Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale - List 173 - Meteorite "coins"

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale - List 173 - Meteorite "coins"

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

…………………………………………………..LIST 173
May 5, 2015

Dear collectors,

Sorry that this is going out a bit late, I was tied up with stuff most of today. Part of that is that this is the first day (knock on wood) that I have felt able to get around much and get things accomplished. I really enjoyed visiting the Denver spring show a week or so ago. Two things from that trip kind of screwed me up though. First, I got snowed in for an extra day, so I didn’t get back home until Tuesday night. Second, I made it a couple days or so before I found that, it seems, I brought home something extra. I think I picked up some kind of flu bug or such. Not severe, but with fever, headache and muscle ache enough to made it such that I have not slept real well or gotten much done since last Thursday. I seem to recall eating somewhere that one of the people making/ handling the food had looked/ sounded (coughing, sniffling) like they may not really be healthy enough to be at work. Regardless, I am ready/ well enough to get this offering out. I picked out a special set of material such that my lateness on sending this out should not matter. I have a fair number of each of these (5 plus) so I don’t expect to sell out in a real big hurry. Besides, for all but Campo, I can probably get more with a phone call and a few days wait if I do manage to move what I currently have.

METEORITE “COINS”/ MEDALS:
These are all private mint custom designed and serial numbered “coins”. They are not a “legal tender” item for any place but are well done and have proven popular when I have offered them at shows. Each of these has a design or color picture on the front that is associated with the particular meteorite fall or find the coin is made for. Most of these have a bit more info on the back about the particular meteorite, but some of these (the newer issues) have another color picture instead along with the serial number. The front of each coin has a small recess that contains either a fragment, small individual or (in the case of the Lunar and Martian ones) a bit of dust and crumbs of the meteorite the coin was designed for. A couple of these (the older ones) are a bronze color (and my XRF shows they are indeed bronze – mostly copper and zinc). The newer ones are chrome like (having both polished and brushed areas) but seem to be a nickel bronze alloy (70% Ni, 15%Cu, 15%Zn) according to my XRF (though it is possible the NI is just a plating as Ni is relatively expensive). I’ll try to make note of a few details of each of these.

a) CAMPO DEL CIELO, Argentina: Coarse octahedrite. Found 1576. Total pieces made = 1000.
This is one of my earliest coins. In fact, I think this one is about sold out (I didn’t get anymore from my source when I asked for them). This is one of the brownish actual bronze coins. The front has a die stamped design of some fireballs falling through clouds coming in over a sparsely vegetated plain. The meteorite attached to this side is a small (around 5mm or so) tumbled nugget. I have only 6 of these remaining. - $30

b) CHELYABINSK, Russia: (LL5). Fell February 15, 2013. Total pieces made = 2000.
I know this one may look like it should be “common”. It indeed has the highest “mintage” of anyu of the coins I have had. However, this one turned out to be incredibly popular. I was told that coin dealers were buying these ones up by the many hundreds at a time. The guess is that there are still maybe 200 left for us in the meteorite collecting world at this time. This, obviously, is a newer issue so it is made of the chrome-like nickel alloy. The front has a color picture of the split smoke trail left by the fireball and a small (around 3mm or so) piece of this meteorite in a recess. Most of these are complete individuals but a couple have a broken end (great for those that want to see the lighter interior as well as black crust). The back side has a color picture of a map of the area of the fall. - $75

c) NWA 482: Lunar, impact melt breccia. Found 2000. Tkw = 1015 grams. Total piece made = 250.
This coin (as all of the Lunar and Martians I have) is made from the Ni-rich chrome-like alloy. The front has a picture of the cratered face of the moon (round and has some Mare areas but I don’t think it is of the entire face of the moon). The recess on this side has some powder and fragments of this meteorite (likely left from the original cutting up of this meteorite – I’ve got some of this powder hiding somewhere around here as well). - $75

d) NWA 869: L3-6 regolith breccia. Found 2000. Total pieces made = 1000.
This is one of the older coins I have available. It is of the brownish bronze alloy. The front has a die pressed scene of a fireball over sand dunes camels. The specimen on this is a small (around 1cm) tumble polished fragment of this meteorite. - $30

e) NWA 2968: Martian, Shergottite. Found 2006. Tkw = 268 grams. Total pieces made = 250.
This coin is the Ni-rich, chrome like metal. The front has a picture of a Mars rover bumped up against a rock doing analysis work. This side also has the small recess that has a 1 to 2mm fragment of this meteorite in it. - $75

f) NWA 2995: Lunar feldspathic breccia. Found 2005. Tkw = 538 grams. Total pieces made = 250.
This coin is made with the Ni-rich chrome looking alloy. The front has a color picture showing an astronaut on the moon with a US flag to his right and the Earth “rising” (well, near the horizon anyway as the earth doesn’t rise in view of someone standing on the moon) in the background. This side also has the small recess that contains dust and crumbs of this meteorite. - $75

g) SIKHOTE-ALIN, Russia: Coarsest octahedrite. Fell Feb. 12, 1947. Total pieces made = 1000.
This is one of the newest “coins” for me. It is made with the Ni – rich chrome looking metal. The front has a color picture showing the smoke-trail over roofs of a village in the foreground near the instant of impact. The recess on this side has a small cleaned shrapnel fragment piece of this meteorite. The back side of this coin has a color picture of the map of the area of the fall (well, at a big distance – showing even parts of Japan) to give an idea of just where in the world this fall actually happened. - $35