Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 177

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 177

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

…………………………………………………..LIST 177

August 11, 2015

Dear collectors,

This was supposed to go out last week but I was to busy catching up from being gone for the Creede show (I just now got finished unpacking and putting things away from the show)– I had a pile of work waiting for me when I got home.

CHICO, New Mexico: (L6) impact melt. Found January 1954. Tkw = 105 kilograms.
Most of this large stone was typical (L6) material/ texture. However, about 1/3 of it had a weird slaggy look to it (super fine texture, rounded metal blebs, vesicles and a weird greenish gray color). Interestingly, I had a large (400g) piece of this in Tucson and quickly sold it. Luckily, I picked up a small bag of small part slices a day or so later. These are what I have here (I put them in the drawer at the show). These are all from the impact melt/ slaggy portion of this meteorite.
1) Part slices:
a) 2.5 grams – 22mm x 8mm x 5mm - $15
b) 5.6 grams – 28mm x 15mm x 5mm - $34
c) 11.1 grams – 37mm x 27mm x 5mm - $65
d) 18.0 grams – 37mm x 32mm x 5mm - $100

MOLDAVITE:
To be honest, this is certainly not a great looking piece. It clearly has some ancient fracturing and little in the way of surface texture/ etching. I suspect that this is a stream bed recovery. The one thing interesting about it though is its source. The previous owner got it from Science Graphics, which was Richard Norton. Unfortunately, no card came with it (but then I don’t recall any of the Science Graphics specimens in this collection having any labels with them).
4.1 gram fragment as found – 22mm x 17mm x 9mm - $25

NWA 6950: Lunar meteorite. Gabbro. Found June 2011. Tkw = 1649 grams.
I had slices of this meteorite on my January 2015 mailed list. I nearly sold out – only having a couple .25 to .5g pieces left after the orders died off from that mailing. Luckily, I was able to pick up more of this in Tucson. So, if you thought about ordering a piece off of that list but delayed or forgot, I now have pieces of most sizes available once again. These crumbs and fragments are from my preparing larger (4 or 5g) pieces into those smaller sizes. This is a capsule containing dust, crumbs and fragments. Certainly nothing super exciting, but certainly something that should be tossed aside.
.08 grams of dust crumbs and fragments in a capsule - $30

NWA 8159: Martian (augite basalt). Found 2013. Tkw = 149.5 grams.
Here is one that (despite what some may say) I discovered. It was in the “likely trash” pile of rocks that the owner had brought to my room in Denver 2013. We had few customers and lots of flooding (which was why we had few customers) so I willingly ran a bunch of interesting things on my XRF to help sort things out. I commented that this one was a meteorite as it showed obvious shock veins. Thankfully, the thing was cut open so I could run a cut surface (I generally don’t fully trust weathered surfaces as their chemistry can be pretty goofed up). I expected to see data for a eucrite come up (as that is pretty much what this looked like). However, the data (Fe/Mn ratio, P, etc.) came up as Martian! Obviously, a piece of this quickly got sent in for research. When that got done it turned out that not only was this a Martian, it was a NEW TYPE of Martian! I was promised a good piece of this. What I did get was a 2g block that I cut up and have already sold all of but these “pieces” here (if you want real specimens you’ll need to contact Eegooblago Meteorites. I think he is the only one with this material to sell). I am not certain what they are asking for this material at this point. It started at $5k/g went to $8159/g (matching its NWA number) and I was told (but did not look into it) it was now $10k/g. Really high on first glance, but I know a decent amount of “Black Beauty” (of which there is a whole lot more of) sold for this and higher.
a) .11g of powder salvaged from cutting of this material in a vial - $225

PHILIPPINITE: Rizalite. Tektite from the Philippine Islands.
This is another specimen that was part of a collection I bought over a year ago. It is also one I sold the previous owner back in 1989. The “card” the previous owner had with this had the note “Excellent grooving”. And it indeed does show this. A neat and quite rare specimen these days.
83.3 gram complete “individual” as found – 60mm x 40mm x 27mm - $115

TISSINT, Morocco: Martian (olivine-phyric shergottite). Fell July 18, 2011. Tkw = around 7 kilograms.
Here are a couple really fresh fragments that have really bright and shiny fusion crust covering about 1/3 of the specimen. I saw very little of this material available in Tucson this year and the prices were substantially higher than even what they were in Denver the September before. I guess this strewn field is already pretty much worked out. I also recall that there was some announcement concerning organics that might be associated with life were recently found in some pieces of this fall (I’m sure that did anything but make this stuff more affordable). Anyway, here is a chance to pick up a great little piece (or two).
1) Fragments with fusion crust:
a) .330 grams – 9mm x 5mm x 5mm - $300
b) .402 grams – 9mm x 6mm x 6mm - $360

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