Tuesday 20 March 2018

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 212

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 212

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487                                                                                                                               
                            LIST 212

March 20, 2018

Dear collectors,

Here is the second Rohr collection offering. This, and the next few offerings likely, will generally be the smaller specimens that I picked up from Linton’s collection.

List 212 Offerings (click on image to enlarge)
CANYON DIABLO, Arizona: Iron. Coarse octahedrite (IAB), Found 1891.
Here a couple really nicely shaped wire-brushed individuals. These are likely “rim specimens” – pieces of this meteorite that were likely found near the rim of the crater. It seems that specimens that were close to the blast got heat-treated to some degree (enough to remove any etch structure in most of these pieces, as I embarrassingly found out by trying to etch such a piece in front of a geochemistry class years ago). The plus side is that these pieces have neat thin-edges, sculpted shapes, as these two do. The Smaller specimen here comes with a Linton Rohr collection card. I could not locate the one for the larger (if it ever had one), but this piece has a better shape, in my opinion.
60.4 gram brushed individual – 30mm x 20mm x 20mm - $60
85.7 gram brushed individual – 55mm x 28mm x 15mm - $85

DHOFAR (644), Oman: Ordinary chondrite (L6). Found 2001. Tkw = 704 grams.
The info I found on this says it was found January 26, 2001, so the finder made it a point to keep track of that. This is nothing special, to be honest – a pretty typical example of a moderately plus weathered L chondrite from Oman (there seems to be an overabundance of L chondrites in Oman). There are some metal grains still visible in the central part of the piece, so it is less weathered than some Dhofar pieces I have had. The original stone found was not real big – probably less than fist-sized. As this end piece is over 100 grams I suspect that this could be the main mass if this stone was cut up into slices. Or, it could be that few pieces were removed – making only a few pieces available to collectors and, as such, a tough “name” to add to a collection.
    110.0 gram end piece – 95mm x 25mm x 25mm - $110

NWA (unstudied): Carbonaceous chondrite (CV3).
There was no information with these pieces except that they are CV3 (and they clearly look to be precisely that) and had not been studied. This lot consists of 4 obvious individuals with classic rounded meteorite shapes (though the fusion crust has long since been wind-polished off). The largest piece has a nice fairly large (7mm x 5mm) obvious CAI showing on the exterior. Nice pieces from an obviously larger fall. I don’t recognize these as being likely paired to any of the CV3s I am aware of so these are “unknown” at this point (but ARE obviously CV3).
    Lot of 4 individuals totaling 31.7 grams - $90

NWA (2822): Rumuruttiite (R4). Found 2005. Tkw = 1675 grams.
This is obviously a specimen that Linton got from me some years ago back when I actually had a fair amount of R-chondrite stuff available (it is kind of hard to come by these days). This part slice still has my small weight and name sticker on it and the information card I originally sent with it. This piece has one fusion crusted edge (about 1/3 of the edge) with the two other sides (this is triangular shaped) being fractured surfaces. This was one of my more favorite R-chondrites. It has lots of gray and brown chondrules in a mottled light brown (more orange actually) matrix.
    8.1 gram part slice – 35mm x 25mm x 3mm - $100

NWA (5793): Ordinary chondrite (LL3.8). Found 2009. Tkw = 3.5 kilograms.
I highly suspect that this is paired to my NWA (6135) material  (also classified as an LL3.8). This has the same look – lots of chondrules of many colors and sizes in a mottled light to medium brown matrix. This also seems to have the “exotic” clasts that some pieces of mine have (I have a few larger such pieces set aside if anyone is interested). In this particular piece there is an elongate (but fairly small – about 5mm x 2mm) green clast that looks very much like diogenite material type clasts that some of my larger pieces clearly show (as larger inclusions). This particular specimen is a complete slice of a fragment and was picked up by Linton from Geoff Notkin some years ago (for $89 if the price tag on the label is correct). It comes in a 2” x 2” plastic box and has the Aerolite Meteorites card with it. 
    8.9 gram slice – 30mm x 30mm x 4mm - $55

NWA (6704): Ungrouped achondrite. Found 2011. Tkw = 8387 grams.
I can see how this was classified as “ungrouped”. It is indeed a bit different looking. It is a mix of fairly bright green crystals (the bulk of the material) with brown to almost black crystals making up the rest. My first guess would have been a weird type of diogenite based on just visually looking at this. Real research work, obviously, showed that this was not the case. I have two pieces. One is a slice and shows a couple small pieces of metal on the polished side that is showing (both of these are in a 1 ½” x 1 ½” gemstone style display box). The other, larger piece is a natural fragment. Strange stuff.
2.23 grams slice – 25mm x 15mm x 2mm - $80
2.86 gram fragment – 19mm x 13mm x 6mm - $85

WHETSTONE MOUNTAINS, Arizona: Ordinary chondrite (H5). Fell June 23, 2009. Tkw = 2.14 kilograms.
I had a larger piece of this but, not surprisingly, sold it in Tucson (to, not surprisingly, an Arizona collector). This little piece got over looked as it was kind of lost in a bin full of specimens of all kinds, or it probably would have sold as well. Unfortunately, this is a really small piece. However, it is still obviously a piece of a fresh fall. It has a nice edge (its longest edge, thankfully) of fusion crust with the interior being a very light gray color. Not a big specimen, but a good way to add a really hard to get name to your micro-collection.
    3.5mm x 2mm x 1mm crusted fragment in membrane box - $40

Tuesday 6 March 2018

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 211

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 211

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487                                                                                                                               
                            LIST 211

March 6, 2018

Dear collectors,

Here is only my second list this year. This list is made up of the more special (and pricier) items that I picked up from Linton Rohr’s widow (Karen). For those of you that don’t know him, Linton was a super nice, friendly guy that was always a joy to see at the shows. Unfortunately, he had ALS (Lou Gerhig’s disease). He managed to hold up pretty well for a number of years (though his declines were somewhat noticeable from year to year, but then that is all I saw him generally - once a year). For people like him, we all hope for a miraculous unexplainable recovery or a sudden announcement of news of a new cure. Unfortunately, neither was to be and he passed from the disease a couple years ago. Sad news that I only got myself several months ago. I was asked to catalog/ organize the collection he left behind. This I did on a rather enjoyable long weekend trip Linda and I made to Torrey, Utah (about as close to the middle of nowhere as you can get) in January not long before I headed off to Tucson. Anyway, the next several (lists/ months of lists) will be pieces from Linton’s collection (though there might be a couple additional items thrown in that I need to deal with sooner). Here are the more premier pieces from the first batch of material I picked up.

As with the past few offerings  have a group photo of these things available in the group archives (I am going to try to do this for all of my future lists) or I can e-mail you the photo directly if needed. As the Gujba turned out horrible in the group photo I have a close-up picture of it on its own.
List 211 Offerings (click to enlarge)

ENSISHEIM, France: Ordinary chondrite (LL6). Fell November 16, 1492. Tkw = 127kg.
I have not had a piece of this for a long time. Heck, I think I even sold my personal piece some years ago (but at that time I think I got closer to $2k/g for the thing). For many years, this was considered to be the first witnessed fall known to science. Since then, I think there have been several other contenders for oldest fall (I recall one from Japan ) but I am not sure how well documented those are (Ensisheim was certainly well documented). This is a small slice. It comes with several labels, but only one (Mile High Meteorites – Matt Morgan) has a name on it.
    .38gram slice – 10mm x 5mm x 3.5mm - $380

ESQUEL, Argentina: Stony-iron (Pallasite). Found before 1951. Tkw = 755 kilograms.
This is a really nice piece. Though it has two cut edges, it looks to be a complete slice at first glance. This shows a wide range of crystal sizes and colors and nearly all of them pass light! The smaller ones (around 5mm to 1cm or so) are generally really clear and quite obviously green in color. The larger crystals/ crystal clusters are more orange, brown in color and are 20mm to 30mm in size. This specimen is in a membrane box (though it is not in this box in the group photo) and comes with two labels: one a metal display case label (stands up on its own) and the other a Southern Minerals Meteorites and Fossils paper label. A great piece of this now rarely seen super beautiful meteorite.
    38.5 gram part slice – 90mm x 55mm x 2mm - $1250

GIBEON, Namibia: Fine octahedrite (IVA). Found 1836.
I am kind of surprised that this did not sell in Tucson. The Chinese have been buying up all the Gibeon they can find at the shows lately. However, they tend to prefer whole and larger specimens, generally (if any of you out there have such you want to sell, let me know and I’ll try to make us all some $ on it). This is a complete slice that is etched on one side and polished on the other. This was never coated so there are a few small rust spots, but nothing that is concerning (I can give this a quick protection coat if the person that buys this wants it). This comes with a Michael Casper Meteorites label.
    776.9 gram complete slice – 140mm x 100mm x 8mm - $1500

GUJBA, Nigeria: Carbonaceous (CBa) Bencubbinite. Fell April 3, 1984. Tkw = 100kg.
This is one of my favorite meteorites and this is a really nice piece (I’d probably keep it if it weren’t for my spending too much $ while in Tucson on things for myself this year). This is truly strange material. It is comprised of round metal chondrules (around 5mm in size) separated by almost black silicate material (I have no idea how this was cut without it falling apart into dark dust and metal ball bearings in the bottom of the saw pan). This specimen is a complete slice of a small fragment and has a large (8mm x 9mm) light gray silicate inclusion (that shows well on both sides). This comes in a membrane box but it is out of the box for the group photo.
    10.1 gram complete slice – 52mm x 30mm x 1.5mm - $750- SOLD

PARK FOREST, Illinois: Ordinary chondrite (H5). Fell March 26, 2003. Tkw = 18+ kilograms.
This is a complete slice of a small stone. This is hard to come by these days. I think I have only had 2 or 3 pieces of this fall over the years. This is in a plastic box that is labeled and comes with a Big Kahuna Meteorites label. However, this label has an error on the total known weight – listing that as 250kg, which clearly in not the case.
    4.6 gram complete slice – 32mm x 25mm x 2mm - $300

SIKHOTE-ALIN, Russia: Coarsest octahedrite (IIAB). Fell February 12, 1947.
This is a now rare “large” fusion crusted individual (anything over 100g is rare these days in the thumb-printed pieces). It has been cleaned at some point, giving it a bit of a glossy look to it. Thankfully, this cleaning wasn’t very harsh and lots fusion crust is still visible over much of the surface (I see a number of older harshly cleaned specimens that now only have the thumb-printed shape but lost all of their crust to whatever cleaning process that they went through). A good specimen and priced a bit lower than what the Russian sources would charge for their (smaller) crusted specimens these days.
    350.7 gram crusted individual – 90mm x 50mm x 20mm - $1000

WESTON, Connecticut: Ordinary chondrite (H4). Fell December 14, 1807. Tkw = 150kg.
This is a small fragment of the U.S.’s first witnessed fall. I don’t recall the last time I had a piece of this meteorite (maybe I haven’t), I just know it is hard to come by. The label that comes with this (a Michael Cottingham Meteorite Collection label) says the specimen weight is .70grams. As Linton had this set up in a display case such that no “mislabeling” could happen in this case (a little tougher job was to be found in the back room – spent considerable time sorting those things out) I have to wonder if he didn’t have two pieces in the little plastic display case it is in (or broke this one down) for a trade or such. Anyway, this does have a little bit of fusion crust along one edge.
    .36 gram fragment – 12mm x 5mm x 3mm - $350