P.O. Box 1141, Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
brmeteorites@yahoo.com
LIST 252 - August 22, 2022
Dear Collectors
Here is the “other” list I mentioned I’d be doing when I sent out the last one. It got delayed for a number of reasons. It seems everyday lately I get tied up with some kind of new battle of one sort or another. I (more or less) finish one and a new one pops up.
DENVER SHOW:
Yep, this is coming waaay too soon for me. I am trying to get ready but having limited success. Anyway, this year it is September 9th through the 17th. I am at the same spot – Frisco meeting room on the west-side of the convention center at the Crowne Plaza (I-70 and Chambers road). I’ll be open 10 am (some days earlier) until - ?? I like to stay open later but the show folks have been locking the doors around 7pm (you can still reach me by going through the lobby doors). I’ll stay open as late (reasonably – no 1am or 2am nights) as people are visiting.
On to today’s list!:
FRANCONIA, Arizona: Ordinary chondrite (H5). Found October 31, 2002. Tkw = about 100kg.
Well somebody got quite the Halloween treat here. It was a meteorite hunter that just thought the area looked good for hunting (fairly level, lack of vegetation and natural rocks) and gave it a shot. Yep, he managed to stumble into one of the largest Arizona strewn fields currently known. I got these three pieces in Tucson this year from a metal-detector guy who found them himself many years ago (he couldn’t remember if it was 12 or 15 years). Anyway, all three of these are complete individuals. The two smaller have complete primary fusion crust coverage. The largest piece (the second largest Franconia piece I have ever had) looks like it is a “half stone” (about 60% primary crust and then about 40% “broken” surface). Well, the guy that found this found it in two pieces. He (rather poorly) glued the pieces together (I cleaned off a lot of the excess glue but plenty still remains). He did look for more pieces, recognizing that there was, obviously half missing. He found no further pieces. I know why. Careful inspection of the “broken” surface shows tiny areas of melted (crust) material. So, this “broken” area is actually an area of very light secondary fusion crust from this stone breaking very late in its fall.
a) 162.9gram complete individual – 47mm x 36mm x 35mm - $150
b) 409.4 gram complete individual – 60mm x 55mm x 50mm - $350
c) 913.6 gram individual ~40% secondary crust – 140mm x 60mm x 50mm - $700
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NWA (2995): Lunar: Feldspathic breccia. Found 2005. Tkw = 538 grams.
NWA (2995) was noted (and still is) as one of the very best looking Lunar meteorites. It has the classic white to light gray clasts in a medium gray background. Pieces of this meteorite have always commanded a premium because of this. I sold this to its current owner (it was a consigned specimen back then as it is now) back in January of 2016. This is a 3.08g complete slice that cost him $2200 at the time (this was priced at $4500 not a lot earlier). Wanting to put $ towards travel and other things (photography equipment I believe) he says “sell”. At this point, $1500 is being asked. Yes, high (per gram) when compared to other more recent lunar material but, by far, the cheapest I have seen a piece of this really pretty moon rock. Also, for history sake (?), included is the original invoice I sent with the piece when I sold it to him in 2016.
3.08 gram complete slice – 42mm x 30mm x 1mm - $1500
NWA (7983): Achondrite (Ureilite). Found 2012, Tkw = 424 grams.
I got these pieces in Tucson this year. They are nice thin pieces and clearly show the classic triple-junction crystallization texture typical for Ureilites (and Brachinites actually). These pieces are NOT polished. Another classic feature of ureilites is that they are often nearly impossible to cut and polish (so much so that slices of ureilites like these are very uncommon). To be honest, I never even tried to polish these. I have destroyed enough saw blades and sanding belts prepping other material lately, I really didn’t want to risk it. Part of this is a partially sanded/ polished slice looks terrible. It is kind of an all or nothing deal. Do ALL of it or don’t start. So, be ready to donate hours (a day or two) and lots of equipment (many, many silicon carbide sanding belts or more than $100 of diamond ones) or don’t begin. I chose the “don’t start” as I can see one side of the large slice here that the saw blade that cut it really struggled – indicating that this is NOT one of the (very rare) easy to polish ureilites. It turns out the Meteoritical Bulletin write-up or this says “diamonds ubiquitous” (means lots of them everywhere in this thing).Thankfully, each of these has at least one side (the smaller piece – both sides) where the cutting went pretty well – leaving an unpolished saw cut surface that is not distracting.
a) 10.3 gram part slice – 65mm x 30mm x 1.5mm - $200
b) 45.1 gram complete slice – 80mm x 70mm x 2mm - $800
PEEKSKILL, New York: Ordinary chondrite (H6). Fell October 9, 1992. Tkw = 12.57kg.
I remember making the mold of this meteorite. I had to apply a layer of latex (and occasional cheese cloth) like every 15 minutes. Nope, didn’t get much (any?) sleep that night. I flew back home (from northern Montana to Durango) when done, getting home quite late. Then another night of almost no sleep. It was back to the Durango (well, La Plata County if you want to be a stickler about names) airport around 5:30 or so the next morning for a ride to Germany. Anyway, the mold worked out really well so the meteorite was then cut. This is a part slice from that cutting. This slice does have a little bit of brown staining (mild oxidation) but clearly shows the classic breccia texture of this meteorite. Also classic for this fall that totaled a Chevy Malibu is super thick (like over 1mm thick) fusion crust (that all of us worried might peel off when the stone was removed from the mold I had made but, thankfully, didn’t). The longest side of this triangular shaped slice is a crusted edge showing this super thick crust. This comes in an Impactika membrane box but it is not in that box to show the piece better in the group photo.
2.90 gram part slice – 25mm x 11mm x 4mm - $1000
RED DEER HILL, Canada: Ordinary chondrite (L6). Found 1975. Tkw = 25kg.
Aside from Buzzard Coulee and White Court, I’ve had very few Canadian meteorites in recent years. I got these pieces from the same person I got the Peekskill listed above from. The smaller one has a Kansas Meteorite Society COA. The larger piece’s info is still missing (but being looked for). Regardless, the appearance and textures of both pieces are identical. This is NOT cheap for a chondrite find, admittedly, but pretty much any and all Canadian pieces I have offered (regardless of “cheapness”) have all sold very rapidly (and, usually, back to collectors in Canada). Each of these are in a membrane box but are not in these for the group photo to better show the specimens themselves. Both pieces are wedged in their cut, so the listed thickness is just something of a mid-range.
a) 2.46 gram part slice – 15mm x 14mm x 3.5mm - $75
b) 6.58 gram part slice – 25mm x 20mm x mm - $200
TULIA (a), Texas: Ordinary chondrite. (H5). Found 1917. Tkw = 78+kg.
This piece is from a REAL Tulia(a) specimen I have had tucked away for years. I say “real” as Tulia(a) has suffered something of an identity crisis most of its existence. The Dimmitt strewn field is quite close (just to the west). Back when ‘Tulia’ was studied, nobody had considered two different meteorite strewn fields could be that close together. As such, a (more commonly found, but found slightly further west) Dimmitt stone was studied and reported as Tulia. So, “officially”, most of the records have Tulia(a) as an H3/4. Nope, that is what Dimmitt is (well, even that is a bit different now. Dimmitt has been reclassified as an H3.8 I believe). The real Tulia is an H5 and shows a good amount of fresh metal (Dimmitt rarely shows any). Anyway, this is a guaranteed real sample of Tulia (a).
22.6 gram end piece- 40mm x 22mm x 12mm - $55
TULIA (b), Texas: Ordinary chondrite, (L6). Found 1917, recognized later. Tkw = 4.4+kg.
Now, just to show what a mess the Tulia meteorite area is, in addition to Dimmits getting mixed in, we have at least one L-chondrite(*) in the mix. A couple of pieces of “Tulia” were recovered and sitting in museum collections (Chicago Field Museum and British Museum). Nope, they weren’t “Tulia” actually, they were L-chondrites. I don’t know when this was finally realized, but it turned out that TCU had a couple as well. I managed to get a 1400 gram individual of this “new” meteorite from them (helping them identify it and keep a larger piece of the same material for their collection) years ago. This part slice is (likely my last) piece from that 1400g piece. This shows nice weathered fusion crust along 50% of its edges.
*- I have yet another L chondrite from the area. It is very fresh (nice fusion crust) and had lots of chondrules that looks certainly to be a type 4 (certainly NOT a 6). I spent the money years ago on it to have the chemistry run and found it has pretty much identical Faylite (iron in olivine) numbers as the known Tulia (b) L6. Despite this, I am absolutely CERTAIN it is a new meteorite (it has obviously been on the ground far less time than Plainview, which likely fell in 1903) but no way to “prove” it (and I have to little to try and report it as a new meteorite, unfortunately).
17.6 gram part slice – 38mm x 2mm x 7mm - $60
Shipping: For small US orders $5 is needed now. Rates have gone up yet more this year and now the cheapest I can send anything is right at $5. 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 $9 to $16 (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 $16 (Canada seems to be right around $14). I’ll have to custom quote any larger items/ orders (both local and overseas). Registration (recommended on more valuable overseas orders) is $16.
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.
17.6 gram part slice – 38mm x 2mm x 7mm - $60
Shipping: For small US orders $5 is needed now. Rates have gone up yet more this year and now the cheapest I can send anything is right at $5. 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 $9 to $16 (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 $16 (Canada seems to be right around $14). I’ll have to custom quote any larger items/ orders (both local and overseas). Registration (recommended on more valuable overseas orders) is $16.
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.
