P.O. Box 1141, Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
brmeteorites@yahoo.com
LIST 258 - February 24, 2023
Dear Collectors
Well, I made it back from Tucson a bit over a week ago. If I had delayed my leaving (and I did have some reasons to stay an extra day, despite my show location not being officially open on that last Sunday) I would have likely got stuck somewhere in Arizona or Utah for some days. I got home late Monday night, after a 10 plus hour drive. My attempts to get over the mountains near Telluride did not work out. That morning, the roads were supposedly clear and it was not supposed to start snowing until close to 5pm that day (with Telluride only receiving a couple inches). Well, the roads in Cortez were clearly wet. It obviously had rained/ snowed sometime that morning. At about 1pm I began trying to make my way North. Nope, a few miles out of Delores and the roads rapidly turned dangerously icy (and it looked like Dolores had received around 5 inches or so of fresh snow already that day). Had to turn back south – head over into Utah and take the Moab to I-70 route home. Even that lower route had some issues. Anyway, I eventually made it home (quite late) that night with a big snow storm right on my heels. It started snowing (and blowing) shortly after I got home. It snowed and blowed for several days straight after. I Finally was able to unload the car Thursday afternoon. If I hadn’t been able to get home Monday, it would likely have been Thursday before I could even attempt finishing the drive.
Anyway, I am back home, but a bit delayed in getting unpacked and caught up (just because I am gone doesn’t mean things pile up just as fast and high here at home). In this offering, I am putting out some of the largest, really neat pieces that I had on consignment for the show. I’d rather see if I can find a new home for them with a collector out there somewhere than spend the same $ sending them back to the owner(s) of the things. I do realize that this offering is of pieces at the high end of anything I have to offer but if you don’t try………..
I’ll have more offerings (generally of more affordable sized specimens) that came home with me from the show before too long.
NOTE: This offering is going out several days later than I had intended. I had “car troubles” (the Volt would not charge I found out as soon as the snow in the driveway was melted enough that I could get that car out of here. Nope, not going to shovel. Been there, done that. My driveway is over 450 feet long. About an 8 hour hard labor job to shovel. Around here, waiting a couple days usually gets the sun to do the work for you. Just have to have some patience. Wanted to send this out the next morning but I got a call early that day from the Chevy people in Grand Junction (the local Chevy people will NOT touch a mostly electric car). So, off to Grand Junction that morning. They had the car until 2pm before telling me they wanted another few hours to get the job done (??? – it is just a re-program thing). Turns out, they were wanting to “pad the bill” telling me that I needed new air filters, new battery for starting the small charging engine 9that allows the thing to be driven like a Prius when you run out of the primary electric charge range and more. I (stupidly) said “just get it done and quick – we have a big snow storm moving in with 60mph winds due here by 5pm (and it did blow and snow then). I finally realized that maybe I had better tell them to skip the filters and battery as those were going to add “several hours of labor” expenses. Went to the dealership *at about 3pm) and asked when it would be done if we skipped the “extra”. The thing was done right then and there. So, home I went (after paying $300 for a “program update”. Not sure why I should have to pay for something that they screwed up that caused the problem in the first place. I still have warranty on the “drive and battery systems”. For some reason, the program NOT allowing the thing to charge is NOT considered part of the “drive and battery systems). I guess I shouldn’t complain to much. I have had the car 7 and a half years and, aside from having a “programming issue” 5 or so years ago, the only thing I have had to do for the car is put tires on it (car dealers absolutely HATE these kinds of cars. They don’t make much money selling you a car, they make it on all the maintenance you are going to have to pay for to keep the warranty. Electric cars have pretty much NO maintenance needs.
Wanted to send this out the next morning (and then the one after that) but then found I have NO internet. That was out for the ENTIRE day.
So, very much delayed but, finally, you are getting to see this.
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CANYON DIABLO, Arizona. Iron. Coarse octahedrite (IAB).
Well, (when I wrote this up originally) I had two pieces to offer here, but I sold one of them before I could get this offering out. I had sent the photos on this offering to a person who wanted me to find them a “really nice larger Campo Del Cielo” while I was in Tucson. I found out that that was NOT going to be possible. It seems that those that have better pieces of Campo now are holding out for $1 to $2/g (!!!!) on their better/ bigger pieces. Nope, was NOT going to bring home a “nice” 2kg or 3kg Campo piece for this person’s “big iron” for their collection. They decided to take the larger piece of Canyon Diablo I had (the complete piece in the photos) instead. Anyway, the piece I have remaining is a really nice book-end. The back side shows beautiful sculpted shape. I would have found it quite hard to cut such a pretty meteorite myself, but the interior had quite a surprise waiting. This has probably the biggest graphite/ troilite nodule/ inclusion I have ever seen in a Canyon Diablo. Best of all, this is priced at or below what Campo is supposedly selling for these days.
4962 gram “bookend” – 140mm x 100mm x 80mm - $4900
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GEBEL KAMIL Egypt. Iron. Ni-rich ataxite (ungrouped). Found 2008.
It seems that someone has figured out how to get this material once again. For a while (some years ago) it was readily available and affordable. The past few years, not so much. Any piece I got sold rapidly and, generally, for quite a bit more than $1/g. For the time being, this is THE most affordable iron meteorite once again. On my next mailed catalog (and its e-mail version those of you seeing this offering will get) I’ll have small pieces offered once again (but with a special twist). This piece here is the largest (by a loooooong shot) of any I have in my hands right now. It is a great specimen for someone looking for a really neat and special paperweight (it would also, given its shape, work really well as a door stop). This specimen is completely natural. It has been left just as it was found (well, maybe the dust has been blown off of it). This is the cheapest of any iron meteorite of its size (I have been informed that even lowly Campos are (supposedly) brining $1 to $2/g on E-bay if they have even slightly interesting shape/ features).
2293.2 gram natural shrapnel fragment – 180mm x 100mm x 50mm - $1490
NWA (6963): Martian meteorite (shergottite). Found 2011. Tkw = about 8kg.
In September of 2011, the first pieces of this meteorite found their way into the collecting market. The find site was kept secret while the original finder(s) worked the area looking for more pieces for another 6 months. Eventually, the find location (near the river Oued Toufit) became known to others. Hundreds of meteorite hunters descended on the area shortly after. Over time, many hundreds of pieces were found, many small but some in the hundreds of grams (one close to 700 grams is known). Most of these pieces were broken and only had partial coverage of thing fusion crust. The piece I have here is “standard” in some respects. It does appear to be just a half stone (the fusion crust coverage on the “crusted” part is quite thick and nice). However, careful inspection shows that the “broken” face is really a late fall brake and has tiny dots of crust just starting to have formed on the highest points. So, this is actually a “complete individual”, even if it does not look it at first glance.
49.8 gram individual as found – 44mm x 38mm x 30mm - $9500
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NWA (13033): Ordinary chondrite (L3). Found 2019. Tkw = 57kg.
Now THIS is a real museum piece! This is, I believe, the largest stone meteorite slice I have ever had. Even better yet, it is a type 3 showing all kinds of chondrules and clasts! This is a piece I really wish I could keep – it is a real show stopper. This comes in its own special storage box. If I need to ship it though, I’d still want to put it in a well packed larger box. It would be a serious shame to end up breaking such an incredible specimen in poor shipping packing.
2647gram complete slice – 430mm x 370mm x 5mm -$7500
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NWA (14016): HED achondrite (Eucrite melt breccia). Found 2020. Tkw = 29.4kg.
This is an item that I will be offering smaller slices of in the future (maybe even my next mailed list). I saw this in Tucson, liked it and liked the price even more. This isn’t (currently) the cheapest eucrite, but it is a close second. This is, however, the cheapest eucrite that has a really nice look to it (the one cheaper one I know of - Jikharra (001) – has a very mushy interior look to it). This one is composed of angular eucrite clasts in a “sparse” melted matrix. This, very much, has the look of a moon rock, but it isn’t, and, as a consequence, is about a tenth the price. A nice end piece that has a nice somewhat thumb-printed sculpting on the back (natural) side.
1293.7 grams – 200mm x 130mm x 33mm - $3500
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| Canyon Diablo Click on image to enlarge. |
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| Canyon Diablo Click on image to enlarge. |
CANYON DIABLO, Arizona. Iron. Coarse octahedrite (IAB).
Well, (when I wrote this up originally) I had two pieces to offer here, but I sold one of them before I could get this offering out. I had sent the photos on this offering to a person who wanted me to find them a “really nice larger Campo Del Cielo” while I was in Tucson. I found out that that was NOT going to be possible. It seems that those that have better pieces of Campo now are holding out for $1 to $2/g (!!!!) on their better/ bigger pieces. Nope, was NOT going to bring home a “nice” 2kg or 3kg Campo piece for this person’s “big iron” for their collection. They decided to take the larger piece of Canyon Diablo I had (the complete piece in the photos) instead. Anyway, the piece I have remaining is a really nice book-end. The back side shows beautiful sculpted shape. I would have found it quite hard to cut such a pretty meteorite myself, but the interior had quite a surprise waiting. This has probably the biggest graphite/ troilite nodule/ inclusion I have ever seen in a Canyon Diablo. Best of all, this is priced at or below what Campo is supposedly selling for these days.
4962 gram “bookend” – 140mm x 100mm x 80mm - $4900
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| Gebel Kamil Click on image to englarge. |
GEBEL KAMIL Egypt. Iron. Ni-rich ataxite (ungrouped). Found 2008.
It seems that someone has figured out how to get this material once again. For a while (some years ago) it was readily available and affordable. The past few years, not so much. Any piece I got sold rapidly and, generally, for quite a bit more than $1/g. For the time being, this is THE most affordable iron meteorite once again. On my next mailed catalog (and its e-mail version those of you seeing this offering will get) I’ll have small pieces offered once again (but with a special twist). This piece here is the largest (by a loooooong shot) of any I have in my hands right now. It is a great specimen for someone looking for a really neat and special paperweight (it would also, given its shape, work really well as a door stop). This specimen is completely natural. It has been left just as it was found (well, maybe the dust has been blown off of it). This is the cheapest of any iron meteorite of its size (I have been informed that even lowly Campos are (supposedly) brining $1 to $2/g on E-bay if they have even slightly interesting shape/ features).
2293.2 gram natural shrapnel fragment – 180mm x 100mm x 50mm - $1490
 |
| ,NWA 6963, Martian meteorite, shergottite. Click on image to enlarge. |
NWA (6963): Martian meteorite (shergottite). Found 2011. Tkw = about 8kg.
In September of 2011, the first pieces of this meteorite found their way into the collecting market. The find site was kept secret while the original finder(s) worked the area looking for more pieces for another 6 months. Eventually, the find location (near the river Oued Toufit) became known to others. Hundreds of meteorite hunters descended on the area shortly after. Over time, many hundreds of pieces were found, many small but some in the hundreds of grams (one close to 700 grams is known). Most of these pieces were broken and only had partial coverage of thing fusion crust. The piece I have here is “standard” in some respects. It does appear to be just a half stone (the fusion crust coverage on the “crusted” part is quite thick and nice). However, careful inspection shows that the “broken” face is really a late fall brake and has tiny dots of crust just starting to have formed on the highest points. So, this is actually a “complete individual”, even if it does not look it at first glance.
49.8 gram individual as found – 44mm x 38mm x 30mm - $9500
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 |
| NWA (13033): Ordinary chondrite (L3). Click on image to enlarge. |
NWA (13033): Ordinary chondrite (L3). Found 2019. Tkw = 57kg.
Now THIS is a real museum piece! This is, I believe, the largest stone meteorite slice I have ever had. Even better yet, it is a type 3 showing all kinds of chondrules and clasts! This is a piece I really wish I could keep – it is a real show stopper. This comes in its own special storage box. If I need to ship it though, I’d still want to put it in a well packed larger box. It would be a serious shame to end up breaking such an incredible specimen in poor shipping packing.
2647gram complete slice – 430mm x 370mm x 5mm -$7500
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| NWA (14016): HED achondrite (Eucrite melt breccia). Click on image to enlarge. |
NWA (14016): HED achondrite (Eucrite melt breccia). Found 2020. Tkw = 29.4kg.
This is an item that I will be offering smaller slices of in the future (maybe even my next mailed list). I saw this in Tucson, liked it and liked the price even more. This isn’t (currently) the cheapest eucrite, but it is a close second. This is, however, the cheapest eucrite that has a really nice look to it (the one cheaper one I know of - Jikharra (001) – has a very mushy interior look to it). This one is composed of angular eucrite clasts in a “sparse” melted matrix. This, very much, has the look of a moon rock, but it isn’t, and, as a consequence, is about a tenth the price. A nice end piece that has a nice somewhat thumb-printed sculpting on the back (natural) side.
1293.7 grams – 200mm x 130mm x 33mm - $3500
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| RICHFIELD, Kansas: Ordinary chondrite (LL3.7) Click on image to enlarge. |
RICHFIELD, Kansas: Ordinary chondrite (LL3.7). Found 1983. Tkw = 41kg.
I once had the whole thing. Now I have only a few small slices. This is a thin slice that was cut from making one of my original large complete slices thinner. I did not know what type of meteorite this was when I sent it off for cutting all those years ago. I assumed it would likely be an L4 or something really common (I had only seen a couple very small pieces polished and they were from the solar wind darkened areas so the chondrules were somewhat hidden) so I had it cut at the standard 5mm thickness. This piece does appear to have been cut from one of the very largest slices we got from the meteorite. This piece shows the classic chondrule-rich light greenish gray areas and darker clasts dispersed throughout (those solar-wind implanted darkened areas). This comes with a M. Farmer label.
517 gram complete slice – 300mm x 210mm x 2mm - $4000
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| WINNER, South Dakota: Ordinary chondrite (L3.9) Click on image to enlarge. |
WINNER, South Dakota: Ordinary chondrite (L3.9). Found 2004. Tkw 8.5 kilograms.
This was found by a farmer who noticed a rusty looking rock when he got off his tractor to unhook a hay rake in August of 2004. Years later, it was identified as a meteorite and purchased by KD Meteorite (I remember them calling me and sending me photos of the thing for my opinion before they bought it) in 2013. This is a nice complete slice (I have one somewhere around here in a “safe place”. Can’t wait to finally re-locate that safe place – there will be all kinds of neat things waiting for rediscovery there for me). This has its original riker that it was sold in. From that, it looks like the current owner may have payed close (really close) to $4000 for the piece. However, he is willing to let it go a bit cheaper here. A really nice specimen from a place that does not have too many meteorites.
298.2 gram complete slice – 180mm x 105mm x 5mm - $3000
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Shipping: Shipping rates, right now, have gone up yet again. They seem to have added a "holiday time surcharge". Now it seems that the cheapest I can send a small padded envelope order for is close to $6 at the moment. Regardless, I'll keep the shipping on these (they are small and light weight) at a simple $5 for now for US shipping.
Small overseas orders are around $16 (Canada seems to be right around $15).
I do have a 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. However, for overseas orders, it probably is best to go ahead and use my brmeteorites@yahoo.com e-mail when possible.
