Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 189

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 189

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

……………………………………………………LIST 189
April 27, 2016

Dear collectors,
Here is the e-mail version of my recently mailed spring/ after tax season offering. Yep, I pretty much waited until the last minute to finally get my taxes done. If any of you did the same (apparently, a surprising number of people do procrastinate on this particular task) and will have to wait for your refund (hopefully you will get one) and would like to spend it on meteorites please let me know. I’d be happy to set things aside for you while the refund check is “in the mail”, so don’t hesitate to ask.

WOLF CREEK, Australia: Medium octahedrite (IIIB). Found 1947.
These are not actual iron meteorite but the famous (and still scarce) shale balls from this famous crater. I think a few pieces of actual iron has been found (and some shale balls still contain unoxidized iron inside them) but I have never had any such fresh metal Wolf Creek in my years. It has been many years since I have even had any shale balls. These particular specimens are all complete with a generally round (or oval) and often flattened shape and show the rough, kind of cracked surface texture (some have a layer of adhering sand). I have very few of these – only one of each size, except the smallest (of which I have two).
1) Individual shale balls as found (lightly air-blasted clean):
a) 108.6 grams - 50mm x 45mm x 28mm - $150
b) 126.4 grams - 65mm x 45mm x 27mm - sold
c) 165.6 grams - 60mm x 50mm x 30mm - $225
d) 190.6 grams - 60mm x 60mm x 28mm - $250

NWA (8225): Ordinary chondrite (H4), S2, W1. Found before September 2011. Tkw = 100 grams.
Here is another little “Main mass” offering. This, superficially, looks quite weathered. It has a complete individual shape but no real distinct crust left. The interior shows lots of small chondrules and some metal in medium to dark mottled orangish brown matrix. This is priced well below what just the analysis work would cost me to get the thing classified.
85.1 gram individual – 40mm x 30mm x 30mm - $130 – Main mass.

NWA (8738): “Ordinary” chondrite. (LL3-6), W1, S4. Found. Tkw = 2851 grams.
It took nearly 7 years to finally get this one through research (it just now got done). I think it was worth the wait. This is anything but ordinary and, to me, one of the most interesting meteorites I have offered in a long time. The pieces I got (4 larger and lots of gravel) looked like concrete – angular to rounded darker pebbles in a light gray matrix. The seller thought this was a howardite. To me, this turned out to be better. This is a breccia containing fragments of three distinct different meteorite types: LL3 (around 25% of the stone) and making up remainder (75% together) is LL6 and L6 (!). So, this is a breccia that has a large component of material from a completely different parent body! I don’t have a lot of this remaining as a sizable portion was small gravel and fragments and a fair number of the larger pieces have already sold. This is another meteorite that seemed to sell itself the few times I have shown anyone pieces of it.
1) Slices:
a) 4.0 grams - 18mm x 15mm x 5mm - $40
b) 8.0 grams - 32mm x 20mm x 5mm - $80
c) 16.6 grams - 50mm x 30mm x 5mm - $150
d) 36.4 grams - 65mm x 40mm x 5mm - $300
e) 77.8 grams - 75mm x 65mm x 5mm - $600 – nice large dark clasts.
2) Cut fragments:
a) 107.9 grams - 65mm x 65mm x 15mm - $800 – really nice!
b) 233.9 grams - 85mm x 70mm x 17mm - $1400


JBILET WINSELWAN, Morocco: Carbonaceous chondrite (CM2). Found 2013. Tkw = about 6 kg.
I hesitated to offer this material. Part of me wanted to wait and see if it turned out that Ceres or the comet the Europeans landed on matches this stuff in any way at all. I suspect (hope?) that there are a number of collectors who thought (like me) that they could wait and pick up a nice piece of this at any time so they missed out. It turned out that there really was not much of this recovered and it disappeared quite quickly. These are all natural fragments (many have at least some crust) that I have air-blast cleaned to get rid of dirt (and now look amazingly dark and fresh). Here is another chance to own a Murchison like meteorite (these even still have a hint of odd carbon smell) for a fraction of the price.
1) Natural fragments as found (air blasted to remove dirt):
a) 1.7 grams - 15mm x 11mm x 10mm - $50
b) 2.7 grams - 16mm x 15mm x 8mm - $80
c) 5.5 grams - 23mm x 21mm x 11mm - $160
d) 9.7 grams - 30mm x 24mm x 12mm - $275
e) 19.3 grams - 35mm x 25mm x 19mm - $530
f) 37.7 grams - 40mm x 30mm x 28mm - $950

NWA (10514): HED achondrite (Eucrite, monomict breccia). Found April 2015. Tkw = 12 kilograms.
I got this stuff in a trade for a slice of a Texas stone that I simply could not say “No” to. This eucrite definitely has a bit different appearance than most. It has a mottled/swirled dark gray, green and reddish brown color with only a few light colored areas. This darkness is mostly due to shock effects and this particular meteorite has experienced a lot of shock. The research notes say it has a “high” shock level and that there is impact melt visible around the clasts (which are all one type material, hence the “monomict” breccia classification). These are all part slices, as the person who cut this had to block it down to get it to fit in their saw. These are not much to look at BUT it has a very different appearance and is quite affordable.
1) Part slices:
a) 2.6 grams - 20mm x 18mm x 2mm - $25
b) 5.2 grams - 33mm x 26mm x 2mm - $50
c) 11.6 grams - 42mm x 32mm x 3mm - $100
d) 27.1 grams - 60mm x 55mm x 3mm - $250
e) 66.1 grams - 100mm x 70mm x 4mm - $500

BEDIASITE, Tektite from Texas.
I picked up these wonderful specimens in Tucson from the guy that found them. He was leaving the show early to go do some gold prospecting I think and didn’t want to leave them with the jewelry dealer that he originally had them on display with (where they weren’t selling well as most jewelry people would have no idea why these pieces of dark glass were so expensive). Thankfully, he stopped by my room and made an offer that I luckily had (barely) cash to cover. Any way all of these are complete and show nice surface pits and etching (though the largest piece is a little shallower than others). I do have a few deep etched “popcorn” pieces listed below. However, these are one of a kind, only pieces available (as is the 41.7g large smoother piece).
1) Individual specimens as found:
a) 4.3 grams - 17mm x 15mm x 12mm - $45
b) 5.9 grams - 18mm x 15mm x 15mm - $60
c) 12.8 grams - 26mm x 22mm x 19mm - $130
d) 21.0 grams - 35mm x 22mm x 22mm - $200
e) 41.7 grams - 35mm x 33mm x 27mm - $400
2) “Popcorn” like individuals: $15/ gram:
Sizes available: 3.7g, 7.0g, 11.6g, 16.8g

MICROBIAL MAT: (stromatolite). Australia: 3.49 billion years old.
Here is yet another “ancient rock” offering. The note on the perky box says that this is from the Dresser Formation, North pole dome, Pilbara District, Western Australia. I had seen these during Denver last year but hesitated as they were twice the price of the other ancient rock perky boxed specimens I had bought earlier. Also, the Strelly Pool stromatolites are around the same age. However, research says that these North pole dome specimens are actually around 100million years older. I don’t have a lot of these specimens and it is not certain if the guy I got them from will be allowed to export any further pieces.
Roughly 20mm x 15mm x 10mm specimen in perky box - $50

Please note:
Shipping: For small US orders $3 should still be fine for now. Larger orders are now $12 (insurance is extra if desired – I’ll look it up if you want it). Overseas prices have gone up A LOT the past couple years. Now small overseas orders are around $9 (I’ll have to custom quote any larger items/ orders). Thankfully, it seems that the rate for registration (recommended on more valuable overseas orders) is still around $13.
I do have a new fax machine that seems to work (but I have to answer it and manually turn it on), so overseas people can contact me that way if they must. How ever, for overseas orders, it probably is best to go ahead and use my brmeteorites@yahoo.com e-mail.

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 188 - Bassikounou, Belle Plaine plus

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 188 - Bassikounou, Belle Plaine plus

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

…………………………………………………………LIST 188

April 5, 2016


BASSIKOUNOU, Mauritania: (H5). Fell October 16, 2006. Tkw = 80+ kilograms.
This stone is a bit of an enigma. It has a broken face (around 40mm x 40mm) that shows a fair amount of rusting but yet the crust that covers the rest of the stone is fresh and black and only has some faint hints of dark maroon/brown that might be from oxidation. The specimen sits and displays very nicely on this flat surface having kind of a nice mountain profile shape to it. I do believe that this broken surface is actually a very late atmospheric break. There are some slickenside areas (likely old shock veins that acted as weak areas in the stone facilitating the break) and the fusion crust around the edge (under good magnification) has a rounded edge indicating some melt flow rather than a sharp angular break. Nice display piece at a price about as cheap (per gram) as you will ever find a nice fresh crusted witnessed fall these days.
283.2 gram fresh crusted individual – 100mmx 45mm x 40mm - $750

BELLE PLAINE, Kansas: (L6). Found 1950. Tkw = 96.4 kilograms.
This is an incredible super thin complete slice (note: due to the thinness of this piece it is polished only on one side). It shows lots of fine metal and troilite grains in a dark greenish gray matrix. There are a number of fairly large distinctly green chondrules and melt clasts as well. I have handled a number of these slices over the years and some had what looked like a break that had been glued. Well, this particular piece probably has the largest such vein I have seen in a slice of this meteorite. This vein runs top to bottom across the middle of the slice and several areas of it are amazingly wide (one such part is roughly 5mm x 30mm). FEAR NOT. This vein is NOT a repair job! Close inspection reveals something quite amazing. This vein is composed of many small nearly black and white angular fragments all mixed together. So, this likely does have some melt component to it, but it is mostly a fine breccia vein. Under a 10X or so lens, the vein itself looks a lot like a miniature Lunar anorthositic breccia. I can only recall ever seeing such breccia veins in the Belle Plaine meteorite.
222.3 gram complete slice – 230mm x 140mm x 1.5mm - $750

DHOFAR (1514), Oman: Rumurutitie (R3.6). Found November 20, 2008. Tkw = 1749 grams.
I got these few little cut fragments from Robert Ward while in Tucson. The one stone that was found was large but I don’t know if much of it was ever released to collectors. An internet search brought up pretty much nothing. Regardless, I suspect I am going to wish I had more of this. It turns out that there are only three meteorites in the world classified as an R3.6. One small one is from Antarctica the other is a bit over 300 gram NWA stone. So, for most collectors looking to have all the different classifications, this might be their only chance to add an R3.6 to their collection for some time. These are all cut fragments. The two larger pieces are polished. The two small pieces in a bag together are not.
a) .8 grams – two cut fragments - $25
b) 1.7 gram cut fragment – 14mm x 14mm x 7mm - $50
c) 5.8 gram cut fragment – 20mm x 17mm x 10mm - $160

NWA (2086): Carbonaceous chondrite. (CV3). Found 2003. Tkw = about 33 kilograms.
This is one of my favorite carbonaceous chondrites. This has a color similar to Axtell and nearly the same chondrule rich, matrix poor texture as well. This is a nice little “complete” slice (no cut edges) of a natural fragment in a neat little display box.
3.2 gram complete slice – 43mm x 25mm x 1mm - $35

NWA (6973): Carbonaceous chondrite (CK5), S2, W2. Found 2011. Tkw = 89 grams.
This is a nice complete slice in a plastic display box with two labels. The label on the side with the specimen has the basic information typed. The one on the back is a COA from Mirko Graul and has the information hand written. The edge of this piece looks to be fully fusion crusted. I can’t tell exactly for certain as the display box is sealed and has a layer of desiccant (not sure why with this particular type meteorite as all the magnetic stuff is magnetite, not rustable metal. But then, parts of Germany are probably almost humid enough to rust a tektite) that I don’t want to risk spilling by opening this thing. Also, for the same reason, the thickness measurement is merely a good guess. This is probably a once only chance, given the tiny total known weight of this, for those of you collecting carbonaceous chondrites to add a piece of this particular one to your collection.
5.698 gram complete slice – 35mm x 25mm x 2mm - $100

NWA (7876): Ordinary chondrite. (L3.15). Found 2012. Tkw = 240 grams.
Wow! This is one for people that like chondrules. This thing is absolutely loaded with them. It seems to be nothing but chondrules. Close inspection seems to show that the “matrix” is nothing bet yet more even smaller chondrules. Neater still is that they show a lot of different colors. This looks a lot like (aside from being much fresher) Wells or Ragland but with smaller chondrules and less matrix. This is also a complete slice. Roughly 80% of the edge shows pretty nice black crust with a roughly 20mm long are looking to be light secondary crust.
14.7 gram complete slice – 45mm x 40mm x 3mm - $450

SEYMCHAN, Russia: (Pallasite). Found 1967.
This is a book-end type cut piece that is a good and interesting display piece. The backside is completely natural with a nice pleasing brown color and a nice natural patina that is not scaly. On the cut face, the olivine makes up a little less than half of the cut surface, but not by a lot. These olivines are generally quite large (around 15mm x 10mm on a few of the bigger pieces) and most have a very different look to them. There are plenty that show a typical orange/brown color but over half have a very dark to nearly black appearance. In fairly strong light these have a distinctly gray (with some faint hints of green) color. However, tipping the specimen around in this light shows a surprising depth to these crystals. More interestingly still is that these particular crystals show a very strong shiller effect – looking much more like labradorite than olivine in many cases! I seem to recall reading that this shiller effect is caused by shock and is one of the best pieces of evidence that an olivine crystal (or faceted gem stone) is from a meteorite as terrestrial ovlivines certainly do not ever show this effect. I have seen faint hints of this shiller in many meteoritic olivines, but nothing compared to the strength of these. So, this specimen obviously came from a part of the original body that experienced some serious impact shocks.
233.9 gram “book end” specimen – 83mm x 65mm x 15mm - $800