shale” may actually be kind of “fusion crust” – forming from hot pieces of molten iron reacting with the air during the fall or right after impact. But then, it might just be from larger pieces rusting in the ground for many years (though I don’t recall ever seeing a large iron of any type that has a bunch of this stuff stuck to it. The “shale” always seems to be on its own). Anyway, here is a chance to add a piece of something from this now really hard to get material from impact cratering meteorite.
1) Natural fragments as found:
a) 3.5 grams - 18mm x 15mm x 7mm - $5
b) 7.5 grams - 25mm x 15mm x 7mm - $10
c) 11.0 grams - 30mm x 18mm x 7mm - $14
d) 24.1 grams - 32mm x 23mm x 12mm - $25
e) 56.0 grams - 44mm x 30mm x 15mm - $55




NWA (14617): Ordinary chondrite (L3). Found May 2021. Tkw = 636 grams.
A single stone was found. This is a quite fresh meteorite and shows lots of close packed chondrules. Frankly, this look a lot like NWA (7031) an L3.15 meteorite I offered slices of some years ago. The detailed “sub-typing” was not done on this stone. Not surprised as that is a very expensive and labor (well research) intensive process. As such, this generally only gets done on larger meteorites that look quite strongly like they are a “low” type (3.2, 3.1, ideally something that has a real chance at being an all hallowed 3.00). I find this unfortunate as now MOST type 3 chondrites simply come out as “type 3” with no further identification or notes. I seem to recall that there is/ was a way to get a pretty good idea of the sub-type (chrome content of olivine I believe) but that was voted as not acceptable by the Nomenclature Committee. Regardless, this research notes on this particular stone said that the iron composition spread of the olivine in it indicates that this meteorite is roughly an L 3.5.
1) Slices:
a) 7.5 grams - 30mm x 20mm x 4mm - $27
b) 13.1 grams - 33mm x 22mm x 5mm - $45
c) 22.2 grams - 47mm x 28mm x 5mm - $75
d) 45.8 grams - 55mm x 50mm x 5mm - $150
2) End piece:
a) 84.1 grams - 55mm x 50mm x 12mm - $250 – “main mass”




NWA (15775):Ordinary chondrite (L6). Found 2022. Tkw 14.63kilograms.
A single oriented stone was found. Not sure why it got cut up other than, maybe, it wasn’t oriented enough to be of interest as a whole stone. The interior, however, IS quite nice. It is quite fresh, showing lots of metal and some chondrules (including some that are over a cm in diameter!) in a mottled light tan to medium brown matrix. This stone also takes a nice high polish (not common for fresh L’s). This is because this has been highly shocked. I was told that this was an “impact melt” when I bought these slices. Plausible, I thought. It does show some (but not a huge number) of shock veins and has dark areas that clearly have some shock melting going on (just not enough to call this meteorite an “impact melt”). A good looking meteorite for a great price.
1) Slices:
a) 6.1 grams - 23mm x 16mm x 5mm - $15
b) 13.3 grams - 37mm x 25mm x 5mm - $30
c) 27.8 grams - 52mm x 35mm x 5mm - $62
d) 50.5 grams - 80mm x 40mm x 4mm - $110
e) 100.2 grams - 110mm x 70mm x 4mm - $200
f) 169.3 grams - 105mm x 100mm x 5mm - $340 – complete slice.




GRAPEVINE MESA, Arizona: Carbonaceous chondrite (CBa). Found 2021. Tkw = 500+grams.
I remember seeing pieces of this not long after it was found. I think those were priced around $500 to $1000/grams. But, at that point, not much had been found. It is still the case that not much has been found weight wise BUT there have been quite a few really small pieces found so prices have come down a bit (on the smaller pieces anyway). I got some of these smaller (but not smallest) pieces in Tucson this year. This is an odd meteorite. It is mostly iron (around 70% of a cut surface is iron) with only small amounts of silicate material (but some carbon to give it the “carbonaceous” moniker). I had to research the CBa and CBb thing. The “a” set are really high in iron (which is generally in large pieces/ blobs) and low in silicates (and generally completely lacks fine grained matrix material). These pieces are all natural as found. To be honest, they look (and weigh) more like small iron meteorites than a chondrite of any sort.
1) Natural specimens as found:
a) .15 grams - 5mm x 4mm x 3mm - $37
b) .31 grams - 6mm x 4mm x 3mm - $75
c) .64 grams - 8mm x 6mm x 4mm - $150
d) .80 grams - 9mm x 6mm x 5mm - $180
e) 1.50 grams - 10mm x 10mm x 5mm - $300




NWA (2986): (Shergottite). Found 2006. Tkw = about 550grams.
These are pretty much all complete little individuals. They have been on the ground for a while so they do show weathering (in the form of wind polishing and sand ablation in spots, no rusting or minerals rotting). They all have at least some of their fusion crust remaining (some close to 50% of it) and all have their overall original rounded complete individual shape. In my years in business, I have not really had that many genuine complete individual Mars rocks (plenty of fragments that have been weathered to look like they MIGHT have been an individual). The ones I have had have been quite expensive (but then, most of those were Tissint – a witnessed fall). What pieces of this I could find of this being offered were really high priced (like $1200 or so/gram!). NOT going to even try pricing these like that. Here is a chance to add an affordable “complete individual” Mars rock to your collection.
1) Complete individuals as found:
a) .146 grams - 7mm x 3mm x 3mm - $50
b) .268 grams - 7mm x 5mm x 5mm - $90
c) .354 grams - 7mm x 7mm x 4mm - $115
d) .594 grams - 9mm x 7mm x 6mm - $190
e) 1.268 grams - 12mm x 10mm x 8mm - $380




SAFFORDITE, Arizona: Pseudo Tektite.
I have had these off and on for years but never offered any on a mailed list. But then, these really are NOT associated with meteorites in any real way. Yes, they were (and likely still are) really popular with the New Age crowd (to the point of these bringing over $15/gram a few years ago) and I have had a fair number of meteorite people ask for them as well. I had a piece of this and one of “Columbianite/ Americanite” (a similar looking material from Columbia, South America) go through detailed analysis years ago. The results were exactly what I expected: both are Rhyolitic volcanic glass that has weathered to look like a tektite (sometimes surprisingly so – the reason that Dr. Nininger really believed the pieces coming out of South America were really tektites). These generally transmit a good amount of light through them and have a nice pinkish gray color to them when they do (the few faceted stones I have seen cut from these are also quite pretty). NOT really meteorite related but PLENTY of collectors still want one as they were (for a time) thought to be tektites.
1) Complete specimens as found:
a) 1.0 grams - 12mm x 10mm x 6mm - $6
b) 2.0 grams - 14mm x 10mm x 8mm - $10
c) 3.6 grams - 17mm x 15mm x 11mm - $18
d) 5.5 grams - 21mm x 17mm x 10mm - $25
e) 8.4 grams - 23mm x 19mm x 13mm - $38 – only one this size.


Shipping:
US Shipping: Well, postal rates have increased yet again (gads, I feel like I am having to say this on EVERY new offering these days). I knew that the basic “Forever” stamps went up this July (and I stupidly forgot to buy a bunch before they did). I did not see package rates go up initially. However, once into August, I have seen surprisingly expensive package shipping costs. I just sent out one of my small specimen (as in few grams!) in a small jewelry box in a padded envelope and it cost me over $7 to send it by GROUND!!!. I have also had to pay about $12 to send small Flat-rate Priority boxes. So, I will make US shipping costs $6 for small Ground Advantage for now (until I see whether or not that $7 was a fluke or the new reality) and small priority shipments $12.

Overseas shipping: For the time being, I think I will need to custom quote everything. I have no idea how bad rates may be now. I know that before this recent increase, it cost about $30 for one of my small padded envelopes (First Class) and around $45 to $50 for a small Priority Flat-rate box (about double what they had been before that last rate increase). I am sure there will be real horrors to be discovered as I attempt to calculate things going out of the US now.

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.