Blaine Reed Meteorites List #84

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
……………………………………………..LIST 84
February 23, 2010

Dear Collectors,

I am back from the show and attempting to get caught up (being gone for nearly three weeks leaves a LOT of work to be caught up on). Having huge amounts (for Delta anyway) of wet heavy snow that has required many, many hours out shoveling (the down side of having acreage and a 500 foot long driveway has become exhaustingly clear lately) has not helped any either.
Anyway, the show went quite well. Visitor traffic was quite slow (similar to last year, maybe a bit higher), but then those that came were serious about spending money. I made the rent and then some (better than I expected anyway). None the less, I managed to come home material rich and cash poor from doing my own bit of stimulating the show economy (as if $3350 JUST for the room wasn't stimulating enough for the Tucson economy) - a pretty typical situation with shows for me. The items below (and for the next few lists) are a combination of things I picked up at the show and consignments that were left with me that I would prefer to find a home for rather than simply send back to their owners.

FRANCONIA, Arizona: (H5). Found October 31, 2002. Tkw = about 100kg.
This is a nice little individual that has a small window polished into it to show the chondrules and fresh metal inside.
25.8 gram individual - 26mm x 24mm x 18mm - $40

NWA (5717): Anomalous chondrite (type 3.05). Found 2006. Tkw = 7.31kg.
A single fresh crusted stone was found of this strange meteorite. This almost made the hallowed 3.00 mark and is the lowest petrographic numbered meteorite I recall ever offering. It shows lots of chondrules of all sizes, from very tiny and hard to see (there is almost no real matrix in this thing - just ever smaller chondrules) up to 4 or 5mm in size. Though it has a look similar to many H3 meteorites (aside from the low amount of metal but high amount of sulfides often found surrounding the chondrules as armor rims), its oxygen isotopes show that it is really from a different and new parent body.
a) 2.782 gram part slice - 34mm x 8mm x 3mm - $280 - small 1/2 slice.
b) 6.078 gram part slice - 26mm x 22mm x 3mm - $600
c) 8.204 gram part slice - 39mm x 20mm x 3mm - $820 - 20mm edge crusted.
d) 16.37 gram part slice - 57mm x 33mm x 2mm - $1600 - 40mm of edge crusted.

NWA (unstudied stones). These are a couple nice stones that were left with me at the show. I sold pretty much all I put out for sale at the show from this batch, but forgot that these two were still lurking in the drawer.
a) 64.8 gram 1/2 individual - 45mm x 32mm x 29mm - $65.
Even though it does not show distinct flow lines, I have no problem calling this one oriented. It has an almost perfect 1/2 of a charcoal brickette shape. It has really thick crust (over about 60% or so of the specimen) that is a mix of black and dark brown in color, shows contraction cracks and lots of bubbling (particularly strong on one side - likely the back side of the mass as it fell).
b) 171.1 gram complete individual - 48mm x 39mm x 38mm - $150.
This is completely covered with dark brown crust that is lightly shiny (wind-polished a bit). This piece is interesting in that it shows many levels of crust development; from smooth primary to rough tertiary, and everything in between.

NUEVO MERCURIO, Mexico: (H5). Fell December 15, 1978.
This is a nice complete (except for a small roughly 7mm x 15mm end break that likely happened when it hit the ground) individual. It has thick, highly textured crust that is mostly black with some dark brown patches. This piece is particularly nice for its unusual size (most Nuevos were quite small) and completeness (most Neuvos were quite chipped up).
59.7 gram individual - 45mm x 33mm x 25mm - $450

MILLBILLILLIE, Australia: (Eucrite). Fell October 1960. Tkw = 330kg.
This is a complete individual and rare as such. After the Calcalong Creek moon rock was found in a batch of Millbillillies, every one that did not already have a natural broken area large enough to reveal a white eucrite interior (instead of the dark gray lunar interior) had an opening ground into it. This never suffered either fate. It is completely covered with crust. Much of it does have the usual orange coloration from the soil it fell in, but there is a good amount (30% or more) that is still fresh shiny black. This stone more than makes up for any loss there by having lots of heavy flow lines and ridges completely surrounding it
59.6 gram complete individual - 50mm x 35mm x 28mm - $750.

NWA (1929): (Howardite). Found 2003. Tkw = 15+kg.
This is a beautiful super thin slice that shows lots of breccia inclusions of different textures and colors (including one orange/brown one about 12mm x 15mm or so that appears to be a large hypersthene (diogenite) crystal). This (like Seymchan below) may look "expensive" on a price per gram level, but is a fantastic deal on a price per surface area calculation. A great display piece!
24.3 gram complete slice - 135mm x 87mm x 1mm - $480

HUCKITTA, Australia: (Pallasite). Found 1937.
Here are a couple nice, solid, large slices of the oxidized material from this find (pretty much all that is available from this meteorite). These show lots of angular dark yellow-brown olivine crystals in a blue-gray hematite/magnetite matrix. These are polished on both sides and are guaranteed not to rust (try and find another pallasite at this price range you can say that about!). Neat display pieces!
a) 84.8 gram complete slice - 90mm x 76mm x 4mm - $200
b) 215.0 gram complete slice - 155mm x 90mm x 5mm - $475

SEYMCHAN, Russia: (Pallasite). Found 1967.
Here is a fantastic super thin slice of the all metal portion of this meteorite. This is basically rectangular (cut on all edges) but shows a wonderful etch on both sides. Knowing a bit about the losses and costs of preparing things like this, I find it difficult to call this anything but a real bargain. Even if the "cost per gram" seems a bit high, the cost per surface area is incredibly cheap..
25.6 gram etched slice - 82mm x 53mm x 1mm - $70