Blaine Reed Meteorites for Sale-List 233: Fresh from CR Aguas Zarcas and more

List 233: Fresh from Costa Rica Aguas Zarcas and more

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
LIST 233

December 17, 2019

Dear collectors,

I am back from my Costa Rica trip. It was overall an enjoyable trip, though often quite warm and sticky (I am not used to humidity, even at relatively cooler temperatures). Kevin’s side of the country was, for the most part, sunny and dry. The dry season, with its strong winds out of the east, was setting in (we did still get some time of sitting in the clouds and watching fog drift by thing – a very, very rare thing for me to see in my part of Colorado but common where he is perched up on the top of a mountain). However, I feared that this might mean that the other side of the mountains might be rainy. I figured the clouds carrying moisture from the Gulf of Mexico to the east might end up getting the moisture wrung out of them as they got stuck against the easterly mountainsides and made their way up and over. Yep, this is indeed what we found. Aguas Zarcas was heavy cloud cover, lots of rain, some (generally minor) wind and at times surprisingly chilly for a tropical area. All of this certainly meant that we weren’t going to be out stomping around looking for specimens on our own (also because it was a bad time for lots of really dangerous snakes in the area. Unlike the ”nope ropes and danger noodles” crawling around my area theirs don’t make any noise to let you know you are getting to close. I have indeed managed to avoid getting bit by a rattle snake hidden in the leaves on a trail a couple times by knowing what they sound like - and that sound ain’t like they present it in the movies folks). So, we had to limit ourselves to meteorites that locals had already found. Unfortunately, it seems that not much is being found any more. Some of the few pieces that were recovered recently are certainly showing their age (I hand picked and avoided those, paying a higher price to do so of coarse) and other pieces (that looked to have been recovered quite earlier) seem to have become special family heirlooms (“not for sale”). Oh well, at least I tried. The few things I did pick up are listed here below at a price only a little lower than I have offered similar pieces in the past (but then, I didn’t really pay much less at the site and am not even including the travel expenses as part of these piece’s direct cost at this point). I am having trouble deciding what piece(s) I want to keep for myself so I thought I’d let fate decide – I’ll keep whatever is the nicest piece listed below that does not sell from this offering.

The other items on this list are the last of the Riker mounted display pieces I picked up as a collection during the Denver Show. All of these have labels and it turns out that one more of these is also a Casper labeled piece that had that label hidden under another different one. I’ll make notes in the descriptions below of what labels come with each specimen.

NOTE: As with the last offering, shipping on most of these (everything but the Aguas Zarcas) is going to be a bit higher (around $5 or $6 for a single item for basic US) as these, being in glass fronted display boxes, will have to be shipped packed in boxes. My usual jewelry boxes in a padded envelope won’t work for most of these pieces.

List 233
Click on Image to Enlarge

AGUAS ZARCAS, Costa Rica: Carbonaceous chondrite (CM2). Fell April 23, 2019.. These purchased Dec 9th, 2019.
These are the pieces that, as mentioned above, I bought on the trip I just got back from. These are all natural fragments (though the largest has some claim to being a complete individual) and, after a light cleaning on my part, are quite fresh. Each has at least some fusion crust present (actually, all but the smallest have quite substantial amounts of crust). As mentioned above, the largest piece looks like it could be considered a complete individual. It has around 45% nice thick primary crust coverage with the remainder being angular “broken” surfaces. However, careful inspection shows non-sharp (micro roll-over) edges on the primary crust where it meats one of these “breaks”. Also, a hand lens shows obvious (but small) patches of thicker fusion crust on the high spots of most of these broken surfaces (so they can’t be “after the fall” breaks). One surface looks to be crusted so thin that it looks almost like a smoke coating. There is some hints of smoothing of the break as well as the fact that no real inside texture/ structure can be seen (aside from a couple larger chondrules poking through perhaps) whereas the other fragments (clearly showing post fall breaks) the interior structure is clearly visible. Regardless, I am not pricing this piece higher because of any of this.
1) Natural fragments. All have some crust:
a) 4.4 gram fragment – 16mm x 15mm x 15mm - $350 – about 15% crust covered.
b) 5.0 gram fragment – 20mm x 20mm x 10mm - $400 – about 45% crusted.
c) 7.4 gram fragment – 25mm x 18mm x 12mm - $590 – about 50% crusted.
d) 22.2 gram fragment/ individual – 32mm x 28mm x 20mm - $1700

BRENHAM, Kansas: Stony-iron (Pallasite). Found 1882.
This is a Riker display that has two part slices – one 3.4g (17mm x 12mm x 5mm) and the other 13.5g (25mm x 20mm x 9mm). This has two labels; one (unnamed) that has the two weights as 3.4g and 14.2g. The label that was hidden underneath was a Casper label (for the 3.4g piece) that has “Happy Holidays!” written in the ‘Remarks” line. The larger piece looks to have a Nininger number on it. It certainly has the exact look of a Nininger number paint job, starts with the proper “10” for a Nininger Brenham but the next number/ letter is damaged enough to make it unclear exactly what was painted here (the last 3 look to be 119 though this could be “10M19”). This piece is also the typical thickness that Nininger would have cut back then.
2 part slices – 3.4g and 13.5g (possible Nininger piece) in Riker - $100

CAPE YORK, Greenland: Iron. Medium octahedrite (IIIAB). Found 1818.
Now this is a neat little Riker display. It has a label identifying the Meteorite (name, type, etc.) with “1 GM” handwritten on it, a nice etched 15mm x 10mm thin slice of the meteorite in a gemstone holder and a commemorative Greenland postage stamp (that looks to be from 1978). The stamp seems to show what looks like might be an ancient knife/ tool of some sort (this is indeed what the locals used these meteorites for) on a background of a large etched slice. I am assuming the “1GM” is the rough weight of the slice, but I didn’t pull all of this apart to find out.
15mm x 10mm etched slice, stamp and label in Riker box - $90

ESTHERVILLE, Iowa: Stony-iron (Mesosiderite). Fell May 10, 1879. Tkw = about 320kg.
This is a thick part slice that has its larger portion being the silicate material (though there are still substantial chunks of iron, they show a bit better on the backside). This comes with a metal “meteoritelabels.com” label with the proper 4.75GM weight written in pencil in the specimen weight space.
4.75 gram part slice – 20mm x 13mm x 6mm - $90

HOLBROOK, Arizona: Ordinary chondrite. (L/LL6). Fell July 19, 1912.
Here are two nice complete fresh individuals in a Riker display. These come with a Schooler’s label that has the pair weight of 1.6grams. Yep, this is exactly what my scale got. The smaller piece weighed .68g on my scale and the larger was .92g. The larger piece has some areas of secondary crust (of the type and thickness that leaves no doubt that it is secondary crust, unlike some of the areas on the largest Aguas Zarcas listed above) but is NOT broken and is certainly a complete individual (the smaller piece is pretty much completely covered in primary crust).
2 complete individuals .68g, .92g in Riker with Schooler label -$40

MILLBILLILLIE, Australia: HED achondrite (Eucrite). Fell 1960/ found 1970.
This is a part slice of the more unusual fine-grained textured area of this meteorite (the vast majority of Millbillillie showed a brighter black and white salt and pepper texture). This piece has one natural edge that shows some weathered fusion crust that has some of the orange spots/ staining that shows that this really is a Millbillillie. This has a nice label with it but this does not say who’s label (Ann E. Nonimus??) it was. This label has the weight as 2.4 grams but my scale showed this as 2.2 grams.
2.2 gram part slice – 22mm x 10mm x 3mm - $30

NORTON COUNTY, Kansas: Enstatite achndrite (Aubrite). Fell February 18, 1948.
This is a Riker containing two small fragments of this meteorite along with a Schooler’s label. The label has these as .8g together and this is indeed what my scale showed. Each of these fragments is roughly 10mm x 5mm in size.
2 fragments totaling .8g in Riker with Schooler’s label - $25

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 209

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 209

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

LIST 209
October 31, 2017

Dear collectors,
Happy Halloween!
This will be my only offering until sometime in December (and that one will be a “want to clear it out of inventory” type offering – assuming I come up with such items when I do finally get around to the hideous/ tedious task of doing inventory this year).

SOCORRO, New Mexico Mineral symposium: I will be gone November 8th until November 14th or 15th (weather depending – I have gotten to old or to lazy to try and drive over 11,000 foot high mountains in snow storms these days). I do set up at a show of sorts (Nov 10th and 11th) so contact me if you might want to visit so I can give you the particulars.

COSTA RICA: Yep, I am finally going on a trip that is truly a vacation and not (meteorite anyway) business related. I think my last such vacation was the last time I went to Costa Rica over 9 years ago. I’ll be gone from November 21st or 22nd until December 6th (again, weather dependant). On this trip, I will be completely out of range by phone or e-mail. So please try to contact me about things a few days before I leave or have lots of patience to wait until I get back and have a chance to catch up.

So, here is a list of pretty much all the “new” things that I have turned up since my last basic e-mail offering (which was way back in July). I do have a group photo of these posted in the group photo archives (titled “List 209”) but I can e-mail it to you as well. One specimen, the Ladder Creek, isn’t in it as I just discovered that piece an hour or so ago and added it at the last minute so didn’t have time to have a new photo made up.

BRENHAM, Kansas: Stony-iron (pallasite). Found 1882.
I put this one in the wrong spot in the photo. It should have been first, but I placed it after the Grossnaja. I think this is because
this is where I had it on my handwritten-notes I made as the precursor to typing this actual offering. Anyway, this is a plastic vial labeled “Brenham Olivine”. The contents do contain some olivine crystals and fragments (I didn’t photo those outside of the vial for the same wind problem mentioned in the Grossnaja listing) but the bulk of the lot is a rather nice small part slice (3.7g – 15mm x 10mm x 6mm) that has a good mix of olivine and metal. It has a few (really) small rust spots but is surprisingly nice considering that it has likely been sitting the way it is for many decades (this came with a collection of stuff I got some years ago from a retired researcher).
4.9 grams part slice and olivine crystals - $15

ESTHERVILLE, Iowa: Stony-iron (Mesosiderite). Fell May 10, 1879. Tkw = 318+ kilograms.
This is a nice complete slice of a small fragment. It has a good mix of metal and silicates (perhaps a bit heavier, volume wise, on the metal). I don’t get pieces of this stuff real often but am still surprised at how affordable this historic fall (of a stony-iron meteorite no less) is when available. I am sure this situation won’t last for all that much longer (but I am not going to put this aside and wait for that day to come).
7.9 gram complete slice – 35mm x 12mm x 5mm - $80 SOLD

GROSSNAJA, Russia: Carbonaceous chondrite (CV3.3) ox. Fell June 28, 1861.
This is probably the rarest item I have on this offering (or on several offerings for that matter). I got this “specimen” as part of the old research collection I picked up a couple years ago. This consists of .13 grams of fragments and dust in a small research vial labeled “GROSSNAJA, Me1732”. Well, it is really two “large” fragments that are roughly equal in size (I have these outside of the vial in the group photo) that total over .11g of the weight and then some tiny fragments and crumbs for the remainder (didn’t put those out for the photo – wind would have taken them away). I set this aside trying to decide what to do with it. I don’t recall ever having or seeing pieces (even crumbs) of this meteorite before so I considered making this three lots (2 using each of the larger fragments and one containing the .01 or .02g of dust) and auctioning it (as I am sure there are lots of collectors that don’t have this one in their collections). This might have been the better move but I have decided to simply move this out of inventory and let the next person do the auction thing, if they desire.
.13 grams fragments in research vial - $100 SOLD

JAIPUR, India: Carbonaceous chondrite (CM2). Fell June 6, 2017. Tkw = 3.2 kilograms.
Here are a couple small fragments of a really rare meteorite (in type, total recovered and far rarer in what has been available to collectors) that were left with me this past Denver show (I sold a couple other pieces at the show). These are in a fairly large plastic display box (2 ¼” x 3 ¼”). There is a label containing the basic info (name, type, date, weight) below the specimen on the front side and a more complete Mike Farmer label in the box on the back. These boxes are sealed quite well and I did not attempt to open them so the measurements (mostly the thickness) must be considered a good guess. Anyway, these are great (quasi) affordable specimens of a rare fall to add to your collection.
a) .131 gram fragment – 7mm x 5mm x 2mm - $160
b) .328 gram fragment – 8mm x 6mm x 4mm - $380

LADDER CREEK, Kansas: Ordinary chondrite (L6). Found July 1937. Tkw = 35.1 kilograms.
As already mentioned above, this one didn’t make it in to the group photo as I just “discovered” it less than an hour ago. Anyway, I suspect that this is another specimen from the “retired researcher” collection I got a few years ago. This has the right kind of plastic bottle (a really old pill bottle actually in this case) that has an old yellowed label (that says “Ladder Creek”) that is very similar to many other pieces that were in that collection. Anyway, not sure why this one missed my attention until now. I do have small soft spot for Ladder Creek so I may have placed it aside for this reason. Linda actually paid for the very first collection I ever bought (got it from Robert Haag). Those specimens, except a nice Ladder Creek slice that Linda kept (and still has as far as I am aware) composed my very first ever “what is new” list (this had to be sometime in late 1986 or early 1987). Anyway, this is just a small part slice. It does have a small patch of dark gray fusion crust (6mm x 5mm) on one end. The interior is somewhat weathered but still shows quite a lot of really small metal grains in a mottled tan, orange and brown matrix.
2.3 gram part slice – 18mm x 9mm x 5mm - $15

NWA (8545): Ungrouped achondrite. Purchased 2013. Tkw = 57.8 grams.
An interesting rarity and not a lot of this one out there. I can’t remember exactly how I got these pieces (probably a trade deal of some sort) but I had them sitting around for a few years now and kind of overlooked them (aside from dusting off the bag they were in from time to time). I am finally offering them here (won’t have to dust them anymore – but the shelf they were sitting on will still need it). These are all basically fragments but each piece looks like it might have a small cut or sanded face. I didn’t want to risk crumbling by taking these things out of the display boxes I got them in. As such, the thickness measurements listed below are just a close guess. They are granular and have a mix of (mostly) tan and brown crystals with some spots of green and black. The research data indicates that this is weird stuff; composed of roughly 70% pyroxene and 30% plagioclase. It also has a super high faylite (? – this is a reading of the iron content in olivine. The research results don’t mention olivine but it must be in there in at least trace amounts) of 84.2! Most meteorites have faylite of around 17 (H chondrites) up to around 35 or so (R chondrites). Further notes in the research report say that this is likely paired to the strange (rare and expensive when it was available) NWA (011). I have only these 4 pieces and they will come in the gem-stone box that I got them in (as photographed).
a) .13 grams – 6mm x 5mm x 2mm - $15
b) .23 grams – 9mm x 4mm x 3mm - $25
c) .32 grams – 9mm x 5mm x 4mm - $35
d) .53 grams – 10mm x 6mm x 5mm - $55

PENA BLANCA SPRING, Texas: Enstatite achondrite (Aubrite). Fell August 2, 1946. Tkw = 70.4 kg.
These are all slices/ part slices from the Jim Schwade collection and all come with one of his collection labels. I did have to hand alter the label for the smallest specimen, as it had “found 1984” for the fall/ find info. This was an obvious error, hold over from his preparing labels for the Gan Gan (which was found in 1984) specimens that I offered on my list mailed and e-mailed list. The other cards are all correct from the start. The large piece is a wonderful ¼ slice (two cut edges) that has patches of cream colored fusion crust along much of its natural edge (which, thankfully, is the longest edge). The 4.9 gram piece also has a bit of crust but it is only a tiny patch around 3mm or so across. All have the wonderful breccia texture this meteorite shows so well.
a) 1.8 grams – 15mm x 12mm x 4mm - $145
b) 4.9 grams – 32mm x 10mm x 6mm $390
c) 5.1 grams – 35mm x 15mm x 4mm - $400
d) 103.0 grams – 148mm x 80mm x 3mm - $7000

SERRA PELDA, Brazil: HED achondrite (Eucrite). Fell June 6, 2017. Tkw = about 10 kilograms.
Hmmm. It seems June was a good month for falls this year. I have two things that fell that month on this list. Like the Jaipur above, I only have two pieces of this. Also, like the Jaipur above, these are in the larger plastic display boxes that have a basic label under the specimen on the front side and a more detailed Farmer label in the box on the back side. Also like the Jaipur, these boxes are sealed, so the listed thickness measurements are guesses. The (only slightly) smaller piece has a nice small (8mm x 3mm) patch of shiny black fusion crust. The other slightly larger piece does not seem to have any crust (again the boxes are sealed. I am assuming that if this had crust, that part would have been put acing up).
a) .648 gram fragment – 12mm x 6mm x 5mm - $80
b) .670 gram fragment – 11mm x 9mm x 4mm - $80

Blaine Reed Meteorites for Sale - List 187 - Estherville, St. Severin and more

Blaine Reed Meteorites for Sale - List 187 - Estherville, St. Severin and more

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

…………………………………………………………LIST 187

March 15, 2016

BRENHAM, Kansas: Stony-iron (Pallasite). Found October 30, 2005.
I must have sold a lot of pieces like this one years ago. It seems that every time I sell one that has come back to me, another appears. Like the others, this was cut from a 69 kilogram all iron specimen that Steve Arnold found on the date listed above. This has one natural edge that is about 50mm long with the remaining edges being saw cut. This is etched on both sides and shows a nice but not super vibrant etch pattern. There are a couple tiny thin brown oxidation lines along a fine crack near the edge (even Gibeon gets those) but they are so fine that I’d risk doing more damage to the piece by trying to mess with them. A good piece that is obviously quite stable, given the environment it was previously stored in.
74.0 gram etched part slice – 50mm x 50mm x 3mm - $120

CAMPO DEL CIELO, Argentina: Coarse octahedrite (IAB). Found 1576.
Here is actually a really nice etched (on both sides) “complete slice”. This does not show a speck of oxidation anywhere! Looking at the edge, I personally think that this was cut from a really large “nugget” – one of those pieces that results from a larger meteorite being broken up after being frozen in liquid nitrogen (gads, I wish I had patented THAT idea when I came up with it to help out a guy that rapidly needed 5000 plus small iron meteorites for a project he contracted for without first checking to see if 5000 of ANY small irons existed at the time – which they didn’t). I have never had a problem with any of those things rusting for some reason, and that seems to be the case with this specimen as well. The etch on this is about as good as these things get – not real clear thanks to the scale of the etch structure but still enough to give the proper idea. This is a perfect piece for a hand or display specimen for someone that needs a truly coarse etch coarse octahedrite.
141.0 gram complete etched slice – 70mm x 50mm x 5mm - $70

ESTHERVILLE, Iowa: Stony-iron (Mesosiderite). Fell May 10, 1879. Tkw = 317 kilograms.
This is actually a “trade in”. I had a 15g piece that I picked up in Tucson but a customer just happened to call shortly after I got home asking if I had a piece of this meteorite. He asked if I would accept a trade in and I said “sure”. This is pretty much a square cut piece that has no natural edges. One edge has a shallow semi-circle indent that is actually from where a core sample for research was removed from the original large specimen. Regardless, this is an aesthetic piece. It has a nice mix of metal and silicates (close to 50/50). This is a thin cut piece that has a good surface area and even passes light (dark emerald green) through several of the silicate crystals.
5.6 gram part slice – 30mm x 26mm x 1mm - $115

NWA (6619): Carbonaceous chondrite (CV3). Found January 2011. Tkw = 3367 grams.
This is an almost complete slice. It has a natural edge around the entire edge except a 50mm straight cut along the bottom. This specimen shows a half dozen or so fairly large chondrules (3mm to 5mm size) and a lot of small chondrules and CAIs in a fairly dark matrix. The official Meteoritical Bulletin description says this has a light gray matrix. I think the issue here is that this particular piece has been quite highly polished (and, as I mentioned on an item on one of the recent lists, this usually darkens a meteorite’s tone substantially). I know that this is “the right stuff” as it does match online pictures of other pieces and comes in a sealed (well, taped shut anyway) display box with the Certificate of Authenticity from Mirko Graul, the person that brought this stone to research. As this is taped, my thickness measurement below is only a good guess.
33.2 gram almost complete slice – 60mm x 47mm x 3mm - $230

NWA (8563) (?): HED achondrite (Eucrite, monomict). Found August 2014. Tkw = 9125 grams.
I put a (?) on the “name” of this one as some quick research indicates that this particular piece is likely NOT from the mass that Mike Farmer bought and had researched under this number. The hand written note that came with this specimen may indicate that it came from the guy he may have gotten his piece from. Even if this is the case, this should have been sold to my friend as “may be paired with” NWA (8563). Regardless, this piece certainly looks like it could be paired based on the description in the Meteoritical Bulletin. This is a complete stone (well, more likely a natural weathered / wind-polished fragment anyway) but it clearly shows that its internal structure is composed of fairly large (cm or two sized) fine-grained eucrite areas separated by black shock veins. Frankly, if this piece were mine (it is a consigned specimen) I’d cut it up as I think this thing would look (and likely sell) great in slices.
367.6 gram natural fragment/ individual – 80mm x 70mm x 40mm - $2000

SAINT SEVERIN, France: Ordinary chondrite (LL6). Fell June 27, 1966. Tkw = 271 kilograms.
I got these two pieces as extras along with a larger specimen that I needed for a lab that wants to do some research on this meteorite. Its been quite a few years since I have had a piece of this material and saw what looked to be some pretty silly high prices when I went about looking for the needed research piece. I managed to find someone that was willing to be reasonable so I got some extras for myself. These are two thin part slices that each has a natural edge (one of the shorter sides on the smaller piece and about 50% of the larger piece) but I wouldn’t call it “crust” (though some super fine secondary crust might be present). Neither of these is much to look at honestly. They have a fairly uniform medium gray color and only some hints of breccia texture (though the smaller piece does have a nice obvious lighter 7mm x 5mm clast in its center). Not beautiful, but rare stuff to come by these days (and these are from an ex Robert Haag specimen so I know they are real)..
a) 4.12 gram part slice – 37mm x 18mm x 2mm - $165
b) 5.23 gram part slice – 40mm x 20mm x 2mm - $210

TAMDAKHT, Morocco: Ordinary chondrite (H5). Fell December 20, 2008. Tkw = about 100 kilograms.
This is the witnessed fall where most of the pieces got broken up hitting rocks high in the Atlas Mountains. This 1/2 end piece (book-end cut) is no exception. Though this has fusion crust covering most of the back -side, most of the edges show fresh breaks. This has a few tiny hints of adhering dirt but no rust so this was an early recovered piece. The large cut face is very light gray (with a 14mm x 8mm lighter yet clast in the center) and shows lots of bright fresh metal. This specimen is in a neat plastic and glass display box that has a built in prop for sitting at an easy viewing angle.
12.8 gram ½ end piece – 36mm x 20mm x 9mm - $50