Showing posts with label DIAMONDS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DIAMONDS. Show all posts

Wednesday 6 October 2021

Blaine Reed Meteorites - List 247 07OCT2021

Blaine ReedP.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487 October, 2021

Dear collectors,

Here is something of an “after Denver” list I. The show itself was really quite busy (one of my best, actually), despite lower amounts of foot traffic than the old “usual” (those that showed up showed up were obviously serious to buy). Unfortunately, I didn’t pick up much in the way of really new material – mostly just replacements for things I have sold. Even those things are getting hard to come by at prices I can use (inflation is a real thing in meteorites right now).

As always, you can see some of my older offerings (and associated photos) at- 
https://blaine-reed-meteorites.blogspot.com  Be aware though that some (many in the case of the past couple offerings) that some of those listed items have been sold since the blogspot postings were made. Don’t be afraid to ask though, I often have items remaining (or very similar replacements) from such posts.


TURGUT, Turkey. Iron. Ungrouped. (finest octahedrite). Found April 1999. Tkw = 152 kilograms.
I was excited to get my hands on this. In all my years of business, I have only ever handled a few pieces of any finest octahedrite. Most of this was Tazwell, over 30 years ago that I think I sold for over $30/g back then (I am making available a 15.0 gram part slice of that meteorite that has been in my collection since then for $500). This meteorite was found in a farm field and then sat in a garden for 10 years until a meteorite collector recognized it as a meteorite. I have been told that, once it was identified and pieces were offered for sale, the vast majority of this meteorite went to Taiwan to be made into jewelry. I guess that makes some sense as even a small (1cm) piece of this will show a nice complete etch texture. These are all part slices, relatively thin and are etched on both sides.
1) Part slices, etched on both sides:
a) 4.3 grams 14mm x 13mm x 2.5mm $45.00
b) 9.3 grams 19mm x 18mm x 3mm $95.00
c) 16.2 grams 37mm x 18mm x 3mm $145.00
d) 33.6 grams 36mm x 32mm x 3.5mm $285.00
e) 72.5 grams 60mm x 50mm x 3mm $580.00
f) 126.0 grams 100mm x 50mm x 3mm $890.00


EL HAMMAMI, Mauritania. (H5). Found 1997, likely fell August 10, 1997. Tkw = about 240kg.
Here is some material that I put into deep storage over 20 years ago. I finally got that stored fragment (and another flat one – the source of the end piece below) cut up. This was particularly nice and fresh material for this meteorite (though the end piece has a bit of rust staining in one corner) and, thankfully, remained as such during its long storage. The slices are all really fresh and nice showing lots of fresh metal and some (but few) light gray chondrules in a light gray (nearly white) matrix that has only a little minor browning. Some of these slices also show metal veining but this is a bit hard to see in any but the largest slices. By far, this is the freshest H-chondrite I have and priced quite cheap for it likely being a fall. Unfortunately, only the big end piece has anything in the way of (very fresh) fusion crust (though none of the slices have cut edges).
1) Slices:
a) 5.7 grams 26mm x 18mm x 4mm $12.00
b) 11.0 grams 29mm x 26mm x 5mm $22.00
c) 20.3 grams 38mm x 33mm x 5mm $40.00
d) 42.0 grams 52mm x 50mm x 5mm $80.00
e) 80.7 grams 85mm x 55mm x 5mm $150.00
f) 164.4 grams 105mm x 100mm x 4mm $300.00
2) End piece, cut fragment: Has nice crust on part of the edge, stands up nicely on its own.
a) 1882.0 grams 165mm x 115mm x 50mm $2500.00


NWA (10858). Ordinary chondrite. (L3). Found before November 2005. Tkw = 12.3 kilograms.
Well, this stone has had a bit of traveling between owners and more. It was picked up at the Munich, Germany show in 2005. It was later acquired by the Hollis collection who then later put in an auction where I bought it in May of 2019. Paul Sipiera (of Planetary Studies Foundation) arranged to get the thing studied (where it was determined to be an L3) before it went up for sale. Once I got this cut up, I realized quickly that this is VERY LIKELY a piece of NWA (869) that was not recognized as such before work was done on it (but in all fairness, it really didn’t look that much like an (869) when it was whole). Regardless, as this HAS been studied and REPORTED officially as its own “new” meteorite, I am going to sell it such.
HOWEVER, as I got a really good deal on this thing, I am selling it for LESS than I’d normally need to get on similar NWA (869) slices! (I generally get over $1/g on those these days).
1) Slices:
a) 23.4 grams 55mm x 35mm x 5mm $17.00
b) 41.1 grams 55mm x 45mm x 5mm $28.00
c) 79.8 grams 110mm x 55mm x 5mm $52.00
d) 159.7 grams 130mm x 80mm x 5mm $100.00
e) 304.8 grams 200mm x 140mm x 4mm $180.00 – complete slice.
f) 459.2 grams 215mm x 148mm x 4.5mm $250.00 – complete slice.


NWA (13961): Ordinary chondrite (H5). Found before February 2005. Tkw = 410.0 grams.
Here is a single stone I picked up years ago – in Tucson in 2005. I set it aside, thinking it looked like it was more interesting than normal. Cutting it got me more excited. This has the look of a slightly weathered NWA (725) winonaite. This is somewhat porous, generally crystalline and even has the few and far between dark spot (chondrule?). The research work though showed me that this as just an H5!. This has lots of fine-grained metal, looking almost e-chondrite like in reflected light, those sparse chondrules in a medium brown matrix. Not bad, but nothing as special as I had hoped.
1) Slices:
a) 4.9 grams 32mm x 26mm x 1.5mm $10.00
b) 9.6 grams 35mm x 35mm x 2mm $19.00
c) 16.5 grams 75mm x 24mm x 3mm $30.00 – complete slice.
d) 24.0 grams 77mm x 35mm x 3mm $42.00 – complete slice.
2) 60.3 gram end piece/ main mass – 72mm 23mm x 20mm - sold


NWA (13974): Lunar meteorite. Found 2021. Tkw = 7.94 kilograms.
I picked up a couple small stones of this interesting meteorite at the just past Denver Show. This meteorite is a complex breccia consisting of several different lunar rock types; anorthosites, norite and troctolites. It also has mostly anorthite and zoned olivine mineral grains in a melt matrix. These clasts and inclusions are quite small so cut pieces of this are not super exciting visually but are certainly interesting scientifically (and affordable). I do have a few small end pieces available at $65/g – 1.90g, 2.80g, 5.50g.
1) Slices:
a) .48 grams 12mm x 8mm x 2mm $40.00
b) .93 grams 13mm x 12mm x 2mm $75.00 – complete slice.
c) 1.50 grams 17mm x 15mm x 2mm $120.00 – complete slice.


CARBONADO: DIAMOND, Central African Republic
I offered pieces of these supremely interesting diamonds from the Brazil locality around 7 years ago. I sold out of those but was recently able to pick up some samples of their African brothers. The formation origin of these strange diamonds remains something of a mystery but more recent studies strongly suggest that these diamonds are not only extraterrestrial but from outside of our solar system!!! For a really interesting article concerning these, go to gia.edu/gems-gemology/summer-2017-carbonado-diamond. These look to have formed in low a pressure hydrogen-rich, oxygen poor environment by vapor deposition processes. It is now looking ever more likely that these formed in a near-by super nova event and fell to earth when Africa and South America were connected. Truly interesting and special material. These are guaranteed authentic (unlike the vast majority of offerings claiming to be this material I have seen on Etsy and E-Bay). I will put most of these in a small plastic display box with a label but the larger specimens may not fit.
1) Natural fragments as found:
a) 1.57 carat (.314 grams) 7mm x 5mm x 4mm sold
b) 3.09 carat (.618 grams) 10mm x 8mm x 3mm sold
c) 6.50 carat (1.30 grams) 11mm x 8mm x 7mm $325.00
d) 10.63 carat (2.126 grams) 13mm x 10mm x 9mm $530.00
e) 14.05 carat (2.81 grams) 14mm x 11mm x 9mm $750.00
f) 31.84 carat (6.37 grams) 20mm x 13mm x 11mm sold

Please note:
Shipping: For small US orders $5 is needed now. Rates have gone up yet more this tyar and now the very cheapest I can send anything is right at $4. Add $ for the padded envelope or box, jewelry boxes, etc and, in most cases, I am still loosing a little even at $5. Larger orders are now $8 to $15 (insurance is extra if desired – I’ll look it up if you want it). Overseas prices have gone up A LOT the past couple years. Now small overseas orders are around $15. I’ll have to custom quote any larger items/ orders (both local and overseas). Registration (recommended on more valuable overseas orders) is $18.
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.











Tuesday 20 May 2014

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale - List 153

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale - List 153

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
…………………………………………………LIST 153

May 20, 2014


BOOK: OUR STONE-PELTED PLANET by H.H. Nininger.
I picked this up in Tucson along with a copy of Farrington’s “Meteorites”. I have read this one a couple times in the past so I’m putting this one up for sale (I may sell the Farrington later once I have had a chance to got through it). It is a pretty usual used copy. It is missing the dust jacket and is clearly an ex-library book (Nevada State Library I think). It is in pretty good shape overall, aside from the old now marked out library labels (mostly on the first pages). This may be actually be rarer (but, perhaps, not quite as desirable) than other copies in that I think this may be the first copy I have ever had that does NOT have Nininger’s signature in it. Anyway, a good reading copy of a fairly rare book.
                Nininger’s “Our Stone-Pelted Planet” - $150 

CANYON DIABLO, Arizona: Coarse octahedrite (IAB).
Here is a tumble polished piece of this now very difficult to get meteorite. I got this as part of a collection that was mostly glasses (tektites and fulgurites) over a year ago. It looks very much like the small tumbled Odessa piece Robert Haag sold years ago – rounded corners, lots of bright metal but still wit black patches in the deeper recesses. I can’t help but wonder if this was one of the ones I heard about back when we (myself and a few friends) acquired the Guadalupe y Calve hexahedrite. While I was looking that over a guy had asked me how Robert “made” those nice little tumbled Odessas (which were selling about as fast as he could prepare them). I gave him my thoughts on how it was done and asked why he wanted to know. He said he had gotten a small “bucket full” of roughly thumb-sized Canyon Diablo pieces that were not only natural but had a white number painted on them. He didn’t like the appearance (or the number) and it seemed his potential customers did not either. I explained what these likely where (Nininger specimens) and their longer term importance to collectors but he was not interested. He also was not interested in selling them to me at anything near what those things would have been worth at the time (maybe $.25 to .30/g, I think I was paying around $35/ pound for Diablos those days). He wanted the much higher $1/g he thought he would get for them cleaned as this was the price Robert was getting for his tumbled Odessas (which, importantly, were very MUCH smaller than the Diablos). Wish I could go back and give this idiot the $1/g now. Anyway, I just have to wonder if this, actually kind of nice specimen was one of those.
                30.9 gram tumble polished individual – 42mm x 15mm x 10mm - $40

NAKHLA, Egypt: Mars rock (Nakhlite). Fell June 28, 1911. Tkw = around 10 kilograms.
It has been a looooong time since I have been able to offer a piece of this famous meteorite. Unfortunately, this is among the most expensive (overall specimen price wise) specimen I have offered as well. However, this is also among the most "Museum grade” specimens I have offered as well. This is a nice, fresh fragment that has a very substantial (around 18mm x 13mm) patch of fresh shiny black crust. This is truly a rare opportunity for the Mars Rock collector (I have generally stopped calling these things “SNCs” as there have been a number of new type Mars rocks that don’t fit those classifications lately).
                5.60 gram fragment with crust – 20mm x 14mm x 15mm - $15,000 – crust patch 18mm x 13mm

NWA 5546: Carbonaceous chondrite (CV3). Found 2008. Tkw = 3.8 kilograms.
I am not sure why this one is still listed as “provisional” in the Bulletin. The provisional report shows the history, type, researcher and everything but yet it hasn’t become “official”. I got a couple pieces of this from Matt late last year and finally decided to chop them in half while doing cutting work on other things on my 10” saw. This is quite weathered, has internal cracks and such but yet is fairly appealing on the cut surfaces. It shows lots of generally large chondrules of various shades of gray, brown and orange in a medium to dark chocolate matrix. These are fairly large and I may end up breaking them down if people really want smaller specimens. I priced these as the cheapest CV3 I have to help make up for the size.
1)       Cut fragments:
a)       84.8 grams – 70mm x 50mm x 10mm - $250
b)       113.8 grams – 80mm x 47mm x 10mm - $340
c)       152.6 grams – 85mm x 50mm x 12mm - $450

ODESSA, Texas: Coarse octahedrite (IAB).
This is an interesting solid really dark brown, nearly black individual. It has been cleaned or treated somehow but I am not certain how. It does not appear to have ever been wire brushed (at least not in anyway more than a really light brushing with a really soft wheel maybe). It does still have a couple tiny areas of natural fine sand or dirt in a couple recesses. I suspect that it was lightly cleaned to remove dirt and maybe some scale but then spent the rest of its life well oiled. Regardless, this is a good sample of this quite scarce (these days) meteorite.
                276.8 gram individual – 65mm x 50mm x 20mm - $200

ZAG, Western Sahara/ Morocco: (H3-6). Fell August 4 or 5, 1998. Tkw = about 175 kilograms.
Here are some really fresh fragments of this important meteorite. This fall is one of only two chondrites (the other being Monahans, TX which also fell in 1998, interestingly) that have been found to contain salt crystals that clearly show that water flowed through these meteorite’s parent body at one time! These crystals, when seen are bright blue or purple due to damage from radiation over the (billions) years. These pieces appear to be natural fragments that are very light gray to nearly white and were likely among the very earliest pieces to have been picked up (I have a fair number of pieces that very obviously were later recoveries. Let me know if you want any of these cheaper pieces). I thought about cutting some of these as some pieces contain an interesting breccia texture but decided against it. This was, though there is a very small chance that any of these contain salt crystals, cutting them would most certainly destroy them if there were any.
1)       Natural fresh fragments:
a)       6.2 grams – 20mm x 17mm x 7mm - $25
b)       9.6 grams – 22mm x 20mm x 10mm - $38
c)       17.7 grams – 25mm x 20mm x 15mm - $70
d)       47.7 grams – 60mm x 30mm x 17mm - $180 – has some obvious breccia zones.

DIAMONDS: “Carbonados” from Brazil.
I remember reading some kind of “news” snippet in a Discover Magazine some years ago that said something to the effect that these “frothy” diamonds from Brazil were likely associated with a meteorite. Furthermore, they weren’t from an impact here on Earth but (supposedly) were already contained in the meteorite before it hit! They supposedly have weathered out and are now found scattered about the find area. This, to be honest, sounds really far-fetched to me. But then, this is the attitude many took early on towards the theories that SNCs were from Mars and the HEDs were from Vesta (both now accepted as fact). Anyway, I tried to obtain some of these after reading that and completely failed (one friend in the diamond business said he could help but I would have to spend a minimum of $50k). I have since kept my eyes out for samples. I finally found some interesting nondescript shaped, somewhat porous diamonds labeled as Brazilian “carbonados” at the Denver Spring show a couple years ago (and misplaced them not long after). I set one aside after rediscovering these and the rest are listed here.
1)       Natural “crystals” as found:
a)       1.1 carat – 7mm x 5mm x 4mm - $100 – light yellow color.
b)       1.6 carat – 9mm x 5mm x 5mm - $150 – light gray color.

c)       2.0 carat – 8mm x 8mm x 5mm - $180 – mixed clear and light tan color.