P.O. Box 1141, Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
brmeteorites@yahoo.com
LIST 267 - October 23, 2023
Dear Collectors
Here is an offering of some of the more interesting (and often expensive) items I either had out on display or brought home from the Denver show last month.
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ALETAI, China. Iron. IIIE anomalous. Found 1898, Tkw = over 50 tonnes.
The find date is for the “Armanty” iron meteorite which had been listed as a single piece recovery and the 4th largest meteorite known. I suspect that this “fall” (old fall, fairly new find) will be, possibly, the largest known meteorite in total recovered (I think Gibeon may still be ahead in this department but maybe not for long if they keep finding multi-ton pieces of this thing). It appears that the strewn field for this might be 425km long! That is a lot of area to search and find things. The piece I have here is an interesting “bookend” (an end piece that has been cut in half such that it stands up nicely on its own). Back in the summer, I had a museum approach me asking to have a “pass around” set of basic meteorites (stone, iron, stony-iron…..). I didn’t really have anything for a pass around iron that was etched. I did/ do have some several hundred gram or so whole Canyon Diablos that would be great pieces for this “pass-around” purpose but only (and still have pretty much only) small etched pieces. I managed to come up with this piece for them. I had a nice assortment of affordable things for them set aside for considerable time. They finally (recently) admitted that this project was “not going to happen”. So this piece is now available. It is a very deeply etched specimen that is quite interesting to look at. If this does not sell, I am happy to hang on to it and maybe make it part of my “pass-around” collection (however, whatever I have for that just sits in boxes on a vault shelf these days).
579.2 gram deep etched book end – 100mm x 75mm x 23mm - $600
GUFFEY, Colorado: Iron, ungrouped. Ataxite. Found 1907. Tkw = 309kg.
I remember having a few pieces of this some years ago. I seem to recall it was NOT cheap back then (possibly why I didn’t have one set aside except for, possibly, in my extensive “micro” collection I sold years ago). I looked up the nickel content on this (I suppose I could have booted up the XRF and gotten the data that way) and it is around 10.5% That does not seem quite high enough for a nickel-rich ataxite (heck, the Aletai above runs close to 9.8% and it has a medium octahedrite structure) but yet, here it is. One side of this has been etched and, as an ataxite should, it shows pretty much nothing. Just a uniform gray with a couple small (really small) darker inclusions. I tough name to get these days. I do have quite a number of people that specifically look for any and all “ungrouped” irons as they each likely represent a new/ different parent body.
30.4 gram part slice – 34mm x 24mm x 4mm - $600
HOWE, Texas: Ordinary chondrite (H5). Found 1938. Tkw = 8.63kg.
This is a piece I picked up from a collector at the Denver show (so I have not had it long). He got it from an auction, I believe he said. This does have a number sticker on it (M 131) that does match a little strip of paper that (briefly) describes the item and seems to indicate a realized price of $1010. I probably have had a small piece or two of this meteorite float through my hands over the years, but I cannot distinctly remember any. This is an almost cube/ block that has one face the natural exterior of the original meteorite and all the rest are cut with 3 faces polished and 2 not. IF this meteorite is fairly scarce on the market (I suspect it is) someone might do well to cut this thing up into smaller slices (wouldn’t be hard to chock up in a saw vise) and sell those off to waiting collectors (Texas meteorites are a pretty high demand thing these days).
200.4 gram block – 45mm x 39mm x 36mm - $600
KELLY, Colorado: Ordinary chondrite (LL4). Found 1927. Tkw = 44kg.
I sure remember this thing! Back in earlier days, getting an LL4 for your type collection was pretty much impossible (now, thanks to NWA you have a fairly nice selection of them to choose from. But they are still quite a bit rarer than LL3s). I, for the life of me, cannot remember where I got the piece, but I managed to get ahold of a rather large/thick slice of Kelly. It didn’t have a Nininger number on it or I would not have committed the sin I did to this – I split that thick piece into two thinner pieces using my 10” lapidary saw. David New ended up with one side and I broke the other down into nice collector sized pieces. I think this was the FIRST TIME an LL4 became available to collectors in the “recent” (early 1980’s and on) era. A LOT of people were excited at this and I sold out rapidly (at around $25/g I think). Kinda made me wish I didn’t sell off the other half of the slice so fast. Well, that “other half” is back in my hands right now! It turns out, David sold the piece intact to Jim Schwade way back in March of 1987. This is a 210g ¼ slice that is around ½ as thick as it was to start with (back in the “older” days, museums generally liked to have thick slices. Great if you ever need to re-polish them. Some seemed so thick they’d practically stand up on their own). Of course, free-hand splitting this with a 10” saw means it turned out a bit wedged, but surprisingly little (I do worse on some of these jobs even today- with 30 plus years more experience under my (expanded) belt). Even so, this could be wire-sawed into yet thinner slices if one so desired. This is a really rare bird! I think the only Kelly that has been floating around the collector’s world since 1987 has been my pieces from that slice I got (maybe I need to dig out really old tax records and see where I got this. Now I am really curious). NOT cheap as an overall specimen (a good number of grams here) but cheaper oer gram than it was 36 years ago! This comes wit one of my old labels (well, a reprinting of the original labels I sent out with this stuff back then) and Jim Schwade Collection label.
210.0 gram part slice – 125mm x 88mm x 5mm - $4500
Here is an offering of some of the more interesting (and often expensive) items I either had out on display or brought home from the Denver show last month.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ALETAI, China. Iron. IIIE anomalous. Found 1898, Tkw = over 50 tonnes.
The find date is for the “Armanty” iron meteorite which had been listed as a single piece recovery and the 4th largest meteorite known. I suspect that this “fall” (old fall, fairly new find) will be, possibly, the largest known meteorite in total recovered (I think Gibeon may still be ahead in this department but maybe not for long if they keep finding multi-ton pieces of this thing). It appears that the strewn field for this might be 425km long! That is a lot of area to search and find things. The piece I have here is an interesting “bookend” (an end piece that has been cut in half such that it stands up nicely on its own). Back in the summer, I had a museum approach me asking to have a “pass around” set of basic meteorites (stone, iron, stony-iron…..). I didn’t really have anything for a pass around iron that was etched. I did/ do have some several hundred gram or so whole Canyon Diablos that would be great pieces for this “pass-around” purpose but only (and still have pretty much only) small etched pieces. I managed to come up with this piece for them. I had a nice assortment of affordable things for them set aside for considerable time. They finally (recently) admitted that this project was “not going to happen”. So this piece is now available. It is a very deeply etched specimen that is quite interesting to look at. If this does not sell, I am happy to hang on to it and maybe make it part of my “pass-around” collection (however, whatever I have for that just sits in boxes on a vault shelf these days).
579.2 gram deep etched book end – 100mm x 75mm x 23mm - $600
GUFFEY, Colorado: Iron, ungrouped. Ataxite. Found 1907. Tkw = 309kg.
I remember having a few pieces of this some years ago. I seem to recall it was NOT cheap back then (possibly why I didn’t have one set aside except for, possibly, in my extensive “micro” collection I sold years ago). I looked up the nickel content on this (I suppose I could have booted up the XRF and gotten the data that way) and it is around 10.5% That does not seem quite high enough for a nickel-rich ataxite (heck, the Aletai above runs close to 9.8% and it has a medium octahedrite structure) but yet, here it is. One side of this has been etched and, as an ataxite should, it shows pretty much nothing. Just a uniform gray with a couple small (really small) darker inclusions. I tough name to get these days. I do have quite a number of people that specifically look for any and all “ungrouped” irons as they each likely represent a new/ different parent body.
30.4 gram part slice – 34mm x 24mm x 4mm - $600
HOWE, Texas: Ordinary chondrite (H5). Found 1938. Tkw = 8.63kg.
This is a piece I picked up from a collector at the Denver show (so I have not had it long). He got it from an auction, I believe he said. This does have a number sticker on it (M 131) that does match a little strip of paper that (briefly) describes the item and seems to indicate a realized price of $1010. I probably have had a small piece or two of this meteorite float through my hands over the years, but I cannot distinctly remember any. This is an almost cube/ block that has one face the natural exterior of the original meteorite and all the rest are cut with 3 faces polished and 2 not. IF this meteorite is fairly scarce on the market (I suspect it is) someone might do well to cut this thing up into smaller slices (wouldn’t be hard to chock up in a saw vise) and sell those off to waiting collectors (Texas meteorites are a pretty high demand thing these days).
200.4 gram block – 45mm x 39mm x 36mm - $600
KELLY, Colorado: Ordinary chondrite (LL4). Found 1927. Tkw = 44kg.
I sure remember this thing! Back in earlier days, getting an LL4 for your type collection was pretty much impossible (now, thanks to NWA you have a fairly nice selection of them to choose from. But they are still quite a bit rarer than LL3s). I, for the life of me, cannot remember where I got the piece, but I managed to get ahold of a rather large/thick slice of Kelly. It didn’t have a Nininger number on it or I would not have committed the sin I did to this – I split that thick piece into two thinner pieces using my 10” lapidary saw. David New ended up with one side and I broke the other down into nice collector sized pieces. I think this was the FIRST TIME an LL4 became available to collectors in the “recent” (early 1980’s and on) era. A LOT of people were excited at this and I sold out rapidly (at around $25/g I think). Kinda made me wish I didn’t sell off the other half of the slice so fast. Well, that “other half” is back in my hands right now! It turns out, David sold the piece intact to Jim Schwade way back in March of 1987. This is a 210g ¼ slice that is around ½ as thick as it was to start with (back in the “older” days, museums generally liked to have thick slices. Great if you ever need to re-polish them. Some seemed so thick they’d practically stand up on their own). Of course, free-hand splitting this with a 10” saw means it turned out a bit wedged, but surprisingly little (I do worse on some of these jobs even today- with 30 plus years more experience under my (expanded) belt). Even so, this could be wire-sawed into yet thinner slices if one so desired. This is a really rare bird! I think the only Kelly that has been floating around the collector’s world since 1987 has been my pieces from that slice I got (maybe I need to dig out really old tax records and see where I got this. Now I am really curious). NOT cheap as an overall specimen (a good number of grams here) but cheaper oer gram than it was 36 years ago! This comes wit one of my old labels (well, a reprinting of the original labels I sent out with this stuff back then) and Jim Schwade Collection label.
210.0 gram part slice – 125mm x 88mm x 5mm - $4500
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NWA (8043): HED achondrite (diogenite). Found 2013.
I didn’t put a TKW on this as this is certainly a pairing but I KNOW I can use the 8043 number because it is mine. A fair amount of, mostly small crumbly fragments of this stuff (I still have a handful or two of those) came out all at once. Regardless, I don’t think there was a whole lot (10-15kg maybe) and VERY few pieces were big enough (or solid enough) to cut. That is a shame as this is one of the neatest/ prettiest diogenites. The hypersthene crystals in this are quite gemmy and many pass light (like the olivines in a nice pallasite). What I have here is a LARGE thin cut slice that I have framed up between glass so you can see the light transmittance of the crystals. I realize that this is a big piece (I sold a similarly framed 60g piece in a flash in Denver) but IF you want a really big piece of one of the (very) few meteorites that pass light nocely, this is your chance! I CAN offer an alternative for those wanting something a bit smaller. I do have another similar slice (loose/ unframed) that I can cut in half or even ¼. So, let me know if you might like a roughly 60g (1/2 slice) done up this way (around $1700) or a roughly 30g one (around $950) and I’ll make one up (you’d have to give me some time on that part. I have to hand cut the frames, the intricate mats, etc. These take a good solid day to put together).
144.7gram complete slice in custom frame – 190mm x 135mm x 1mm - $3700
THIEL MOUNTAINS, Antarctica. Stony-iron (pallasite). Found 1962. Tkw = 31.7kg.
There once was a time when we collectors/ dealers COULD get an Antarctic meteorite from time to time. Generally, it was something common and abundant in the collections (I am thinking Alan Hills 76001 here) or something that researchers didn’t (generally) find all that interesting (sorry to say, pallasites ARE really pretty but they are not super interesting from a research stand point). I think it was Robert Haag that managed to spring this stuff loose (some kind of museum trade). He originally had really nice thin slices but, back then before we learned about Opticon) the crystals liked to fall out of them (the crystals are quite rounded in this meteorite. That combined with a thin slice that has very little crystal/ metal boundary gripping surface presented a problem. This is a (slightly) later piece that was cut thicker and has, consequently, held onto its crystals. This piece is wedged but it could still be split into thinner slices if one wanted to (and with the advancement of Opticon, they would very likely hold up just fine). This is an old piece that was bought be the current owner (it is in consignment with me from the Denver show). He seems to recall that he got it directly from Robert many (like 30-35) years ago. I have a LOT of people asking for any Antarctic meteorites. This is the first I’ve had in many, many years.
11.61 gram part slice – 47mm x 15mm x 5mm - $4000
VIKING LANDER COIN:
This is something I found at a local store fairly recently. I did not know that such a thing existed. It is 29mm diameter aluminum coin that has a “picture” of the Viking lander (and “Viking 76 Landing/ Martin Marietta”) on one side and “This Medallion contains material from Viking which landed on Mars July 20, 1976” on the other. As near as I can tell, these are quite scarce. Somewhere I saw something that seems to indicate that these were not a “any Martin Marietta visitor can get one” kind of thing but more given to special people that worked on the project (if anyone out there knows more about these things, I’d love to hear it. However, that runs the risk of making me want to keep it, perhaps).
39mm diameter Viking coin in Riker - $100
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Shipping:
I have, over recent weeks, gotten a better handle on the new shipping costs and methods.
US Shipping: It does seem that I can, generally, send small orders (jewelry box in a padded envelope kind) for around $5 still This is by what they are now calling “Ground Advantage”. Though it is claimed to be going by trucks (and supposedly a couple days longer) I have found that things are getting to where they need to be pretty much the same time as the old “first class” used to. For things people prefer to send “Priority”, the costs are $10 for fairly small things (whatever can fit in a small flat-rate box) and around $17 for large things.
For overseas shipping, it does look like the “First Class” option still exists (thankfully, because most overseas small flat-rate costs are bumping up against $50 these days). Though I have not sent much this way, what research I have done seems to indicate that those small orders (jewelry box in padded envelope) are still around $15 or $16 to send. Obviously, I’ll have to custom quote shipping on larger items (as usual).
