Blaine Reed Meteorites List 111 - recently mailed offering 19OCT2011

Blaine Reed Meteorites List 111 - recently mailed offering

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

October 19, 2011
……………………………………………………LIST 111

Dear Collectors,

Here is the E-mail version of my just mailed paper list offering.

This is my 25th anniversary list! It was October of 1986 that my first ad came out in Rock and Gem and I sent out my first catalogs. My first actual order was late in the month and went out to a collector in Erie, PA. It sometimes seems like it has been a loooong time, but usually it feels more like I started just last year. 

Socorro, New Mexico Mineral Symposium. I will be gone November 9th - 16th. The "informal tail-gating" (specimen sales) will be at the Comfort Inn at the very North end of town (1259 Frontage Rd NW). I should be in room 119. I should be set up and open by 2PM on Friday Nov 11th and open again about 6PM Saturday (generally open until 11 or so each night). I will also likely be open much of Sunday as well - not putting things away until around 4PM or so that day.

As usual lately: I am very busy with several projects that will have me out of the house periodically. Please leave a message if you don't reach me. I will get back to you when I get back in. 

MUONIONALUSTA, Sweden: Fine octahedrite (IVA). Found 1906. Tkw = 1000+ kilograms.
I am a little bit scared to offer this one. I have heard it called MuonionaRUSTA. This is beautiful stuff though. It has a fantastic etch (sharper and better, by far, than most Gibeon) but does sometimes have a problem with developing rust lines. These pieces were supposedly cut in oil and etched in alcohol, so they are supposed to be much more stable than most. I have had these for 8 months and they are indeed holding up well, and we have been very rainy here this summer.
1) Etched part slices:
a) 8.2 grams - 25mm x 11mm x 4mm - $15
b) 17.1 grams - 29mm x 26mm x 3mm - $30
c) 26.9 grams - 30mm x 28mm x 5mm - $45

DHOFAR 1576, Oman: (L5). Found March 10, 2009. Tkw = 7.7 kilograms.
The current total known weight on this might be substantially less for the time being. I got a little over 2kg of this and was told that the remainder may have been "lost in the shuffle" (misplaced, lost its labeling or accidentally got mixed in with other similar-looking unstudied material perhaps). Anyway, this is indeed the "Right Stuff". This was recovered as a single large stone that had weathered apart into many pieces. I suspect that this original stone may have been oriented to some degree, as quite a number of these pieces show some patches of incredibly thick, somewhat bubbly crust. This is, internally, pretty typical for a weathered low shock level (S2) L-chondrite.
1) Cut fragments:
a) 8.1 grams - 26mm x 15mm x 12mm - $10
b) 14.3 grams - 38mm x 17mm x 15mm - $17
c) 28.0 grams - 44mm x 27mm x 15mm - $31
d) 42.4 grams - 54mm x 33mm x 12mm - $45
e) 106.1 grams - 82mm x 48mm x 20mm - $100
f) 231.4 grams - 85mm x 58mm x 22mm - $205 – most of back covered by thin crust.

NWA 5783: (LL6). Found before February 2008. Tkw = 524.2 grams.
I got five fairly fresh looking stones with really low magnetic attraction at the Tucson show some years ago and set them aside. Cutting one of the stones revealed that these were a nice, fresh LL6 with a good breccia texture (this has gray clasts in a light greenish-gray matrix internally). I decided to offer the remaining stones as complete individuals for now as these are indeed distinctly complete individuals (I may cut up what does not sell and offer slices on a later list). I do have many collectors that want only complete stones of various types, and LL6 is not the easiest to come by. These do show a moderate level of wind-polishing and weathering effects, but the crust is still quite dark and thick in most areas (with much of the crust on the larger pieces showing nice contraction cracks). Note for E-Mail offering; I rapidly sold the smaller ones and cut the 109g piece, so now there is an end piece available. This does have a little bit of light browning on the edges but is a very nice specimen with really nice crust covering the back.

1) Complete individuals as found:
a) 198.8 grams - 55mm x 43mm x 38mm - $600

2) End piece:
a) 54.8 grams – 50mm x 43mm x 18mm - $190

ORGUEIL, France: (CI1), carbonaceous chondrite. Fell May 14, 1864. Tkw = 11 kilograms.
This is the closest to comet material we as collectors have in our collections (I doubt we'll ever get access to some of the tiny grains they brought back from comet 81P/Wild 2 in the Stardust mission). This is very close to solar abundance in most elements and is the most "primitive" meteorite type known. This has had a lot of water flow though it in its past. I recently saw a very interesting article explaining that there may really be fossils in this material! Some of the evidence was along the lines of
the microbes that were fossilized were of a type that live underwater (we all know that this material would have turned to mud if it spent any time underwater after arriving on Earth) and the isotopic compositions of the `fossil" structures appeared to be non-terrestrial. I have not heard any more on this, but it is truly fascinating to think about none the less. What I have is crumbs (no surprise there), generally from small up to 4 or 5mm in size in a capsule or glass vial
1) Crumbs/ fragments in capsule/vial:
a) .05 grams - about 4mm diameter x 2.5mm deep in capsule - $125
b) .10 grams – about 4mm diameter x 5mm deep in capsule - $240
c) .25 grams – about 4mm diameter x 9mm deep in capsule - $575
d) .50 grams – 5mm diameter x 20mm glass vial filled - $1100
e) 1.0 grams – 11mm diameter x 9mm deep in glass vial - $2000

NWA 6888: Rio de Oro, Western Sahara: (Lunar meteorite). Found May 28, 2011, Tkw = 208 grams.
Here is a BRAND NEW Moon rock! This just got done with the research work, and it turned out to be really interesting! I have heard the term "collection in a slice" before, but it really applies to this stuff. This stone is classified as a "Polymict melt matrix breccia and is composed of many different mineral and rock type clasts (including granulites, anorthosites, gabbro, gabbro-norite, troctolites and VLT-like basalts) set in a devitrified glass matrix. This one meteorite seems to have a bit of pretty much all the different types of Lunar materials. The single "I've got some of that type Moon rock" Lunar specimen! 
1) Slices: 
a) .06 grams - 7mm x 4mm x 1mm - $65
b) .11 grams - 8mm x 6mm x 1mm - $120
c) .18 grams - 10mm x 9mm x 1mm - $195
d) .37 grams - 14mm x 10mm x 1mm - $390
e) .90 grams - 19mm x 18mm x 1mm - $900
f) 3.09 grams - 57mm x 22mm x 1mm - $2935 – complete slice.

2) End piece:
a) .13 grams – 10mm x 5mm x 2mm - $140

SEYMCHAN, Russia: (Pallasite). Found 1967. Tkw = tons, but very little true pallasite material known.
I got a few more pieces of the intensely pallasitic stuff at the Denver Spring Show and had it cut thinner. I couldn't recall if I have ever offered this material. I have offered the material with large crystals before, but I don't believe I have offered this really fine-grained material. Anyway, these have a high content of angular olivine sized from really tiny up to 5 or 6mm. These are neat pieces in that even a small specimen shows the pallasitic texture of a large slice (I often offer these to jewelers as even cabs for rings still show a good olivine/ metal mix). 
1) Slices:
a) 3.3 grams - 19mm x 17mm x 2mm - $40
b) 6.6 grams - 31mm x 22mm x 2mm - $80
c) 9.8 grams - 28mm x 28mm x 3mm - $115
d) 14.2 grams - 43mm x 35mm x 2mm - $165
e) 21.0 grams - 70mm x 35mm x 2mm - $240
f) 36.7 grams - 52mm x 50mm x 3mm - $400 – lots of large crystals/ light transmittance!

2) Fantastic 6.7kg intensely pallasitic end piece – 230mm x 140mm x 120mm - $12,500 – I'd love to keep this one as my representative pallasite end piece if I had the cash (this is consigned).

DARWIN GLASS, Australia; impact glass.
I thought I was pretty much out of this material, but recently located another small bag I had set aside from long ago (probably 15 or 20 years). These are the usual dark greenish/gray irregular blobs of rough glass from the roughly 700k year old, 1 Km diameter Mount Darwin Crater in Tasmania.. Most show interesting stretch and or flow structure (I think this was a bag of the "good stuff", or at least the "better stuff").
1) Individuals/ fragments as found: Price = $2.50/g
Sizes available: 2.0g, 4.2g, 6.4g, 9.0g, 11.5g,

STONE (chondrite) METEORITE PENDANT/BEADS:
These are some really neat hand-made "beads" that I picked up in Denver. I have 2 styles – disks and hearts. They have a hole in them near their respective "tops" (near one edge of the disk and just below the V of the heart) for running a loop through for hanging on a chain. These would make a great Christmas present, so I decided to offer them now.
1) Disk shaped pendant bead: roughly 35mm diameter, 5mm thick (roughly 15 to 20 grams) - $20.00 each
2) Heart shaped pendant bead: Roughly 40mm tall x 35mm wide, 5mm thick (roughly 20 to 30 grams) - $25.00 each 

Please include postage: a couple dollars on small U.S. orders and $10 on large items for first class (insurance is extra, if desired). On small overseas orders, $3 to $5 is generally plenty (I'll have to custom figure the rate for large items). Registration is also recommended on more valuable overseas shipments - an extra $12.00.
If you are sending a fax, simply begin transmitting when my line is answered. My fax will turn on automatically to receive (or I will start it if I answer) when you begin transmitting. 

Blaine Reed Meteorites List 110

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
………………………………………………………LIST 110

October 4, 2011

Dear Collectors,

Here is another small offering that is actually going out at the proper time for once. A couple of the items here are things I picked up at the show, but most of it is from a collection of impact materials, tektites and a some small meteorite specimens I recently received from a collector "retiring" from collecting. I will probably have special offerings of just Tektites and another of impact items (breccias/ shattercones and such) later, once I get it all organized and cataloged.

I do have one small (?) complication with this listing though – Blake is out of town for a couple days, so I will have to wait until he returns Wednesday night or Thursday mid day to send out pictures of any of this, unfortunately.

CANYON DIABLO, Arizona: (Coarse octahedrite (IAB). Found 1891.
This is a natural, as found individual (complete with all of the white caliche that was stuck to it from its 50K years in the ground). This is nothing exceptional, but it is a nice solid piece and comes with an old Excalibur-Cureton Co. label.
100.6 gram individual – 38mm x 30mm x 20mm - $60

NANTAN, China. (Medium octahedrite, IAB). Found 1958.
This is an "oxide" fragment that is actually mostly metal. It is surprisingly solid, and is not bleeding rust product goo at all! Some one let their curiosity get the better of them and hack sawed off an end of this specimen. It does indeed show a fair amount of metal in the interior (around 50% of the cut face). 
93.4 gram fragment with rough cut face – 45mm x 40mm x 20mm - $15

NWA (5549) (?), Silicated iron.
This is a nice sculpted fresh (it does show some small patches of fusion crust yet) individual that was originally brought to me as "Zizz" (I had a customer for a piece of that stuff). Everyone that saw this said that this was actually the "new" silicated iron – NWA (5549). This is definitely a silicated iron. You can easily see zones of silicates (some that are quite large, one is some 40mm x 30mm) on the surface of this thing (and in bright light, some of these zones have a greenish brown almost gemmy color to them). I looked up some pictures of the known NWA (5549), and this does indeed match up perfectly!
1706 gram complete individual – 115mm x 75mm x 65mm - $5500 

WOLF CREEK, Australia. Medium octahedrite (IIIAB). Found 1947.
This is a typical (but solid) "shale ball" from this impact crater. I have had a few of these over the years, but they seem to be fairly scarce at this point.
63.8 gram shale ball – 43mm x 30m x 30mm - $65 

DALGETY DOWNS, Australia. (L4). Found 1941. Tkw = 474+ kilograms.
This is a part slice that was purchased from me many years ago. It is roughly square shaped and has one natural edge. This is nice material internally (it does not look like much on the exterior). It has plenty of metal in a mottled brown/ green and light tan matrix. Actually, this stuff looks very much like cut pieces of Gold Basin.
7.7 gram part slice – 20mm x 18mm x 6mm - $15 

FOREST (B), Australia. (L6). Found October 1980. Tkw = 26kilograms.
This is a flat fragment with a hint of a cut are on one side, small, but large enough for me to clearly see that this is an (L6). This certainly does look like the stuff I got from Robert Haag years ago. This piece may have indeed come from him, but an info card was not included with this – just an old copy of the listing for this stone in an older version of the "Catalog of Meteorites".
7.7 gram fragment – 35mm x 25mm x 5mm - $25

GAO, Burkina Faso. (H5). Fell March 5, 1960.
This is another part slice that was purchased from me many years ago. It is nothing real special. It has the typical medium brown coloration that the more recent recoveries of this material showed internally, but it does show lots of metal including a 1mm x 7mm metal vein on one edge.
10.4 gram part slice – 24mm x 23mm x 6mm - $20

HOLBROOK, Arizona. (L/LL6). Fell July 19, 1912.
This is a really nice complete individual as found. It has some minor dirt on spots (so it was likely not picked up right after the fall) but the crust is really fresh and black.
2.38 gram complete individual – 16mm x 11mm x 6mm - $50

JILIN, China. (H5). Fell March 8, 1976. Tkw = 4000+kilograms.
This is a nice square-shaped part slice that is very fresh (a lot of this material that came out fairly recently was quite brown in the interior). This does show minor hints of oxidation, but only in the form of brown spotting. Other than that, this is a nice light gray color.
5.5 gram part slice – 19mm x 16mm x 6mm - $30

MILLBILLILLIE, Australia: (Eucrite). Fell October 1960.
This is a really nice little end piece of the more mushy/ breccia textured portion of this meteorites (this is somewhat rarer than the intertwined crystal laths texture that has the "salt and pepper" look to it). This has full crust coverage on the back. The crust is orange stained, as most of this stuff was, but does show good flow lines and contraction cracks.
1.6 gram end piece – 20mm x 14mm x 4mm - $25

VACA MUERTA, Chile. (Mesosiderite). Found 1861.
This is a nice solid little end piece. It is not as fresh as, say NWA (2932) (boy, I wish I had bought more of that one when it was available. Now the NWA mesos are running $6 to $10/g out of the field!). but it is quite nice for Vaca. This still shows quite a lot of metal.
9.2 gram end piece – 22mm x 20mm x 10mm - $28 

METEORITE WATCH:
This is a beautiful men's wrist- watch that has a gold platted Munionalusta slice for the dial. The etch on this is fantastic! The watch is done in a style similar to a Rolex Presidential, I believe. It has "diamond" highlights at 6, 9 and 12 and the date window at 3. The band is two-tone; gold and stainless. This also comes with a nice jewelry/ display box. A really nice looking watch.
Munionalusta dial men's wrist watch - $350