Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale - List 194 - yet more Lang collection material

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale - List 194 - yet more Lang collection material

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

……………………………………………………LIST 194

August 16, 2016

Dear collectors,

Here is yet another assortment of Lang Collection items. As with the earlier batches these are all in Riker boxes with a Lang Collection label. Once more, these boxes do raise the shipping costs quite a bit (to around $5 or $6 for US orders and much more on overseas sales). As usual, I will offer the option: of having the specimens sent without the boxes for free or US orders or for around $12 for overseas orders (pretty much as chape as I can send any specimens overseas for these days). Fir thise that want the riker bixes, I’ll calculate (or guess as close as possible but erring on the side of cheaper than what is really likely) the shipping and let you know. Regardless, the sample(s) will still be shipped with their labels.


DaG (313), Libya: Ordinary chondrite (L/LL3) S2,W2. Found April 24, 1997. Tkw = 3294 grams.
The Bulletin report says one piece was recovered. This piece is an end piece/ cut fragment. The back side is ½ natural smooth wind-polished surface and ½ rougher fractured surface. The interior is fairly dark brown but still shows lots of chondrules – many that are armored, not so much with fresh metal (some is indeed still visible in the specimen) but surrounded mostly by sulfides and iron oxides.
22.6 gram end piece – 46mm x 18mm x 18mm - $135 - SOLD!

DaG (477), Libya: Ordinary chondrite (L5), S4,W1. Found 1998. Tkw = 16,128 grams.
One number off of a good one – DaG (476) was a famous Mars rock. Not a rare one, but this is a nice part slice. It has 2 cut edges with the remainder being fusion crusted with a nice rounded/ sculpted shape (this, at least this part of the stone, likely had a really nice thumb-printed shape). The interior is quite fresh with lots of metal and some chondrules in a mottled light brown to nearly white matrix. There are also hints of a couple thin shock veins visible as well.
37.1 gram part slice – 60mm x 40mm x 5mm - $50

NWA (1208): Ordinary chondrite (H5), S2,W3. Found 1999. Tkw = 368 grams.
Bulletin research notes say “well defined chondrules” in this meteorite and this specimen does indeed show a good number of chondrules (I would have guessed that this was an H4). This is an end piece/ cut fragment. The backside is mostly natural fracture surfaces but there is a patch of fusion crust along one edge ( about 50mm x 13mm in size). The interior of this is on the darker side of medium brown to dark brown but chondrules and some fresh metal is still visible. This is a substantial portion of the total know of this particular NWA meteorite (close to 1/3rd) and may represent the main mass.
110.5 gram cut fragment – 60mm x 40mm x 20mm - $80

NWA (1222): Enstatite chondrite (EL5) S2,W3. Found 2000. Tkw = 2.8kg.
This is one I was excited to get. E5’s are exceptionally rare. Until this came along I didn’t have one in my collection (yep, I kept a piece of this). At this point, there are only 8 (EL5) known in the world (including Antarctica). This one is, by far, the big recovery of all of these. The other 7 total only 913 grams or about 1/3rd of the size of this find. I really question the W3 weathering grade on this. I am certain that research was done on a weathered external fragment because these pieces look quite fresh and nice. All show lots of metal in a light gray matrix. All but the two smallest specimens listed here have Lang Collection labels. All but the smallest sample here (the crumbs/ fragments is a bag) are in a Riker box.
a) .3 grams crumbs and small slice fragments in a bag - $20 SOLD!
b) .17 gram slice – 9mm x 5mm x 1.5mm - $20 SOLD!
c) .55 gram slice – 10mm x 8mm x 2mm - $55 SOLD!
d) .71 gram slice – 10mm x 9mm x 2mm - $70 SOLD!

NWA (1929): HED achondrite (Howardite). Found 2003. Tkw = 15+kg.
This is a lot of 3 roughly equal sized fragments in a Riker with a label. Each has light brown (dirt?) surfaces and at least one fresh broken surface that shows the light gray interior.
1.3 grams – 3 fragments - $20

TATAHOUINE, Yunisia: HED achondrite (Diogenite). Fell June 27, 1931. Tkw = 13.5+kg.
These are piece of one of the weirdest meteorites I have seen. This thing blew apart low in the atmosphere into strange angular green fragments with no real visible crust (however, there IS crust on some pieces, including a couple of these) but you have to look real carefully as it is usually only tiny 1mm x 1mm patches. The first specimen is a lot of 3 natural fragments in a research lab vial in a Riker. The “large” piece is a single natural fragment. It has more smooth/ rounded surfaces than most pieces. It is alos darker in those areas. Magnification shows that these are likely ablated/ crusted areas. The “crust” on most of these surfaces is merely a thin darker coloration but some small patches of distinct thicker crust can be found.
a) 1.0 grams – 3 natural fragments in a vial - $20
b) 3.6 gram natural fragment – 17mm x 11mm x 10mm - $65

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale - List 151

Blaine Reed

P.O. Box 1141

Delta, CO 81416

Ph/fax (970) 874-1487

…………………………………………………………………LIST 151

April 1, 2014

Dear Collectors,

I think this is my last “after Tucson” list. Now I’ll have to dig around to come up with new future offerings (I need to get a mailed list pulled together soon as well – it’ll be a busy couple weeks ahead). This is going out a bit later than I would have liked as I went to Montrose (and took longer than expected) to look at some potential meteorites (none were, unfortunately) and buy an old broken pocket watch. I will try to keep on top of e-mails this afternoon but there may be a couple issues. First, I do have some people coming over later (mine and Blake’s birthday – now over the hill at 50 even) so I may not get to check as often as usual. In addition we have ferocious winds right now. High winds like this, for some reason, often knock out our internet/ DSL connection. Strange, I thought it was all wires in the ground. Anyway, I’ll do my best to keep checking (the phone should always work, though we lost power and phone for an hour or so a few days ago during a wind storm as well).

DHOFAR (1286), Oman: (Eucrite), polymict breccia. Found December 2005. Tkw = 848 grams.

Two pieces that fit together were found about 30 meters apart. This meteorite contains clasts/ fragments of various compositions and colors – making it look very much like a howardite. However, this lacked enough pyroxene to be classified as a howardite. I recently sold out of what I had of this meteorite (and tossed out the remaining info cards) but then picked up a few more pieces in Tucson (and re-made new cards).

a)       2.0 gram slice – 20mm x 17mm x 2.5mm - $25

b)       4.2 gram slice – 42mm x 20mm x 2mm - $50

c)       6.8 gram slice – 35mm x 25mm x 3mm - $75

d)       20.2 gram end piece – 40mm x 20mm x 16mm - $200

IMILAC, Chile: Stony-iron (Pallasite). Found 1822.

This is a beautiful ¼ slice (2 cut edges at right angle to each other with the remainder being a long natural edge). This is cut super thin so light passes through all of the crystals. This fantastic material has gotten hard (and expensive) to acquire these days. I think this is the first thin slice of Imilac I have had in several years or more. A simply stunning display piece.

                22.9 gram part slice – 55mm x 55mm x 1.5mm - sold

NWA (769): (Eucrite), unbrecciated. Found November 10, 2000. Tkw = 712 grams.

I don’t think I have ever had any pieces of this meteorite before. I got a small lot of fragments, cut fragments and a couple slices at the show. Most of this does indeed look very similar in texture to typical Millbillillie but with much smaller crystal size (really fine-grained). However, a couple pieces do show some uniform (pretty much no crystal texture visible) light gray clasts. Most of the fragments and cut fragments have some (some pieces quite a lot) of nice dark crust that has not had its texture wind-polished away.

a)       2.0 gram slice – 20mm x 10mm x 4mm - $25

b)       3.9 gram fragment – 20mm x 15mm x 10mm - $49 – 12mm x 15mm crust.

c)       5.4 gram slice – 30mm x 18mm x 5mm - $67

d)       10.9 gram end piece – 23mm x 15mm x 17mm - $135 – back ~ 35% crust.

e)       15.8 gram end piece – 35mm x 17mm x 16mm - $195 – back 40%+ crusted.

f)        38.0 gram end piece – 55mm x 30mm x 17mm - $450 – back over 50% crusted.

NWA (7325): Ungrouped achondrite. Found 2012. Tkw = 345+ grams.

This is the stuff that showed weird green fusion crust on the rare pieces that had crust. Its low iron content, texture and other features have led some to believe that this may be from the planet Mercury (though others would argue that this material is far too ancient to be from a body of that size). Regardless, this is strange and unique material no matter where it came from. I have a few cut pieces and one fragment (that actually does have a small 3mm x 2mm patch of the weird green crust) that I picked up from Matt in Denver back in December but only recently got around to cataloging them.

                a) .61 gram slice – 18mm x 10mm x 1mm - $580

                b) .87 gram end piece – 14mm x 10mm x 4mm - $785

                c) 1.54 gram fragment – 13mm x 12mm x 7mm - $1400 – has small patch of     crust.

                d) 1.68 gram slice – 28mm x 16mm x 1mm - $1590

NWA 8159: Martian. Augite basalt. Found 2013. Tkw = 149.4 grams.

This is one that brings up mixed emotions for me. I am thrilled at its discovery as I am the one that pretty much discovered this gem. It was in the “likely junk to go out to the rock garden” pile that a fellow meteorite dealer had at the 2013 Denver Show. He had me going through MANY (easily over 100) rocks to see what might be important (with the rain and flooding during the show, I had plenty of time for this and found it, at times, to be an interesting distraction). I saw this one in the “junk” pile and commented that it most definitely was a meteorite as it had clearly visible shock veins. Thankfully, he had cut the thing so I had a cut surface to run the XRF on. I expected the thing to come up as a Eucrite, as that is pretty much what the thing looked like. HOWEVER, the chemistry of the thing came up as MARTIAN! At that point, the owner said that if this turned out to be the case he would give me “a complete slice of like 20grams” (gads, I wish I had gotten THAT in writing now). Anyway, not only did this thing turn out to be Martian, it turned out to be a completely new type of Martian! It has some similarities to various features of Nakhlites and Shegottites but yet is overall different. I did indeed get a package from the owner containing a sample for my helping in the discovery once this was officially reported. It contained a 2.2g block. I double/ triple checked the box to be sure I didn’t miss anything else in the packing material. Nope, nothing. I figured more would come later after cutting. I checked the Meteoritical Bulletin report for the thing and it did list me as having some of this (but unfortunately not anything about my part in the discovery) and it did indeed confirm that my share was indeed 2.2 grams. Now don't get me wrong, I am thrilled to have this (certainly better than NOTHING which is easily what I could have ended up with). I guess I am being a little greedy myself. A couple grams certainly will change my month, but 20grams would have changed my year (but then, I would have found it really difficult to break up a complete slice). I split the thick block into two thinner slices and then broke those up into the pieces listed here. I have already sold some and am keeping a small piece for myself so I have less than 1.25 grams total to sell.  The price is going to seem really high BUT this is right about what much larger pieces were selling (and pieces were indeed selling) for per gram in Tucson. The price has supposedly been raised (right after the show) to $8159/ gram. Given what the other unique Mars rock “Black Beauty” has been bringing, this is probably not all that unreasonable or surprising. Anyway, get em while I got em. I’ll give the contact info for the holder of the main portion of this material if I run out or you really need something bigger than I have here. All of these pieces are in a membrane box.

a)       .042 gram slice – 3mm x 3mm x 2mm - sold

b)       .080 gram slice – 4mm x 4mm x 2mm - $420

c)       .115 gram slice – 6mm x 4mm x 2mm - sold

d)       .335 gram slice – 9mm x 7mm x 2mm - sold

e)       .580 gram slice – 11mm x 9.5mm x 2mm - $2900

SMARA, Western Sahara. Achondrite (Eucrite), polymict breccia. Found 2000. Tkw = 12.87 kilograms.

Here is a eucrite that came from the NWA area but has an actual name and known find location. In addition, this is interesting in that it is a breccia containing clasts of many types (including subophitic basalts, granular microgabbros and impact melt clasts). I have two piece that were once one; a long part slice that I managed to break (not intentionally however) during transport back home from the show.

                19.0 gram part slice – 35mm x 34mm x 6mm - $230

                25.1 gram part slice – 45mm x 35mm x 6mm - $300

SPRING WATER, Canada: Stony-iron (Pallasite). Found 1931.

Here is a fairly small block that I have left exactly as I got it. It is a piece that is cut on all sides. It has not been polished or coated but yet still shows bright metal (with no distinct rusting) and nice bright crystals. I think that this was an old research work piece as it is in a research type snap lid plastic vial. This also has the number 135d written on it in black ink (a big part o the reason I left this thing alone – handling while polishing or the spray coating material could have easily destroyed this feature) indicating that this was likely cut from the early Nininger Spring water specimen.

                11.67 gram block – 17mm x 14mm x 12mm - $250

VACA MUERTA, Chile: Stony-iron (Mesosiderite). Found 1861.

This is a small cut fragment that came in as part of a collection. It is nothing special but the small (17mm x 11mm) cut face does show more metal than most Vaca pieces I have had.

                8.0 gram cut fragment – 18mm x 13mm x 14mm - $24