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.
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| List 211 Offerings (click to enlarge) |
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
