Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 166 - New also mailed offering

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 166 - New also mailed offering

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
……………………………………………………………..LIST 166

January 6, 2015

Happy New Year! Here is the e-mail version of my recent mailed list.

Tucson show info: I will be gone from January 27th through about February 18th (yep, this show has me on the road for far too loooong). For the show dates I am at my usual spot – Room 134 of Ramada Limited (665 N. Freeway for those with GPS). I should have my room open mid-morning of January 31st. At this point, I plan on staying for the bitter end – February 14th (I have found that I generally do quite well the last few days while the “main show” is open). I’ll open most mornings at 10AM and should be open most evenings until around 9:30 to 10PM – later (within reason) if people are visiting/ hanging around.

TOLUCA, Mexico: Coarse octahedrite (IAB). Found 1776.
I don’t normally offer mixed bags of an item like this, but I somehow ended up with an assortment of pieces the past few months (after not really having any for a few years). The smaller pieces here are pretty much “natural” (uncut or brushed) fragments that are mostly oxide (though some certainly still have an appreciable amount of metal in them). These are cheap and a good way for someone to add a small sample of this famous (and relatively hard to get in small pieces) meteorite to their collection (most buyers will actually get a piece somewhat larger than the listed ones on these first 2 items). One of the heavier pieces is obviously still all metal as it has a polished face. The slice is etched on both sides. The largest individual has a Monig number painted on it (M8.33) – the only such Toluca I have ever seen.
a) 9.7 gram “oxide” fragment – 22mm x 15mm x 12mm - $5
b) 20.5 gram “oxide” fragment – 25mm x 24mm x 15mm - $10
c) 76.0 gram “oxide” fragment – 45mm x 40mm x 23mm - $50
d) 100.0 gram etched part slice (one cut edge) – 80mm x 60mm x 3mm - $100
e) 105.7 gram metallic fragment/ individual with polished face – 40mm x 30mm x 22mm - $65
f) 479g brushed metallic individual with Monig number – 90mm x 45mm x 35mm - $400

NWA 7899: Ordinary chondrite (L6), W1. Found before September 2011. Tkw = 420.2 grams.
This is one I wish I had a lot more of. The outside of this egg-shaped piece showed some black lines indicating that some shock veining was present. On a cut surface though, this one makes you say “wow!” It is among the very best breccias I have seen. It has light/medium gray and tan clasts (of all sizes) in a medium to dark gray (shocked) background. This is truly a great display specimen for getting the concept of brecciation across. I have ONLY this piece right now. I have the other half of this stone yet (planned to make it a collection piece) and may end up having to try to cut some slices off of it sometime later (it’ll have to be wire sawed. It was not easy to split this egg with the equipment I have and I’d probably only mess the thing up if I tried).
121.6 gram end piece – 80mm x 60mm x 15mm - $600

NWA 8185: Ordinary chondrite. (L5), S2, W3. Found before February 2009. Tkw = 793 grams.
This is yet another one of those offered to me as “primitive” but turned out not to be (thankfully, I think I have finally figured out how to pick out the real primitive achondrites with my XRF, at least with a cut surface). That part did not surprise me. The L-type did though. This has the medium gray color, somewhat porous texture typical for the H5s and H6s these “possible primitives” usually turn out to be. The research work though clearly showed that this is indeed an L. The interior shows many light gray somewhat angular to rounded clasts (but no real distinct chondrules) in a gray with hints of green matrix. Kind of different.
1) Slices:
a) 8.5 grams - 25mm x 22mm x 4mm - $15
b) 16.1 grams - 40mm x 32mm x 5mm - $25
c) 37.4 grams - 70mm x 60mm x 3mm - $55 – complete slice.
2) End piece:
a) 214.5 grams - 70mm x 57mm x 35mm - $300 – Main mass.

NWA 5421: (LL3.7), cluster chondrite. Found 2007. Tkw = 2.2 kilogrmas.
This is one Matt and I shared some years ago but I sold mine out before it got to any type of public offering. This is because of its amazing appearance. Most of this is nothing but a mass of large distorted chondrules tightly packed together with virtually no matrix what so ever. I got an extra chunk from Matt a couple years ago and sent it to be wire sawed, as it was an odd size and shape and wouldn’t fit into my saw. Thankfully, this took a long time to get done (around a year and a half I think). In the meantime, I learned about “cluster chondrites” from an article in Meteoritics and Planetary Sciences that described these things and had pictures of NWA (5205) as an example that exactly matched my meteorite. “Cluster chondrites” are not really a new class but usually found as small inclusions in other type 3 stones (this particular meteorite just happens to be pretty much one gigantic such “clast”). They are extremely low in matrix, composed of over 80% chondrules (the highest of all meteorites). These chondrules are deformed and indicate that they accreted while still hot hours to days after forming (which hints that they may have formed by low velocity impacts between semi-molten bodies). These “rocks” are believed to likely represent pieces of THE primary accretionary rocks (first solidified rocks that were often then later broken up and mixed into later chondrites).
Wish I knew about all of this when I first got it. I don’t have a lot of this left now. These pieces are pretty much all the “cluster chondrite” texture. Only the large full slice has zones of finer texture (40%).
1) Slices:
a) 1.3 grams - 15mm x 10mm x 2.5mm - $25
b) 2.6 grams - 23mm x 12mm x 3mm - $50
c) 5.5 grams - 28mm x 22mm x 3mm - $100
d) 10.5 grams - 40mm x 30mm x 3mm - $190
e) 20.3 grams - 52mm x 48mm x 2.5mm - $350 – ½ slice
f) 92.6 grams - 115mm x 70mm x 4mm - $1350 – complete slice.

NWA 6950: (Lunar (gabbro). Found June 2011. Tkw = 1649 grams.
A single stone that was broken in eight pieces was found (reportedly) near the Algeria/ Mali border. This material turned out to be a Lunar meteorite with a cumulate texture. This was formed by crystals solidifying and settling out of a magma of basaltic composition that was cooling and solidifying beneath the Lunar surface. These pieces are all part slices (broken from larger slices). They are mostly a mottled mix of light tan and pale green fragments/ crystals but some piece have the occasional thin black shock vein. All are in a labeled plastic box for safety (this is mildly crumbly material) and display.
1) Slices:
a) .15 grams - 8mm x 4mm x 1.5mm - $75
b) .28 grams - 12mm x 5mm x 1.5mm - $140
c) .50 grams - 15mm x 8mm x 1.5mm - $250
d) 1.04 grams - 16mm x 13mm x 1.5mm - $495
e) 2.01 grams - 27mm x 15mm x 1.5mm - $900
f) 5.33 grams - 40mm x 30mm x 1.5mm - $2100

HUCKITTA, Australia: (Pallasite). Found 1937.
Here are a few cut fragments I re-discovered while doing inventory last month. Looking through my records, it seems that I have not offered any of this meteorite on a mailed list for over a decade (however, I have offered the occasional piece on e-mailed offerings over the years). Anyway, these are the usual oxidized pieces that show dark olivine in a blue gray (magnetite and hematite) matrix. I once had quite a lot of this meteorite (8 kg or so), but this is the last of it and this material has gotten fairly scarce these days. I don’t really foresee being able to obtain any sizable quantity of this meteorite in the future (I don’t know of anybody that has some). So, grab one of these if you have been wanting to add this name to your collection. I have only one each of the two larger sizes listed here.
1) Cut fragments:
a) 15.7 grams - 28mm x 26mm x 10mm - $39
b) 22.5 grams - 35mm x 20mm x 18mm - $55
c) 38.9 grams - 45mm x 22mm x 20mm - $90
d) 90.4 grams - 60mm x 30mm x 25mm - $200

CARBONADO, Brazil: Black diamonds that may be from space.
Here are some of the weird diamonds I have spent years trying to acquire since reading about them. The last batch of “Brazilian carbonados” I was sold were clearly not. These very clearly are. These weird, often large diamonds are not really crystals but more of an aggregate of microscopic crystals packed together (interestingly, this structure makes them actually harder than regular diamonds). As such, these seem to have formed by a vapor deposition method somehow. Their chemistry is also unlike any other diamonds. They don’t contain any deep mantle minerals (as other diamonds do). Among many other special features, they have nitrogen and hydrogen in their structure as well as strange minerals including reduced Fe, Si, Ti, FeNi metal and the mineral osbournite (TiN) which has previously only been found in meteorites. It has been concluded by some that these likely formed during the formation of a white dwarf star (which we are learning can basically BE a diamond), with some being blown into our area of space during the super nova that formed them around 3.8 billion years ago.
1) Individual “crystals” as found:
a) 4.1 carat (.82 grams) - 9mm x 8mm x 6mm - $300
b) 17.1 carat (3.42 grams) - 14mm x 12mm x 10mm - sold

Please note:
The post office keeps increasing shipping rates (despite the government’s official claim is that there is no inflation). For small US orders $3 should still be fine for now. Larger orders are now $12 (insurance is extra if desired – I’ll look it up if you want it). The real increases came in overseas (or even Canada) shipping. These prices pretty much doubled from what they were a couple years ago. Now small overseas orders are around $9 (I’ll have to custom quote any larger items/ orders). Thankfully, it seems that the rate for registration (recommended on more valuable overseas orders) is still around $12.
I do have a new 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.

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

Blaine Reed Meteorites - List #122 6JUN2012

[brmeteorites_list] List 122 - more misc

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
…………………………………………………………………LIST 122

June 5, 2012

Dear Collectors,

Here is yet another assortment of things I had in boxes (both from Tucson and otherwise). Many are collection labeled, but some are not (I'll note this in the description).

I may be a but hard to reach late this afternoon. We have another interesting astronomical event happening today – Venus crossing the sun after about 5pm here today. I'll have my telescope set up (I have a serious sun filter – which I used just a couple weeks ago with a good pair of binoculars to see the annular eclipse) to see this. I got to see this same event back in May of 2004, I believe. However, today will be the last time this occurs for over 100 years. Thankfully, it looks like (as usual) we will be cloud free (but really hot) today.

CLEO SPRINGS, Oklahoma: (H4). Found 1960, Tkw = 24 kilograms.
This is a thick ½ slice (one cut edge, remainder is natural). This was a really weathered old meteorite and pieces broken off the exterior did not show any remaining metal to speak of. This slice did not show a lot when I got it but I did a little re-polishing work on it and was quite pleased with the results. There is indeed a zone of metal free weathering rind (about 20mm thick) along the top edge of this piece but the remainder actually looks quite nice. It shows a LOT of really fine-grained metal in a medium brown/gray matrix. If this does not sell as it is, I will get this cut into some thinner pieces and offer those later.
755.5 gram ½ slice – 135mm x 130mm x 12mm - $1350

HUCKITTA, Australia: (Pallasite). Found 1924. Tkw = 1500+kilograms.
These are some nice complete slices of the usual oxidized material. These are all Lang Collection pieces but I only got labels to go with the three largest pieces. I had some similar slices a couple years ago and they sold quite rapidly so I was happy to see these come along. The large slice is a particularly nice display specimen (largest surface area I have seen for this material) and I have been debating whether or not to keep it as part of my collection (but then, more geo-exchange install bills come along…..)
a) 37.5 gram complete slice – 70mm x 45mm x 3mm - $94
b) 69.2 gram complete slice – 75mm x 60mm x 4mm - $173
c) 100.5 gram complete slice – 115mm x 68mm x 4mm - $250
d) 128.2 gram complete slice – 165mm x 95mm x 3mm - $320

MOUNT TAZERZAIT, Niger: (L5). Fell August 21, 1991. Tkw = 110 kilograms.
I have had this piece for quite some time so I know I have offered it before, but I think it has been quite some time. I am quite surprised that I still have this. It is an affordable witnessed fall that is not all that readily available. This is a "complete" slice (no cut edges) that has only a little patch of crust along on edge. This is a light gray with hints of light brown and has an interesting porous matrix (obviously this has a low shock level). I have not seen another piece of this available for quite awhile.
40.0 gram slice – 63mm x 40mm x 6mm - $200

NWA 065: (H5). Found August 6, 2000. Tkw = 5094grams.
I have only three pieces of this. I had offered it a couple years (or more) ago and then promptly forgot about it after I set it aside with some other NWA material. This is an early NWA piece and is quite interesting in that it has a porous texture (like the above Mt. Tazerzait) and an interesting mixed reddish brown and gray matrix. The 23.6 gram piece has a Cottingham label to go with it.
a) 18.4 gram slice – 47mm x 33mm x 5mm - $45
b) 23.6 gram slice – 50mm x 35mm x 5mm - $55 – has label.
c) 25.4 gram slice – 50mm x 37mm x 6mm - $60

NWA (6355): (Lunar). Found 2009. Tkw = 760 grams.
This is the stuff that closely matches the composition of soils at the Apollo 16 landing site. There has been speculation (but no way to completely prove at this point, unfortunately) that this meteorite might have indeed originated from an impact in that area of the moon. This is a nice thumb-nail sized slice that shows some lighter colored angular clasts in a dark matrix. This is in a ready to show/ pass around display. It has an explanatory label that has both pictures of this actual specimen, the complete NWA (6355) meteorite before cutting and the Apollo 16 landing site – all in a membrane box. This is my last piece of this material set up this way.
.81 gram slice – 14mm x 11mm x 2mm - $690


SARATOV, Russia: (L4). Fell September 6, 1918. Tkw = 328 kilograms.
This is quite friable stuff. It likes to crumble a bit into fragments and chondrules if handled harshly. Because of this, most pieces of this material available have been fragments, blocks and thick slices. This is the case here. I may try having a block (or the large somewhat wedged slice) listed here cut with a gentle wire saw if I have them remaining later. Resulting pieces would be at a substantially higher price per gram though as wire cutting is an expensive process but the only that has much chance of making some slices of this without turning it all into a pile of gravel and mud. I do have one Lang Collection label that was for a 291g piece that I do not have – I'll send it with the 508g "slice" (numbers already changed on the weight space for this).
a) 4.4 grams fragment – 15mm x 14mm x 10mm - $26
b) 62.9 gram cut fragment – 38mm x 20mm x 26mm - $280
c) 114.6 gram block – 45mm x 35mm x 25mm - $500
d) 508.6 gram wedged slice – 110mm x 75mm x 20mm - $2000 – this has some nice crust along its thick edge.

TRAVIS COUNTY (a), Texas: (H5). Found 1889. Tkw = 175.4 kilograms.
41 of the 52 pieces of meteorite recovered in the area were found to represent one fall. These were found to be a shock blackened (H5) chondrite and was assigned the name Travis County (a). The pieces I have here are all small slices from the TCU Monig Collection and each has a Monig label to go with them.
a) 6.6 gram slice – 30mm x 20mm x 3mm - $12
b) 8.7 gram slice – 33mm x 21mm x 4mm - $15
c) 11.8 gram slice – 35mm x 31mm x 4mm - $20

TULIA (d), Texas: (H6). Found 1981. Tkw = 17.7 kilograms.
I received a small batch of small slices and end pieces of this meteorite recently (well, after Tucson anyway – I probably would have sold them out there if I had them then). These pieces each have a TCU, Monig Collection label with them.
a) 4.8 gram end piece – 30mm x 18mm x 5mm - $17
b) 6.2 gram slice – 27mm x 18mm x 3mm - $22
c) 9.0 gram slice – 28mm x 25mm x 4mm - $32
d) 14.5 gram slice – 46mm x 25mm x 6mm - $51