Blaine Reed Meteorites for Sale - List 187 - Estherville, St. Severin and more
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
…………………………………………………………LIST 187
March 15, 2016
BRENHAM, Kansas: Stony-iron (Pallasite). Found October 30, 2005.
I must have sold a lot of pieces like this one years ago. It seems that every time I sell one that has come back to me, another appears. Like the others, this was cut from a 69 kilogram all iron specimen that Steve Arnold found on the date listed above. This has one natural edge that is about 50mm long with the remaining edges being saw cut. This is etched on both sides and shows a nice but not super vibrant etch pattern. There are a couple tiny thin brown oxidation lines along a fine crack near the edge (even Gibeon gets those) but they are so fine that I’d risk doing more damage to the piece by trying to mess with them. A good piece that is obviously quite stable, given the environment it was previously stored in.
74.0 gram etched part slice – 50mm x 50mm x 3mm - $120
CAMPO DEL CIELO, Argentina: Coarse octahedrite (IAB). Found 1576.
Here is actually a really nice etched (on both sides) “complete slice”. This does not show a speck of oxidation anywhere! Looking at the edge, I personally think that this was cut from a really large “nugget” – one of those pieces that results from a larger meteorite being broken up after being frozen in liquid nitrogen (gads, I wish I had patented THAT idea when I came up with it to help out a guy that rapidly needed 5000 plus small iron meteorites for a project he contracted for without first checking to see if 5000 of ANY small irons existed at the time – which they didn’t). I have never had a problem with any of those things rusting for some reason, and that seems to be the case with this specimen as well. The etch on this is about as good as these things get – not real clear thanks to the scale of the etch structure but still enough to give the proper idea. This is a perfect piece for a hand or display specimen for someone that needs a truly coarse etch coarse octahedrite.
141.0 gram complete etched slice – 70mm x 50mm x 5mm - $70
ESTHERVILLE, Iowa: Stony-iron (Mesosiderite). Fell May 10, 1879. Tkw = 317 kilograms.
This is actually a “trade in”. I had a 15g piece that I picked up in Tucson but a customer just happened to call shortly after I got home asking if I had a piece of this meteorite. He asked if I would accept a trade in and I said “sure”. This is pretty much a square cut piece that has no natural edges. One edge has a shallow semi-circle indent that is actually from where a core sample for research was removed from the original large specimen. Regardless, this is an aesthetic piece. It has a nice mix of metal and silicates (close to 50/50). This is a thin cut piece that has a good surface area and even passes light (dark emerald green) through several of the silicate crystals.
5.6 gram part slice – 30mm x 26mm x 1mm - $115
NWA (6619): Carbonaceous chondrite (CV3). Found January 2011. Tkw = 3367 grams.
This is an almost complete slice. It has a natural edge around the entire edge except a 50mm straight cut along the bottom. This specimen shows a half dozen or so fairly large chondrules (3mm to 5mm size) and a lot of small chondrules and CAIs in a fairly dark matrix. The official Meteoritical Bulletin description says this has a light gray matrix. I think the issue here is that this particular piece has been quite highly polished (and, as I mentioned on an item on one of the recent lists, this usually darkens a meteorite’s tone substantially). I know that this is “the right stuff” as it does match online pictures of other pieces and comes in a sealed (well, taped shut anyway) display box with the Certificate of Authenticity from Mirko Graul, the person that brought this stone to research. As this is taped, my thickness measurement below is only a good guess.
33.2 gram almost complete slice – 60mm x 47mm x 3mm - $230
NWA (8563) (?): HED achondrite (Eucrite, monomict). Found August 2014. Tkw = 9125 grams.
I put a (?) on the “name” of this one as some quick research indicates that this particular piece is likely NOT from the mass that Mike Farmer bought and had researched under this number. The hand written note that came with this specimen may indicate that it came from the guy he may have gotten his piece from. Even if this is the case, this should have been sold to my friend as “may be paired with” NWA (8563). Regardless, this piece certainly looks like it could be paired based on the description in the Meteoritical Bulletin. This is a complete stone (well, more likely a natural weathered / wind-polished fragment anyway) but it clearly shows that its internal structure is composed of fairly large (cm or two sized) fine-grained eucrite areas separated by black shock veins. Frankly, if this piece were mine (it is a consigned specimen) I’d cut it up as I think this thing would look (and likely sell) great in slices.
367.6 gram natural fragment/ individual – 80mm x 70mm x 40mm - $2000
SAINT SEVERIN, France: Ordinary chondrite (LL6). Fell June 27, 1966. Tkw = 271 kilograms.
I got these two pieces as extras along with a larger specimen that I needed for a lab that wants to do some research on this meteorite. Its been quite a few years since I have had a piece of this material and saw what looked to be some pretty silly high prices when I went about looking for the needed research piece. I managed to find someone that was willing to be reasonable so I got some extras for myself. These are two thin part slices that each has a natural edge (one of the shorter sides on the smaller piece and about 50% of the larger piece) but I wouldn’t call it “crust” (though some super fine secondary crust might be present). Neither of these is much to look at honestly. They have a fairly uniform medium gray color and only some hints of breccia texture (though the smaller piece does have a nice obvious lighter 7mm x 5mm clast in its center). Not beautiful, but rare stuff to come by these days (and these are from an ex Robert Haag specimen so I know they are real)..
a) 4.12 gram part slice – 37mm x 18mm x 2mm - $165
b) 5.23 gram part slice – 40mm x 20mm x 2mm - $210
TAMDAKHT, Morocco: Ordinary chondrite (H5). Fell December 20, 2008. Tkw = about 100 kilograms.
This is the witnessed fall where most of the pieces got broken up hitting rocks high in the Atlas Mountains. This 1/2 end piece (book-end cut) is no exception. Though this has fusion crust covering most of the back -side, most of the edges show fresh breaks. This has a few tiny hints of adhering dirt but no rust so this was an early recovered piece. The large cut face is very light gray (with a 14mm x 8mm lighter yet clast in the center) and shows lots of bright fresh metal. This specimen is in a neat plastic and glass display box that has a built in prop for sitting at an easy viewing angle.
12.8 gram ½ end piece – 36mm x 20mm x 9mm - $50
Tuesday 15 March 2016
Tuesday 1 March 2016
Blaine Reed Meteorites for Sale - List 186 - Moon rocks and more
Blaine Reed Meteorites for Sale - List 186 - Moon rocks and more
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
…………………………………………………………LIST 186
March 1, 2016
Dear collectors,
I realize that I just sent out a list last week. However, that list was actually delayed from when it should have normally gone out; February 16th. No way that could have happened though as I was not even home form the show yet (I didn’t get back until after 9pm on the 18th). It just so happens that the very first day of this month is also the first Tuesday of the month as well my scheduled 1st offering of the month if I am going to have one. So, despite the potential of seeming like I am trying to spam or overload people with new offerings, here is my after Tucson list #2.
CANYON DIABLO, Arizona: Coarse octahedrite. Found 1891.
This is a piece of the oxide shale that some believe actually formed as kind of a fusion crust on the incoming main mass of this fall (which some believe was actually more likely an incoming swarm of pieces of various sizes and not just a single railroad box car or so sized piece). The theory here is that the hot surface of the incoming mass(s) interacted with the oxygen in the atmosphere to form this oxide “crust” that then spalled off. On the other hand (gads, now I am sounding like an economist) most believe that this stuff forms by the simple oxidation of a piece of the iron meteorite in the ground. Regardless, this is a nice solid piece that shows some neat deep cracks (that do not affect the solidness of the piece) on one side, kind of resembling a Rizalite Philippinite. This is from an old collection and comes with an old info label that is full of errors compared to what we know these days (like the fall was 20,000 years ago instead of 50,000, the blast was 1.7 megatons instead of closer to 5 or 10 and the “age” is only 540million years old based on cosmic ray exposure).
61.0 gram solid natural fragment – 45mm x 35mm x 18mm - $12
LIBYAN DESERT GLASS:
This is a nice medium grade piece that I got as part of a collection. It has some fogginess to it but yet is still quite clear when held up to a light. This fogginess is from lots of small gas bubbles that appear to be mostly arranged in layers. The color of the piece is very pale yellow on one end grading to the more typical medium yellow on the other end. The exterior is a nice smooth rounded wind and sand sculpted surface with the exception of one small (10mm x 8mm) more recent fracture on one end. Nothing exceptional but likely priced below replacement cost these days (I am told that no more is being recovered. The area is “off limits” and is also supposedly a military bomb range these days).
46.0 gram individual as found – 55mm x 30mm x 27mm - $70
NWA (6950): Lunar meteorite (gabbro). Found June 2011. Tkw = 1649 grams.
Here is a rectangular part slice. It has a natural exterior along one of its longer edges and cut edges for the remaining three. This piece is quite a bit thicker than those I offered (at a higher price per gram) some months ago. This makes this piece a great specimen for those that want to let people touch/ handle the Moon (thin pieces of lunar gabbro tend to be a bit fragile). The best part of this specimen (aside from its really cheap per gram price) is that it has lots of fine black shock veins crisscrossing its surface (few of my pieces showed this).
17.51 gram part slice – 45mm x 31mm x 4mm - $4500
NWA (7611): Lunar meteorite (mingled breccia). Found May 2012. Tkw = 916 grams.
Here is a piece of a lunar meteorite I have not directly had before, at least by NWA number anyway. However it does look identical (and the Meteoritical Bulletin indicates they are likely paired) to the NWA (8277) I offered recently. Regardless, this is a really nice, large complete slice. Like the NWA (8277), this looks much like a typical anorthositic breccia (light and dark angular to rounded clasts in a darker gray matrix) but it is really composed mostly of basalt though it does indeed contain some anorthositic parts, hence the “mingled” (Mare basalt and Anorthositic highlands) breccia. One side of this has been sanded smooth and is a bit lighter in color. The other side shows fine saw marks (and some thickness change – who ever made that particular cut had difficulty with it) but is much darker on the background and is actually more interesting to look at.
13.73 gram complete slice – 57mm x 53mm x 2mm - $5000
NWA (7466): HED achondrite (eucrite, monomict). Purchased May 2012. Tkw = 1216 grams.
This is a nice complete slice that fusion crust (though somewhat wind-polished) around the entire edge. The interior is bright and fresh. There are lots of fine greenish gray and black mineral grains in a snow- white matrix. Research work showed that this meteorite is a breccia of one type rock (hence the “monomict in its classification) which is medium-grained baslaltic material. Nice piece and priced at about half the price that was originally on the plastic display box this thing is in ($239).
7.99 gram complete slice – 38mm x 36mm x 2mm - $120
NWA (8234): Stony-iron (mesosiderite) – C2. Found 2013. Tkw = 905 grams.
I didn’t think much of this one at first as it had a bit of rusting and some fine cracking on it when it was brought to me in Tucson (the thing was in Ohio and seems to have never been coated). After some minor work hand polishing the thing with super fine sand paper and steel wool, it looks like a mesosiderite should (lots of metal including one 8mm diameter nodule and silicates that range from fine-grained to cm plus clasts). I ran it through some alcohol and solar drying (on the dash of a car on one of the above 80 days we had at the show) and spray coated it. This is a complete slice and the smooth, rounded shape of the edge indicates that this probably has not been on the ground long (there appears to even be some fusion crust yet showing). I got a little more excited about the piece when I researched the thing a little further. I don’t fully understand the new additional “subtypes” in the mesosiderites these days (there seem to be A B and C groups with textural types 1 2 and 3). Regardless, this seems to be one of the really rare ones. It seems that a total of only 5 mesosiderites (including this one) have been classified as C2 (and only a total of 12 as group C overall). Probably should be stored in dry conditions (as any metal-rich meteorite should) but a nice and rare piece none the less.
56.3 gram complete slice – 85mm x 67mm x 3mm - $500
NWA (8277): Lunar meteorite (mingled breccia). Found 2013. Tkw = 773 grams.
Here is a nice super thin slightly wedged slice in a neat little display box (black plastic, glass front and its own built in prop stand). Like the NWA (7611) one side of this is polished and the other still shows fine saw marks (you really have to look to see them on this one). Like the above piece, the unpolished side has a darker background and is, frankly, more interesting (so this is the side I have showing at the moment but it can easily be changed). I can’t explain why these two meteorites are this way. Pretty much everything else I work with comes off the saw with its lightest color and usually its clearest textural differences showing in unaided eye view if not under magnification. Sanding usually quickly darkens the stone and the clarity of the texture starts going away (though it does come back, all be it darker, if you can or are willing to take the polish to a high diamond finish). Anyway, this piece does have the classic lighter clasts in a darker matrix moon rock look. This is a .44g slice that comes with a .1g smaller piece that broke off before I got the thing.
.44g+ slice – 18mm x 16mm x 1mm - $180
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
…………………………………………………………LIST 186
March 1, 2016
Dear collectors,
I realize that I just sent out a list last week. However, that list was actually delayed from when it should have normally gone out; February 16th. No way that could have happened though as I was not even home form the show yet (I didn’t get back until after 9pm on the 18th). It just so happens that the very first day of this month is also the first Tuesday of the month as well my scheduled 1st offering of the month if I am going to have one. So, despite the potential of seeming like I am trying to spam or overload people with new offerings, here is my after Tucson list #2.
CANYON DIABLO, Arizona: Coarse octahedrite. Found 1891.
This is a piece of the oxide shale that some believe actually formed as kind of a fusion crust on the incoming main mass of this fall (which some believe was actually more likely an incoming swarm of pieces of various sizes and not just a single railroad box car or so sized piece). The theory here is that the hot surface of the incoming mass(s) interacted with the oxygen in the atmosphere to form this oxide “crust” that then spalled off. On the other hand (gads, now I am sounding like an economist) most believe that this stuff forms by the simple oxidation of a piece of the iron meteorite in the ground. Regardless, this is a nice solid piece that shows some neat deep cracks (that do not affect the solidness of the piece) on one side, kind of resembling a Rizalite Philippinite. This is from an old collection and comes with an old info label that is full of errors compared to what we know these days (like the fall was 20,000 years ago instead of 50,000, the blast was 1.7 megatons instead of closer to 5 or 10 and the “age” is only 540million years old based on cosmic ray exposure).
61.0 gram solid natural fragment – 45mm x 35mm x 18mm - $12
LIBYAN DESERT GLASS:
This is a nice medium grade piece that I got as part of a collection. It has some fogginess to it but yet is still quite clear when held up to a light. This fogginess is from lots of small gas bubbles that appear to be mostly arranged in layers. The color of the piece is very pale yellow on one end grading to the more typical medium yellow on the other end. The exterior is a nice smooth rounded wind and sand sculpted surface with the exception of one small (10mm x 8mm) more recent fracture on one end. Nothing exceptional but likely priced below replacement cost these days (I am told that no more is being recovered. The area is “off limits” and is also supposedly a military bomb range these days).
46.0 gram individual as found – 55mm x 30mm x 27mm - $70
NWA (6950): Lunar meteorite (gabbro). Found June 2011. Tkw = 1649 grams.
Here is a rectangular part slice. It has a natural exterior along one of its longer edges and cut edges for the remaining three. This piece is quite a bit thicker than those I offered (at a higher price per gram) some months ago. This makes this piece a great specimen for those that want to let people touch/ handle the Moon (thin pieces of lunar gabbro tend to be a bit fragile). The best part of this specimen (aside from its really cheap per gram price) is that it has lots of fine black shock veins crisscrossing its surface (few of my pieces showed this).
17.51 gram part slice – 45mm x 31mm x 4mm - $4500
NWA (7611): Lunar meteorite (mingled breccia). Found May 2012. Tkw = 916 grams.
Here is a piece of a lunar meteorite I have not directly had before, at least by NWA number anyway. However it does look identical (and the Meteoritical Bulletin indicates they are likely paired) to the NWA (8277) I offered recently. Regardless, this is a really nice, large complete slice. Like the NWA (8277), this looks much like a typical anorthositic breccia (light and dark angular to rounded clasts in a darker gray matrix) but it is really composed mostly of basalt though it does indeed contain some anorthositic parts, hence the “mingled” (Mare basalt and Anorthositic highlands) breccia. One side of this has been sanded smooth and is a bit lighter in color. The other side shows fine saw marks (and some thickness change – who ever made that particular cut had difficulty with it) but is much darker on the background and is actually more interesting to look at.
13.73 gram complete slice – 57mm x 53mm x 2mm - $5000
NWA (7466): HED achondrite (eucrite, monomict). Purchased May 2012. Tkw = 1216 grams.
This is a nice complete slice that fusion crust (though somewhat wind-polished) around the entire edge. The interior is bright and fresh. There are lots of fine greenish gray and black mineral grains in a snow- white matrix. Research work showed that this meteorite is a breccia of one type rock (hence the “monomict in its classification) which is medium-grained baslaltic material. Nice piece and priced at about half the price that was originally on the plastic display box this thing is in ($239).
7.99 gram complete slice – 38mm x 36mm x 2mm - $120
NWA (8234): Stony-iron (mesosiderite) – C2. Found 2013. Tkw = 905 grams.
I didn’t think much of this one at first as it had a bit of rusting and some fine cracking on it when it was brought to me in Tucson (the thing was in Ohio and seems to have never been coated). After some minor work hand polishing the thing with super fine sand paper and steel wool, it looks like a mesosiderite should (lots of metal including one 8mm diameter nodule and silicates that range from fine-grained to cm plus clasts). I ran it through some alcohol and solar drying (on the dash of a car on one of the above 80 days we had at the show) and spray coated it. This is a complete slice and the smooth, rounded shape of the edge indicates that this probably has not been on the ground long (there appears to even be some fusion crust yet showing). I got a little more excited about the piece when I researched the thing a little further. I don’t fully understand the new additional “subtypes” in the mesosiderites these days (there seem to be A B and C groups with textural types 1 2 and 3). Regardless, this seems to be one of the really rare ones. It seems that a total of only 5 mesosiderites (including this one) have been classified as C2 (and only a total of 12 as group C overall). Probably should be stored in dry conditions (as any metal-rich meteorite should) but a nice and rare piece none the less.
56.3 gram complete slice – 85mm x 67mm x 3mm - $500
NWA (8277): Lunar meteorite (mingled breccia). Found 2013. Tkw = 773 grams.
Here is a nice super thin slightly wedged slice in a neat little display box (black plastic, glass front and its own built in prop stand). Like the NWA (7611) one side of this is polished and the other still shows fine saw marks (you really have to look to see them on this one). Like the above piece, the unpolished side has a darker background and is, frankly, more interesting (so this is the side I have showing at the moment but it can easily be changed). I can’t explain why these two meteorites are this way. Pretty much everything else I work with comes off the saw with its lightest color and usually its clearest textural differences showing in unaided eye view if not under magnification. Sanding usually quickly darkens the stone and the clarity of the texture starts going away (though it does come back, all be it darker, if you can or are willing to take the polish to a high diamond finish). Anyway, this piece does have the classic lighter clasts in a darker matrix moon rock look. This is a .44g slice that comes with a .1g smaller piece that broke off before I got the thing.
.44g+ slice – 18mm x 16mm x 1mm - $180
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