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
