Showing posts with label SIKHOTE-ALIN. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SIKHOTE-ALIN. Show all posts

Friday 14 June 2024

Blaine Reed Meteorites for Sale- List 272 Large Sikhote-Alin Shrapnel 14JUN2024

Blaine Reed Meteorites for  Sale- List 272  Large Sikhote-Alin Shrapnel  14JUN2024

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

LIST 272 - June 14, 2024

Dear Collectors

  I have been tied up with all kinds of different issues, projects and planned travels.
So, what am I selling here: nicer LARGE Sikhote-Alin shrapnel pieces (wire-brushed):

Click on image to enlarge.

SIKHOTE – ALIN, Russia. Coarsest Octahedrite (IIAB). Fell February 12, 1947.
1) Wire brushed shrapnel fragments:
a) 282.0 grams – 60mm x 60mm x 25mm - $375 - PENDING- BUT ASK
b) 335.8 grams – 80mm x 50mm x 40mm - $435 - SOLD
c) 493.0 grams – 110mm x 40mm x 30mm - $650 (one 30mm x 20mm end fusion crusted) SOLD
d) 660.7 grams – 90mm x 70mm x 40mm - $825
e) 896.0 grams – 100mm x 60mm x 40mm - $1100 PENDING- BUT ASK

  These are pieces that I put into deep storage many, many years ago (like 30-plus years ago).
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Shipping:

US Shipping
: It does seem that I can, generally, send small orders (jewelry box in a padded envelope kind) for around $5 still This is by what they are now calling “Ground Advantage”. Though it is claimed to be going by trucks (and supposedly a couple days longer) I have found that things are getting to where they need to be pretty much the same time as the old “first class” used to. For things people prefer to send “Priority”, the costs are $10 for fairly small things (whatever can fit in a small flat-rate box) and around $17 for large things.

Overseas shipping: it does look like the “First Class” option still exists (thankfully, because most overseas small flat-rate costs are bumping up against $50 these days). Though I have not sent much this way, what research I have done seems to indicate that those small orders (jewelry box in padded envelope) are still around $15 or $16 to send. Obviously, I’ll have to custom quote shipping on larger items (as usual).

Monday 8 January 2024

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 270 - January 8, 2024

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

LIST 270 - January 8, 2024

Dear Collectors
  Happy New Year!

As usual, I’ll be in Tucson this year and at my usual spot (assuming no further plagues, disasters or such). I’ll be leaving home around January 22nd or 23rd . Timing of this is weather dependent (bad weather may force me to leave early). I likely won’t be back home until February 13th or 14th (again, weather dependent).

I’ll be in my usual room: Days Inn (665 N. Freeway, room 134). This is basically St. Mary’s and the interstate. I used to say “next door to Denney’s”. However, it seems that that restaurant burned to the ground this past summer so this “landmark”, is just a burnt hole in the ground. I may have my door open sometime late Thursday afternoon (Jan 25th) if things go smoothly. I certainly want to be open by Friday afternoon the 26th at the latest. I plan to stay to the end (February 10th is the last scheduled show day) though last year got so slow the last few days that I began to question my sanity for staying (for some reason, I didn’t have the coming to Tucson for the “Main Show” people I have had in other years).



SIKHOTE-ALIN, Russia: Iron. Coarsest octahedrite (IIB). Fell February 12, 1947.
Here (like many of the other things on this list) are some pieces I put aside decades ago. When this material first came out, it was all “natural” as found (and it was $10/gram!). Not long later, they all started getting wire-brushed. I have not seen a natural piece of this in a long time. I got these at some point not all that long after Sikhote first came available. I remember that I got these from Alan Lang but cannot remember exactly what the deal was (a trade of some sort I believe) that landed these in my hands. I kind of thought about holding these for yet more time as no more of this material is being found and sources are running low on material they had set back (price has been going up on these). Well, I like having some sort of iron on these offerings and I simply did not have anything else (nor could I scrounge up anything affordable from my various sources) I could put on this New Year offering. Again, these are in the as found, uncleaned (mostly light to medium brown color) condition. I do have some highly wire-brushed pieces available (around 50g to 130g) if that is what you prefer (and they are a little bit cheaper, actually).
1) Shrapnel fragments. Natural as found:
a) 36.1 grams - 40mm x 21mm x 13mm - $55
b) 72.6 grams - 38mm x 30mm x 17mm - $110
c) 132.0 grams - 60mm x 40mm x 25mm - $200
d) 271.1 grams - 70mm x 57mm x 25mm - $400
e) 373.8 grams - 98mm x 48mm x 23mm - $550 – only one this big.




DALGETY DOWNS, Australia: Ordinary chondrite (L4). Found 1941. Tkw = 473kg.
Here is a meteorite I have had for decades. This was on my 6 page “catalog” I’d mail out to people that would request one from a magazine ad (or two) I used to run. I have dropped those ads as they were somewhat expensive, brought me very few new “customers” (anyone who ended up buying a meteorite), fewer longer term collectors (very few) and LOTS of hand-holding (people that were really not at all certain that they really wanted a meteorite, trusted that what they got WAS really a meteorite and such). So, I decided to stick more with “advertising” methods that keep me (for the most part) dealing with people that already know and understand meteorites (I dropped the “catalog” thing) The info card for this meteorite is one I made pre word processor days (hand done on a typewriter). For the most part, this is a pretty meteorite. It has a good amount of fresh metal in a mottled light tan, brown to almost bluish in spots matrix. I don’t really see much in the way of Australian stone meteorites these days.
1) Slices:
a) 8.0 grams - 25mm x 23mm x 5mm - $28
b) 14.6 grams - 30mm x 28mm x 5mm - $50
c) 24.4 grams - 40mm x 32mm x 5mm - $80
d) 37.7 grams - 58mm x 42mm x 5mm - $120
2) End pieces/ cut fragments:
a) 25.7 grams - 38mm x 24mm x 16mm - $80
b) 47.2 grams - 55mm x 40mm x 11mm - $140
c) 87.8 grams - 40mm x 32mm x 32mm - $250




SHISR (033), Oman: Carbonaceous chondrite (CR). Found October 2002. Tkw = 1097.7 grams.
This is another item I had planned on holding for longer (and another item that I have had for around 20 years now). This has a couple interesting things going for it. First, it is one of only 14 meteorites worldwide classified as “CR” (not CR2, CR3….). All of those add up to only about 2244 grams. So, there is only a little more than 2.2kg of this meteorite type in the entire world! The other thing really special about this is that it has small clasts of C1 material scattered all through it. I was kind of thinking
that maybe I should hold onto it until research work is done on the Astreoid Bennau samples that returned a few months ago. IF some of that material matches up to these kind of inclusions, I suspect that there will be a substantial increase in people wanting that kind of material. Well, I guess I have Orguiel crumbs to satisfy that demand IF it comes to be. This material has the classic chondrule-rich texture and the yellow brown coloration of most of the CR2 meteorites I have been able to offer. It does have some fresh metal grains in it (but not a lot) and lacks the metal surrounding many chondrules in the CR2 type. Interesting and really rare material.
1) Slices:
a) .67 grams - 15mm x 7mm x 3mm - $35
b) 1.5 grams - 17mm x 13mm x 3mm - $75
c) 3.2 grams - 28mm x 14mm x 3mm - $160
d) 6.6 grams - 30mm x 27mm x 3mm - $325
e) 13.8 grams - 60mm x 40mm x 2mm - $650
f) 23.8 grams - 75mm x 48mm x 3mm - $1000




NWA (14188): Lunar meteorite. Baslatic breccia. Found 2021. Tkw = 260 grams.
Well, a good portion of the side of the moon that faces us is basalt rocks (the MARE, dark gray areas) but very few of those rocks seem to make it into our collections. I have had only a couple basaltic type lunar meteorites over the years: the really special (and expensive) NWA (032) and some gabbro (sub-surface crystalized basalt) that was a lot cheaper but pretty unimpressive visually (I think I still have a piece or two of that material around here somewhere). I did something of an internet search on this and found that A) there ain’t much of it available and B) what is available is quite pricey – like around $1800/g pricy! (and these were multi-gram sized pieces like 5g to 9g). In all fairness though, some of these past light through some of their areas (not a common thing for any meteorites except pallasites). Anyway, here is a chance for you to get a piece of actual lunar basalt. I don’t argue that this is expensive in comparison to some lunars (anorthositic) these days but still less than ½ the price of the pieces of this material I found in my search a few days ago. These will all be in a labeled plastic display box (not in the photo) when they are sent to you.
1) Slices:
a) .152 grams - 7mm x 6mm x 2mm - $135
b) .305 grams - 9mm x 6mm x 2mm - $265
c) .543 grams - 14mm x 10mm x 2mm - $465
d) .852 grams - 17mm x 9mm x 2mm - $700
e) 1.50 grams - 23mm x 16mm x 2mm - $1200



DARWIN GLASS: Tazmania, Australia.
These are another item that I have had set aside for a long time. Like the Sikhote-Alin above, I also got these pieces from Alan Lang. I was going to hold onto these for longer but, also like the Sikhote above, I simply did not have something Tektite or other different but meteorite related item to offer. These are the usual odd shaped, generally foggy light to dark green glass fragments available from this site over the years (though not so often seen these days). It is believed that this glass was formed when the nearby 1km diameter Mt. Darwin crater was formed around 700,000 years ago. Initially, it was believed to be a tektite and was listed as such at one time. I don’t have a whole lot of this material remaining, unfortunately. A year or so ago, I had someone tell me they would sell me a “bunch” of this at a “great price” Turned out, they didn’t really have much (couple hundred grams maybe) and their “great price” was only great for them (they wanted something like $3/g from me for it).
1) Natural fragments as found:
a) 1.8 grams - 13mm x 11mm x 10mm - $7
b) 3.5 grams - 25mm x 14mm x 8mm - $12
c) 6.2 grams - 37mm x 13mm x 9mm - $20
d) 8.8 grams - 25mm x 20mm x 18mm - $28
e) 11.2 grams - 30mm x 18mm x 15mm - $35

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Shipping:
US Shipping: It does seem that I can, generally, send small orders (jewelry box in a padded envelope kind) for around $5 still. This is by what they are now calling “Ground Advantage”. Though it is claimed to be going by trucks (and supposedly a couple days longer) I have found that things are getting to where they need to be pretty much the same time as the old “first class” used to. For things people prefer to send “Priority”, the costs are $10 for fairly small things (whatever can fit in a small flat-rate box) and around $17 for large things (things that need a medium flat-rate box).

For overseas shipping, it does look like the “First Class” option still exists (thankfully, because most overseas small flat-rate costs are bumping up against $50 these days). Though I have not sent much this way, what research I have done seems to indicate that those small orders (jewelry box in padded envelope) are still around $15 or $16 to send. Obviously, I’ll have to custom quote shipping on larger items (as usual).

Saturday 6 March 2021

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 242

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

LIST 242 - March, 4, 2021

Dear Collectors,
I am going to do this offering a bit different than usual as I have more pieces of one particular meteorite than usual. I would have normally held these back and put them on one of my three times a year larger catalogs but I had fusion crusted Sikhote-Alins on one of those not all the long ago (and sold most of them fairly quickly as they were oriented specimens). I got these pieces as part of a large collection (9 beer-flats full) of mostly small specimens (most to small to mess with listing here. They will most likely end up in a big “bargain tub” at the various shows when we are able to have those again). I had several different qualities of material and a good number of pieces in each quality level. So, I decided here to break the specimens apart into different quality levels, list a price per gram for the specimens in that batch and then simply list the weights (from left to right in the photos). This way I was able to put many more specimens in the photos and offer a wider selection of pieces that everyone could see (and I still have some nice “duplicates” to some of the pieces I did photo). So here are the break-downs of groups:

GROUP “a” are ones that were likely quite late recoveries (things that were found much more recently than many would care to admit) that have also possibly been harshly cleaned because of this (some of the recent finds were starting to look pretty rough). These still have some fusion crust and have the sculpted shape for the most part. I have priced these for about the same as I would price similar sized shrapnel fragments at shows these days.

GROUP “b” are ones that have quite a lot of fusion crust and good sculpting but they (in my opinion) have been over cleaned at some point in the past. Not terribly so, but their crust does tend to be thinner and shinier (from brushing and oiling). These are the kind of things I come across most commonly at shows (so, not atypical for the usual fusion crusted Sikhote-Alins offered).

GROUP “c” are better pieces. These have better crust (not harshly cleaned though some have had some cleaning work and oiling done to them) and better shapes. These are the pieces that likely were fairly early finds (or trades out of museums) and generally (on the larger pieces in particular) show some really nice flow-lines (though I don’t know if those will turn up worth a darn in a photo the size that is allowed for me to send out through this new system). A number of these piece also show orientation to one degree or another (some quite clearly). I have priced these at what I would normally ask on typical Sikhote-Alin specimens at a show (which is also about the same as what the folks that are/ were the sources for these ask for them).

GROUP “d” is a one specimen. This one is probably the most interesting Sikhote-Alin specimen I’ve had in years. It looks to be a nice oriented specimen but it also has had some kind of inclusion (shriebersite/ cohenite) burned out of it – forming a nice long tunnel through a large length of the piece. A really cool piece that I suspect I’ll soon find that I under priced it.

Now, on to the offering:

A note on the photos below: I know these are a bit cluttered and they likely came though on your e-mail as quite small. I do have the somewhat larger original pictures that were used to create this offering. If you are interested enough to want and see larger photos of these pieces I'll email you them directly, just ask.

SIKHOTE-ALIN, Russia: Coarsest octahedrite (IIAB). Fell February 12, 1947.
These are all “fusion crusted” individuals that I got as part of a large collection I purchased fairly recently. They are broken down into quality groups. Each group has a price per gram for specimens in that particular quality level. The weights of the specimens are in order the same as in the photo from left to right (smallest/ lightest specimen on the left, largest on the right).

a): Specimens that were later finds, had more original rust and have been quite heavily cleaned:
Price = $1.25/g
Weights of specimens in photos: 16.7g, 20.3g, 22.7g, 34.1g, 52.4g, 63.5g, 99.9g

b): Specimens that have good crust coverage but have had some cleaning work that my have diminished some features:
Price = $2.25/g
Weights of specimens in photos: 4.8g, 9.9g, 11.4g, 17.5g, 26.4g, 37.8g, 44.8g

c): Specimens that have good crust with good features (flow lines, better sculpting, some orientation, etc).
Price = $3.00/g

d): A wonderful crusted/ oriented specimen that has a long natural hole burned through it:
62.3g – 40mm x 20mm x 18mm - $600

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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 $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 (Canada seems to be right around $11). 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.

Tuesday 7 January 2020

Blaine Reed Meteorites for Sale - List 234

Blaine Reed Meteorites for Sale - List 234

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

LIST 234
January, 7th, 2020

Dear Collectors,

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Here is the e-mail version of my recently mailed list. With the Yahoo groups changes I can now attach photos to my offerings (though there is now no “archives” anymore. You will have to go to blaine-reed-meteorites.blogspot.com to see older posts) I didn’t do that in this case as there are 8 photos that go with this offering. So, rather than loading everyone up with a bunch of photos that they may not really have much interest in, I will just ask people that are interested in seeing a particular listed item’s group photo (or several of them) e-mail me and I’ll send you the one(s) you ask for.

TUCSON SHOW INFO: I will be on the road from January 28th until around February 19th. For the show itself, I will be in my usual spot: Days Inn (formerly Ramada Limited) - 665 N. Freeway, Tucson. I’ll be in my usual spot (room 134). I should be open by mid to late morning Saturday February 1st. I likely will indeed stay through the bitter end – February 15th will be the last day. I open the door most days at 10AM. I will have the door open most evenings until around 9:30pm or so (later if people are visiting/ still wandering about) but there may be a couple nights I will be out for dinner or such for a couple hours but that should be a rare event.
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Sikote-Alin
Click on images to enlarge.
SIKHOTE-ALIN, Russia: Iron. Coarsest octahedrite (IIB). Fell February 12, 1947.
These are all (obviously) fusion crusted individuals. I picked up a couple oriented pieces in a collection I bought recently. I tied these together with the few oriented pieces I had in my stuff to make an offering. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a lot to offer so these are all “one of a kind” pieces (though I do have a few “in between” sizes available in addition to these listed specimens). I hesitate to offer “one of a kind” things like this on these “mailed” catalogs but then I have had a pretty hard time coming up with any quantity of new irons (at reasonable prices anyway) to put on these lists lately (I like to have some kind of iron on each one if at all possible). I also figured that many of you already have samples of this meteorite so there may not be all that many collectors looking to buy another specimen, even if it is oriented.
1) Oriented, complete fusion crusted individuals:
a) 8.7 grams - 20mm x 15mm x 7mm - $35 – not in group photo
b) 20.6 grams - 28mm x 17mm x 10mm - $82
c) 48.9 grams - 45mm x 25mm x 15mm - sold
d) 76.9 grams - 35mm x 30mm x 17mm - $305
e) 128.4 grams - 60mm x 30mm x 19mm - sold
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Buzzard Coulee
Click on image to enlarge.

BUZZARD COULEE
, Canada: Ordinary chondrite (H4). Fell November 20, 2008. Tkw = about 41kg.
Here are some nice little complete individuals I had set aside some time ago. I re-discovered these while doing inventory work a couple weeks ago. I believe that these were not (for the most part) picked up right after the fall but their recovery could not have been to long after as these are all nice, fresh and black showing only the tinniest amounts of hints of oxidation (that could have been from storage in a not so dry climate since they were picked up). I don’t have a lot of these (only around 50g total – including a number of pieces that have areas of chipping and/or secondary crust) so don’t wait to long to order one of these if you want to add this name to your collection.
1) Complete, quite fresh individuals:
a) 1.5 grams - 15mm x 9mm x 4mm - $22 – not in group photo (but similar)
b) 2.0 grams - 13mm x 10mm x 10mm - $30
c) 2.8 grams - 14mm x 11mm x 11mm - $42
d) 3.8 grams - 24mm x 11mm x 7mm - sold
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NWA 10809
Click on image to enlarge.
NWA (10809): Ordinary chondrite. (L4), S2, W2. Found 2016. Tkw = 384 grams.
This stone was purchased in Temara, Morocco in May of 2016. This is actually pretty nice stuff. I can see why this was submitted for research work, it does indeed have the look of a type 3. The research description has this described as “well-formed, fairly closely-packed chondrules within a sparse matrix containing altered metal. Well, looking at the slices I got from cutting this up, I can certainly see the “well-formed chondrules” and it does look like there isn’t a lot of matrix in this meteorite. However, I am not certain about the “altered metal” part. I see quite a lot of fresh metal grains all through this. However, there is some brown staining which is likely indeed from altered metal. This is quite fresh looking material none the less.
1) Slices:
a) 7.2 grams - 28mm x 21mm x 4mm - $12
b) 15.7 grams - 50mm x 30mm x 4mm - $24 – complete slice.
c) 27.3 grams - 60mm x 45mm x 4mm - $40 – complete slice.
2) End piece:
a) 95.3 grams - 58mm x 45mm x 18mm - sold
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Richfield, KS
click on image to enlarge
RICHFIELD, Kansas: Ordinary chondrite (LL3.7). Found 1983. Tkw = 41kg.
Now here is a blast from the past. I owned the whole thing and managed to sell all but a few small slices (listed here) that I re-discovered while doing inventory work a couple weeks ago. Richfield was of interest to some scientists as it is a regolith breccia from the surface of the LL parent body. This meteorite is fairly dark so it does not show its chondrules real clearly (actually, these show up better on the unpolished backside of these pieces). This darkening (often as a dark green or reddish brown) is from solar wind implanted gasses in the meteorite. Of the original 41 kilograms, I have only around 200g left.
1) Part slices:
a) .95 grams - 14mm x 7mm x 3mm - $13
b) 1.8 grams - 15mm x 12mm x 3mm - $24
c) 4.0 grams - 34mm x 15mm x 3mm - $53
d) 8.9 grams - 48mm x 24mm x 3mm - $115
e) 14.0 grams - 48mm x 30mm x 3mm - $175
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NWA 12013
Click on image to enlarge.
NWA (12013), Carbonaceous chondrite. (CV3). Found before Feb. 2018. Tkw = 332.1 grams.
This was certainly recognizable as a carbonaceous chondrite when I got it, it was just a bit of a question as to exactly what kind. This did have the look of a CV but it did have a LOT of matrix and chondrules that looked very CK like on the exterior. So, I was hoping that this might end up being a CK3. Unfortunately, that was not to be. This ended up being a CV3, all be it one with a very high amount of matrix (around 50% of the meteorite). Still looks like a cross between a CK and a CV, but then the two do seem to be closely related (I believe scientists are still arguing over whether or not they are from the same parent body).
1) Slices:
a) 1.4 grams - 20mm x 12mm x 3mm - $17
b) 2.8 grams - 19mm x 17mm x 3mm - $34
c) 5.1 grams - 32mm x 22mm x 3mm - $60
d) 10.2 grams - 40mm x 30mm x 3mm - $115
e) 21.2 grams - 75mm x 35mm x 4mm - $235 – complete slice.
2) Main mass: 55.5 gram end piece – 70mm x 40mm x 12mm - $500.00
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NWA 5363
Click on image to enlarge.
NWA (5363): Achondrite (brachinite-like, ungrouped). Found 2008. Tkw = about 9.7kg.
This is paired to the more famous NWA (5400). The Tkw above is actually the rough total for all the pairings that have been currently reported of this interesting material. Though its composition and structure are very similar to the olivine-rich (and quite rare) brachinites, this is the only known meteorite that has Oxygen, Chromium and Nickel isotopic composition identical to Earth. Because of this, it was originally thought that this meteorite might represent a piece of the very early Earth, or at least some of the primordial reservoir material that later formed the Earth. However, later work showed that Ca, Ti, Mo and Ru contents in this meteorite are far too different for this to be likely possible.
1) Slices:
a) .42 grams - 10mm x 6mm x 2mm - $15
b) .92 grams - 14mm x 11mm x 2mm - $33
c) 1.6 grams - 20mm x 14mm x 2mm - $56
d) 3.8 grams - 30mm x 15mm x 3mm - $125
e) 7.1 grams - 38mm x 30mm x 2mm - $230 – only one this size.
f) 14.2 grams - 67mm x 37mm x 2mm - $450 – only one this size.
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Philippinites
Click on image to enlarge.
PHILIPPINITES: Tektites from the Philippine Islands.
It has been many, many (like 30) years since I have acquired a batch of these things. Oh, I have had the occasional piece pass through my hands from time to time but never in any sizable quantity. Through special circumstances, I recently picked up several kilos of these interesting tektites. Most of these are the typical round, flattened round shape, though a few (mainly the smaller pieces) are elongate. I hand picked the pieces on this list to have more of the grooving than the bulk of what I got. These are not like the deep, deep grooved Rizalites but they do show nice grooving none the less. I have priced these better pieces at only a tiny bit above what I have been getting out of smaller/ plainer Philippinites over the years (ask for pricing on the pieces I would call more “regular” if you need larger quantities cheaper or simply want a cheaper Philippinite for your collection). All of these are natural shaped but, given how bright and shiny most of these are, I suspect that they have been (nicely) cleaned at some point before I got them.
1) Individuals:
a) 11.0 grams - 32mm x 17mm x 13mm - $7
b) 21.9 grams - 27mm x 28mm x 19mm - $13
c) 33.4 grams - 32mm x 30mm x 23mm - $20
d) 44.7 grams - 47mm x 27mm x 20mm - $26
e) 57.5 grams - 35mm x 36mm x 30mm - $32 – not in group photo.
f) 63.7 grams - 39mm x 36mm x 33mm - $35 – not in group photo.

Please note:
Shipping: For small US orders $4 is OK for now. Larger orders are now $14 (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). 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. How ever, for overseas orders, it probably is best to go ahead and use my brmeteorites@yahoo.com e-mail.

Tuesday 19 March 2019

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale - LIST 223 RHOR COLLECTION: Part 2, vol. 2

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487 
                            LIST 223

March 19, 2019

RHOR COLLECTION: Part 2, vol. 2
                                                                                                                               BASSIKOUNOU, Mauritania: Ordinary chondrite (H5). Fell October 16, 2006. Tkw = 100+ kg.
This is a piece that was very obviously picked up right after the fall. It has super fresh black fusion crust. This isn’t an item I can call a complete individual as it does have a large (52mm x 22mm) fresh break. I can’t see any signs of fusion crust on the break or any crust roll-over on the edges so I suspect this is an impact with the ground break. The remainder of the stone is around 2/3 primary crust and 1/3 secondary crust the covers about ½ of the 42mm x 20mm late atmospheric break. A nice fresh specimen that has a neat story to tell. This comes with a metal stand up on its own meteoritelabels.com label.
    72.6 gram ½+ individual – 55mm x 25mm x 23mm - $350

BONDOC, Philippines: Stony-iron (Mesosiderite). Found 1956. Tkw = 888.6 kilograms.
 Nininger was the one that brought this meteorite to light. It was fond in the jungle and probably recognized mostly due to its large size. This is an end piece/ cut fragment of a silicate nodule from this meteorite. I don’t see any fresh metal hiding amongst the silicates but this does attract a magnet fairly well. This comes with a Michael Cottingham Meteorite Collection label.
    40.5 gram end piece of silicate nodule – 47mm x 30mm x 15mm - $150

ESQUEL, Argentina: Stony-iron (Pallasite). Found 1951. Tkw = 755kg.
This is actually a really nice part slice that passes light through pretty much all of its crystals but a few small ones in one cluster. I actually offerd this one last year but have decided to offer it at a new lower price (everyone tells me how they are “getting” $30, $40, $50/g out of their Esquel but I have never been able to do it). This is in a membrane box (though I have taken it out for the group photo), comes with a metal meteoritelabels.com label as well as a Southern Minerals Meteorites & Fossils paper label.
    38.5 gram part slice – 90mm x 50mm x 2mm - $1000

GIBEON, Namibia: Iron. Fine octahedrite (IVA). Found 1836.
This is a nice complete individual. For the most part, it looks to be pretty much as found (nice orange brown to chocolate brown) but may have had a light brushing in the past (it has a hint of shininess). I haven’t seen a small compete piece of Gibeon in quite a long time. I am surprised that this didn’t sell (the Chinese seem to be buying up all the Gibeon they can find) but then it was kind of lost in the display case full of more rare, collector type specimens. 
    40.7 gram complete natural individual – 55mm x 25mm x 8mm - $100

NWA (2696): HED. (Howardite). Found 2004. Tkw = 6.5 kilograms.
This is a part slice that Linton got from Michael Cottingham (it comes with a Cottingham Meteorite Collection label). It is a fairly typical howrdite (nothing special). It looks quite similar to the NWA (1929) pieces I have in color and texture but seems to have more and smaller breccia fragments. About 50% of the edge is natural/ crusted and the remainder are cut. This is in a 2” x 2” plastic display box:
    7.04gram part slice – 28mm x 22mm x 5mm - $100

NORTON COUNTY, Kansas: Enstatite achondrite (Aubrite). Fell ebruary 18, 1948. 
This is a fragment the Linton bought from me (and I had it on consignment from someone else) as the writing on the UNM Institute of Meteoritics label looks to be mine (I got a number of blank labels that I needed to fill in weight, name, and specimen number (this has a UNM painted catalog number on it) with the specimens back then). What is really neat about this piece is that a lot of fragments (likely low-iron olivine) really light up bright yellow under my filtered UV light (the Convoy S2 I seem to misplaced but now, thanks to John Kashuba, have a Torcia 365 (365nm wavelength) light. I am fairly certain that this will sell quickly. For those of you that want a piece of Norton that shows this fluorescence, fear not, I do have an assortment of pieces I just picked up of somewhat similar sizes for $30/g).
    7.2 gram fragment that fluoresces – 25mm x 15mm x 14mm - $200

TAZA (NWA 859): Iron. Plessitic octahedrite (ungrouped). Found 2001.
This is a complete individual that has some adhering dirt and caliche but generally shows much nicer fusion crust than most Taza pieces this size do. What flow lines are present are weak but one point has a kind of bullet-head look to it so this specimen spent at least some time with this point forward during its fall. This comes with a “Meteorite Madness” (Bob Cucciara) label.
    27.9 gram natural, crusted individual – 25mm x 20mm x 12mm - $170

SIKHOTE-ALIN, Russia: Iron. Coarsest octahedrite (IIB). Fell February 12, 1947.
I have two nice fusion crusted pieces to offer here. The smaller piece (22.0g) has a nice sculpted, fine thumb-printed shape. Its crust looks pristine original (does not look to have been brushed, chemically cleaned, gun blued, etc) as well. The larger piece is blocky (likely a single kamacite plate that broke free during the fall) and has the classic bullet-head shape. The crust on this looks pretty original on this as well, though a tiny hint of shininess might mean that this has been (very lightly) brushed at some point in the past. I don’t see flow lines on this piece but the shape clearly shows that it was oriented for a substantial part of its fall. This larger piece comes with a metal meteoritelabels.com label.
a) 22.0 gram nice sculpted individual – 32mm x 18mm x 18mm - $100
b) 53.5 gram oriented individual – 35mm x 20mm x 15mm - $200 

Tuesday 12 June 2018

Blaine Reed Meteorites for Sale- List 216--Rohr collection part 5

Blaine Reed Meteorites for Sale- List 216-- Rohr collection part 5

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

LIST 216

June 12, 2018

Dear collectors,

Here is the fifth Rohr collection offering. This was supposed to go out last week, but I needed to go to Denver Wednesday and figured it best not to send out a list and have only one day to be here to respond/ pack orders (though I got delayed and actually ended up leaving Thursday). Any offerings I send out the next month or so may end up being on an abnormal schedule (I originally planned to have lists, assuming I had something to offer, go out the first and third Tuesday of each month so folks would have some idea when to look for them). Linda’s mom (my mother in law) went into assisted living last Tuesday. It seems that as I know how to clean up/ out a house full of stuff (had to do this for my mom, aunt and uncle) the bulk of the cleanup work is on my shoulders. So, I will be going to Denver off and on the next month or so going through the process of cleanup, hauling trash, setting up and running estate sales in hopes to get the house on the market as soon as possible. This is a difficult, tedious and sometimes very dirty (as was the case this past weekend when I cleaned out the back patio, garage and storage sheds) job, but I have been in this rodeo a number of times before and know how to handle it. I have no set schedule for all of this but will try to leave an answering machine message for those of you that call letting you know when I am gone and when I expect to back. As far as e-mail is concerned – Nope, I won’t have any while on the road doing this job, unfortunately. Not only will I not have the time (I am averaging 12 to 14 hour work days in this job), the phone and associated internet service has already been shut off at the house (already transferred to Linda’s mom’s new place).


CAMEL DONGA, Australia: HED achondrite (Eucrite). Found January 1984. Tkw = about 30 kilograms.
I remember when pieces of this first came out. Wow – they had really fresh and super shiny black crust. This is a “find” so we don’t know when it fell but I’d guess that it was very, very close to when it was found. I say this because the pieces of this meteorite that came to market quickly started showing weathering (this meteorite does have sometimes large nodules of fresh iron in it). Specimens that were coming out just a year or two after its first recover were already showing a little bit of yellow dirt staining and loss of shiny areas of the crust. A few more years down the road and some piece were looking pretty bad. This piece is not one that was part of the first recoveries, but it is close. This does have some very minor dirt staining and a couple small areas where the crust has dulled a bit, but not much. Overall, this is still a very nice little shiny crusted complete eucrite specimen. This also comes with an IMPACTIKA label (that had this priced at $175 and then lowered to $150).
5.06 gram complete crusted individual – 18mm x 15mm x 8mm - $100

CANYAO DIABLO, Arizona: Coarse octahedrite (IAB). Found 1891.
Here is another (the last, actually) of the really neat thin/ sculpted Canyon Diablo pieces Linton had. I am not uncertain that this was the thinnest (overall) of all the specimens. A neat piece that really looks like it was formed by someone playing with clay. This has been wire-brushed but probably could use a light touch-up (I have left it as I got it). This comes with a Linton Rohr Collection label.
69.2 gram thin/sculpted individual – 55mm x 40mm x 10mm - $70

DHOFAR (373), Oman: Ordinary chondrite (H6). Found October 8, 2000. Tkw = 383 grams.
This is an end that, though highly wind-polished, has a nice, rounded shape to the back-side (so this is NOT a broken fragment). The interior is the usual Oman meteorite find mottled medium to dark brown interior but it does still show a moderate amount of fresh metal flakes scattered throughout (less common for these Dhofar things). Most of the weathered Dhofar stones I have had over the years are L5 or L6 things, this is distinctly different as it is an H6. The best part about this stone is that it represents a bit more than 1/3rd of the whole piece that was classified under this number. I am not going to say that there aren’t other pieces that would pair to this, but at least this stone was obviously an individual and not just a fragment of a larger piece that had different Dhofar numbers assigned to it (though I really have not noticed this problem as much with the Oman stuff as with the “Sahara” and NWA material). A decent little display piece and possibly the “Main Mass” if much of any of the rest of the stone was cut into slices. This comes with a “Sergey Vasiliev Meteorites” label.
135.6 grams end piece – 57mm x 38mm x 22mm - $185

NWA (1664): HED achondrite (Howardite). Found 2002. Tkw = 6310 grams.
Now this is a fresh howardite! This has lots of different colored (mostly small – a few mm or so) fragments (white, gray, black, tan and even some nice bright green glassy spots) in a very light gray matrix. This has two labels with it. One is a “the Lintonius Collection” and another (likely the original one that Linton got with the specimen) that touts this meteorite to be “Unique” having KREEP and chondrule like glasses up to 1cm. This piece is a roughly square thin slice (so no natural edge that would have likely been coated with fresh black crust) in a 2” x 2” plastic display box.
4.5 gram slice – 29mm x 27mm x 2mm - $70

NWA (7045): Stony-iron (Pallasite). Found 2011.
Well, the Big Kahuna label that comes with this piece has it as “NWA x (unclassified)” but I fully recognize this material. I had a fair amount of it (and likely still have a small bag of it in storage somewhere) a few years ago. This was the NWA pallasite that had somehow (like Huckitta, Australia) managed to have all of its metal converted to magnetite and hematite without completely blowing itself apart. So, like Huckitta, this nice little end piece shows a number of nice (quite large) olivine crystals in a dark blue-gray matrix of magnetite and hematite. As mentioned above, the Big Kahuna label has this “unclassified” so I am putting in one of my NWA (7045) labels to go with this.
13.2 gram end piece – 35mm x 20mm x 8mm - $40

SIKHOTE-ALIN, Russia: Coarsest octahedrite (IIAB). Fell February 12, 1947.
This is a fusion crusted individual that has been cleaned. It has not been super harshly cleaned – as some of the material I have seen available lately for “bargain” ($2.50/g and under) pieces of this stuff. This piece still has a fair amount of actual fusion crust patches on 2/3rds of its surface (one side seems to be missing this). Anyway, a good but not great individual (and priced accordingly).
64.6 gram thumb-printed individual – 30mm x 27mm x 20mm - $145

WILLAMETTE, Oregon: Medium octahedrite (IIIAB). Found 1902. Tkw = 14,100kg.
This, unfortunately, is not the real iron portion of this meteorite but 4 small pieces of the exterior shale. Years ago, I used to get pieces of this from time to time, but have not seen any available in a long time. This “specimen” consists of four roughly equal sized pieces (around 1cm each). No label came with these (they look completely proper to me) – they were just in a clear bag with “Willamette, 2g, #220681” written with a black sharpie on it.
2.2 grams – 4 pieces - $30

Tuesday 8 May 2018

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale - List 215 Linton Rohr Collection Part 4

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale - List 215
Linton Rohr Collection Part 4

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487                                                                                                                              
                            LIST 215

May 8, 2018

Dear collectors,

Here is the fourth Rohr collection offering.

CHELYABINSK, Russia: (LL5). Fell February 15, 2013.
This is a nice complete and fresh individual. It is pretty obvious that this was picked up early after the fall. Aside from a tiny (about 1mm x 1mm) late flight chip, this stone is completely covered in thick primary fusion crust. The photo of this might show some crust coloration that looks like rusting – dark reddish brown areas. This may indeed be oxidation BUT it formed during the fall and NOT from later weathering on the ground after the fall. This is not uncommon on fresh Chelyabinsk specimens. I have also seen this on Allende specimens but not all that many other meteorites. This also has an interesting 2mm x 2mm metal nugget poking out of the surface. A great fresh piece (that Linton probably paid a big premium for as he undoubtedly got this soon after the fall) that is in a labeled membrane box.
    10.3 gram fresh complete individual – 25mm x 16mm x 15mm -  SOLD
But I have others- contact me.



GIBEON, Namibia: Fine octahedrite (IVA). Found 1836.
This is a small complete individual that has been wire-brushed moderately. It has an overall dark brownish black color but there are some areas of original exterior (dark orange as I believe that this has also been oiled at some point) showing that this specimen is indeed a small Gibeon. Gibeons of all sizes have become very much in demand and prices have increased to quite surprising levels lately. This also comes with a Linton Rohr collection label.
    18.1 grams – 32mm x 15mm x 11mm - SOLD 

NWA (unstudied):
This is an assortment of 10 relatively fresh and mostly complete stones. One piece (the largest) looks like it could be NWA (869) but I am not going to cut it to find out. The others have a bit of a different look to them. Regardless, these would be great for people that have customers for small things or as gifts for people that just want to own a nice small stone meteorite.
    52.5g lot of 10 stones - SOLD 
But I have others- contact me.

NWA (2871): Primitive achondrite (Lodranite). Found 2004. Tkw = 3500+ grams.
This is a specimen that Linton got from me years ago and likely at a much higher price. I think I pretty much sold out of this stuff at nearly $70/g back when I had a good amount of it (I think I might have a couple small piece in my inventory somewhere). This is an end piece/ cut fragment that shows a granular/ crystalline texture on both the cut surface and the natural exterior.
    3.74 gram end piece – 20mm x 20mm x 5mm - SOLD 
But I have others- contact me.

NWA (4502): Carbonaceous chondrite (CV3). Found 2008. Tkw = about 35 kilograms.
This is another piece that Linton got from me years ago. It is an end piece that shows a nice smooth (wind-polished), rounded back side so this is not a broken fragment but likely a true ½ of an individual. The interior is dark, as is usual for this particular meteorite, but lots of (oblong) chondrules are visible on close inspection. This is an unusual CV meteorite in that it shows quite strong attraction to a magnet. Because of this, this material was first believed to be more likely a weathered CR meteorite before research work was done to sort out the issue.
    24.5 gram end piece – 55mm x 20mm x 10mm - SOLD
But I have others- contact me.

OUM DREGA, Western Sahara: (H3-5). Fell October 16, 2003. Tkw = around 17kilograms.
I kind of forgot about this stuff. Pieces of it were not available for very long. I know I have had it and sold it in the past, but never got enough of this meteorite to have much of it in inventory (unlike Chergach and Bassikounou which are my go-to fresh fall affordable stones in my inventory). This is technically a complete individual, though it looks like it has an end (20mm x 11mm) fractured off of it. This end, however, does show small spots of fusion crust formed on some of the higher spots so this “fracture” is really an area of very light secondary crust. The remainder of the stone is covered by nice thick black primary crust. This piece comes with a Hupe collection label that lists the name as “Amgala” – which is what this material was being called before the research work and reporting were completely done.
    15.0 gram complete individual – 30mm x 18mm x 14mm - $80

SIKHOTE-ALIN, Russia: Coarsest octahedrite (IIAB). Fell February 12, 1947.
This is an interesting piece. At first glance, it looks like a pretty typical but blocky shrapnel fragment. However, on closer inspection, it has smooth areas that look like they were fusion crusted/ thumb-printed surfaces (unfortunately, this has been wire brushed so any actual fusion crust on these areas is now gone). So, it seems that this specimen is more likely a “half-breed”- a piece that is indeed a shrapnel fragment but yet still has some of the sculpted surface that was on the exterior of the original meteorite mass before it got ripped apart in hitting the ground. I have seen some of these type things in the past but they are fairly rare. This comes with a Rohr collection label.
    90.8 gram half-breed – 30mm x 30mm x 20mm - SOLD

Tuesday 6 March 2018

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 211

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 211

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487                                                                                                                               
                            LIST 211

March 6, 2018

Dear collectors,

Here is only my second list this year. This list is made up of the more special (and pricier) items that I picked up from Linton Rohr’s widow (Karen). For those of you that don’t know him, Linton was a super nice, friendly guy that was always a joy to see at the shows. Unfortunately, he had ALS (Lou Gerhig’s disease). He managed to hold up pretty well for a number of years (though his declines were somewhat noticeable from year to year, but then that is all I saw him generally - once a year). For people like him, we all hope for a miraculous unexplainable recovery or a sudden announcement of news of a new cure. Unfortunately, neither was to be and he passed from the disease a couple years ago. Sad news that I only got myself several months ago. I was asked to catalog/ organize the collection he left behind. This I did on a rather enjoyable long weekend trip Linda and I made to Torrey, Utah (about as close to the middle of nowhere as you can get) in January not long before I headed off to Tucson. Anyway, the next several (lists/ months of lists) will be pieces from Linton’s collection (though there might be a couple additional items thrown in that I need to deal with sooner). Here are the more premier pieces from the first batch of material I picked up.

As with the past few offerings  have a group photo of these things available in the group archives (I am going to try to do this for all of my future lists) or I can e-mail you the photo directly if needed. As the Gujba turned out horrible in the group photo I have a close-up picture of it on its own.
List 211 Offerings (click to enlarge)

ENSISHEIM, France: Ordinary chondrite (LL6). Fell November 16, 1492. Tkw = 127kg.
I have not had a piece of this for a long time. Heck, I think I even sold my personal piece some years ago (but at that time I think I got closer to $2k/g for the thing). For many years, this was considered to be the first witnessed fall known to science. Since then, I think there have been several other contenders for oldest fall (I recall one from Japan ) but I am not sure how well documented those are (Ensisheim was certainly well documented). This is a small slice. It comes with several labels, but only one (Mile High Meteorites – Matt Morgan) has a name on it.
    .38gram slice – 10mm x 5mm x 3.5mm - $380

ESQUEL, Argentina: Stony-iron (Pallasite). Found before 1951. Tkw = 755 kilograms.
This is a really nice piece. Though it has two cut edges, it looks to be a complete slice at first glance. This shows a wide range of crystal sizes and colors and nearly all of them pass light! The smaller ones (around 5mm to 1cm or so) are generally really clear and quite obviously green in color. The larger crystals/ crystal clusters are more orange, brown in color and are 20mm to 30mm in size. This specimen is in a membrane box (though it is not in this box in the group photo) and comes with two labels: one a metal display case label (stands up on its own) and the other a Southern Minerals Meteorites and Fossils paper label. A great piece of this now rarely seen super beautiful meteorite.
    38.5 gram part slice – 90mm x 55mm x 2mm - $1250

GIBEON, Namibia: Fine octahedrite (IVA). Found 1836.
I am kind of surprised that this did not sell in Tucson. The Chinese have been buying up all the Gibeon they can find at the shows lately. However, they tend to prefer whole and larger specimens, generally (if any of you out there have such you want to sell, let me know and I’ll try to make us all some $ on it). This is a complete slice that is etched on one side and polished on the other. This was never coated so there are a few small rust spots, but nothing that is concerning (I can give this a quick protection coat if the person that buys this wants it). This comes with a Michael Casper Meteorites label.
    776.9 gram complete slice – 140mm x 100mm x 8mm - $1500

GUJBA, Nigeria: Carbonaceous (CBa) Bencubbinite. Fell April 3, 1984. Tkw = 100kg.
This is one of my favorite meteorites and this is a really nice piece (I’d probably keep it if it weren’t for my spending too much $ while in Tucson on things for myself this year). This is truly strange material. It is comprised of round metal chondrules (around 5mm in size) separated by almost black silicate material (I have no idea how this was cut without it falling apart into dark dust and metal ball bearings in the bottom of the saw pan). This specimen is a complete slice of a small fragment and has a large (8mm x 9mm) light gray silicate inclusion (that shows well on both sides). This comes in a membrane box but it is out of the box for the group photo.
    10.1 gram complete slice – 52mm x 30mm x 1.5mm - $750- SOLD

PARK FOREST, Illinois: Ordinary chondrite (H5). Fell March 26, 2003. Tkw = 18+ kilograms.
This is a complete slice of a small stone. This is hard to come by these days. I think I have only had 2 or 3 pieces of this fall over the years. This is in a plastic box that is labeled and comes with a Big Kahuna Meteorites label. However, this label has an error on the total known weight – listing that as 250kg, which clearly in not the case.
    4.6 gram complete slice – 32mm x 25mm x 2mm - $300

SIKHOTE-ALIN, Russia: Coarsest octahedrite (IIAB). Fell February 12, 1947.
This is a now rare “large” fusion crusted individual (anything over 100g is rare these days in the thumb-printed pieces). It has been cleaned at some point, giving it a bit of a glossy look to it. Thankfully, this cleaning wasn’t very harsh and lots fusion crust is still visible over much of the surface (I see a number of older harshly cleaned specimens that now only have the thumb-printed shape but lost all of their crust to whatever cleaning process that they went through). A good specimen and priced a bit lower than what the Russian sources would charge for their (smaller) crusted specimens these days.
    350.7 gram crusted individual – 90mm x 50mm x 20mm - $1000

WESTON, Connecticut: Ordinary chondrite (H4). Fell December 14, 1807. Tkw = 150kg.
This is a small fragment of the U.S.’s first witnessed fall. I don’t recall the last time I had a piece of this meteorite (maybe I haven’t), I just know it is hard to come by. The label that comes with this (a Michael Cottingham Meteorite Collection label) says the specimen weight is .70grams. As Linton had this set up in a display case such that no “mislabeling” could happen in this case (a little tougher job was to be found in the back room – spent considerable time sorting those things out) I have to wonder if he didn’t have two pieces in the little plastic display case it is in (or broke this one down) for a trade or such. Anyway, this does have a little bit of fusion crust along one edge.
    .36 gram fragment – 12mm x 5mm x 3mm - $350   

Wednesday 17 May 2017

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale - List 204 - Dalgaranga, New Orleans and more

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale - List 204 - Dalgaranga, New Orleans and more

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
……………………………………………………LIST 204

May 16, 2017

Dear Collectors,
Here is a small selection of some interesting things I recently got from a collector who has decided to trim his collection a bit.

ALLENDE, Mexico: Carbonaceous chondrite (CV3.2). Fell February 8, 1969.
This is a nice complete black crusted individual. It does have some of the edge chipping of the crust as is the case with pretty much every Allende I have seen, but quite a bit less than most. This piece is mounted (using poster tack maybe) in a small plastic display box.
12.6 gram complete individual – 29mm x 20mm x 15mm - $150

DALGARANGA, Australia: Stony-iron (Mesosiderite). Found 1923. Tkw = 10kg.
I have not had a piece of Dalgaranga in a long time and much of the stuff I had earlier was probably the most commonly available shale/ oxide fragments. This one is not oxide. It has a brown rusted exterior but I am certain that if one were inclined to do so, cutting it open would reveal a fresh mesosiderite interior. However I certainly would suggest NOT doing that as this is a labeled Nininger specimen AND comes with its proper American Meteorite Lab label. It is interesting that on this card it has the “total known weight” as only “1.1kg of unoxidized”. I know more has been found since this label was made but I do think that the unoxidized stuff is quite rare.
4.3gram Nininger labeled fragment – 15mm x 15mm x 5mm - $200

HENBURY, Australia: Medium octahedrite (IIIAB). Found 1931.
This is an assortment of better than average specimens. They all have obvious shrapnel shapes/ characteristics (not the usual rounded but semi-flat lumps many Henburys are). The two largest are particularly nice (the 52.3gram one has a larger scale nice thumb-printed kind of sculpting to it). These are all natural as found and priced a bit below what I have seen other similar Henbury specimens go for at shows recently.
1) Natural individuals:
a) 11.4 grams – 30mm x 13mm x 9mm - $19
b) 43.3 grams – 38mm x 23mm x 10mm - $69
c) 52.6 grams – 42mm x 30mm x 11mm - $82
d) 62.4 grams – 50mm x 30mm x 10mm - $94

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana: (H5). Fell September 23, 2003. Tkw = 19,265 grams.
This stone fell completely through a house. After the fall, the home-owner scraped up the fragments and bits of meteorite he found laying about the house (that had broken off as the meteorite passed through floors and walls). He wouldn’t let anyone investigate the situation for some time after the fall (more than a week I think) and claimed that the small hand full or so of fragments were all that there was to this event (not bothering to think about the ramifications of the bowling ball plus size hole through the floor). Anyway, there was indeed a substantial amount more material (the main mass) waiting to be found under the house. Unfortunately, the meteorite broke a pipe as it fell (I am not certain what kind of pipe but I have my suspicions I don’t really want to fully know) so water was spilling into the hole, onto the meteorite for however long it was before it was finally recovered. So, most of this material spent time in water and mud, unfortunately. I sold a fair amount of this material years ago (probably back in 2004 and 2005 maybe) and I recall that pretty much all the pieces looked like this one – angular fragments that show a fair amount of light orange coloration from rust staining. One plus to this piece (that many of the smaller pieces I sold those years ago lacked) is that this one does have a patch of fusion crust (12mm x 9mm) on one end. I think this piece is priced pretty close to what I was selling those earlier pieces for years ago.
7.0 gram fragment with crust – 20mm x 17mm x 11mm - $400

NUEVO MERCURIO, Mexico: (H5). Fell December 15, 1978. Tkw = 9+ kilograms.
I am pretty certain that Nuevo was my very first crusted stone. It would have been a nice fresh individual as this is but about a bit smaller than this one (got it from Robert Haag back when I was a starving college student). Anyway, this stone is a nice individual that is almost completely covered in nice thick black fusion crust (that shows some contraction cracking as most Nuevos do). There is one small (7mm x 3mm) late fall chip on one end (that is actually a really, really light secondary crust if look with good magnification) that shows a medium gray interior that has an interesting sandy texture to it.
8.5 gram complete individual – 25mm x 15mm x 12mm - $100

SIKHOTE-ALIN, Russia: Coarsest octahedrite (IIB). Fell February 12, 1947.
This is a really nice shrapnel fragment that has been only lightly cleaned so it has a more original as found dark chocolate brown coloration rather than the black and shin metal look of the typical shrapnel pieces available. This has a nice classic torn and stretch-marked shape and surface textures. I think this is the largest Sikhote I have (of any shape, texture or cleaning level).
602.9 gram shrapnel fragment – 95mm x 65mm x 28mm - $450

Wednesday 22 February 2017

Blaine Reed meteorites For sale- List 200 - After Tucson #1

Blaine Reed meteorites For sale- List 200 - After Tucson #1

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
……………………………………………………LIST 200

February 21, 2017

Dear collectors,

Here is my first (of several) “after Tucson” lists. These are comprised of things I bought and/ or were left with me to sell at the show.


ADMIRE, Kansas: (Pallasite). Found 1881.
Now here is a slice that will make pretty much any collector say “WOW!”. This has a HUGE (180mm x 100mm) chunk/ cluster of olivine making up better than ½ of the specimen (the remainder being the usual iron/ olivine pallasite mix). I had a slice similar to this (it was cut from the same amazing specimen, which I now own the main portion of) years ago in Tucson and it sold quickly (with good reason). This piece is a thinner one than the one I sold earlier so it shows light through a good number of the crystals. I cannot guarantee stability of any piece of meteorite (even Gibeon will rust if not coated and/or mistreated) but I strongly suspect that this piece is far, far better than most. Part of this is that the end piece (and this slice) was cut over 5 years ago and was sitting around a shop in Arkansas (not exactly a dry area) with no special protection and it hardly had any rust at all (only a few small spots) and took no time at all for me to shine up (most Admire specimens would have probably exploded under such conditions). Secondly, Mike Miller did what little treatment was needed on this piece before I got it (something this thin would not have survived long enough to be polished and etched if it were unstable). I trust him with rust prone material more than anyone else. I have seen (and owned) pieces of “unstable” meteorites from Mike (like Chinga and Nantan slices) that have lasted years with no sign of rust – so he obviously has some pretty good processing secrets.
483.8 gram slice with large olivine – 240mm x 150mm x 3mm - $2500

AIQUILE, Bolivia: Ordinary chondrite (unstudied). Fell November 20, 2016.
Back in 2001, I personally found Bolivia’s first know stone meteorite – an extremely weathered 12.3g fragment of an (H5) called “Sevaruyo”. Carancas ALMOST became their first witnessed fall but managed to make it a few miles into Peru to form its impact crater. Well, here now FINALLY is Bolivia’s true first witnessed fall (of any kind). This material has not been studied yet (that work is being done in Brazil, apparently) but, to me, this is clearly an H4 or H5 breccia. I picked up a few pieces of this (one of which I am keeping) in a trade. These are both slices of a small fragment (most of the pieces recovered from this fall are broken) and have at least one edge showing fusion crust. The interior of these is bright and fresh, showing lots of metal in a white to light gray matrix. Not cheap specimens, honestly, but I don’t think that a lot of this material will be coming out (I hear rumors of making further recoveries “government property”).
1) Part slices:
a) 3.28 grams – 20mm x 17mm x 3mm - $150
b) 5.47 grams – 35mm x 17mm x 3mm - $220

CANYON DIABLO, Arizona: Coarse octahedrite (IAB).
This is another piece that came with the iron collection I bought at the show. It is a nice medium grade (not super art sculpted but certainly not an ugly lump either) that has been moderately wire brushed. It still shows some natural oxide areas among the usual gray-black brushed surfaces. I have priced this at what I was getting (wholesale) out of similar sized (but probably not as nice) pieces during the show.
190.2 gram brushed individual – 55mm x 35mm x 25mm - $160

GEBEL KAMIL, Egypt. Ni-rich ataxite (ungrouped). Found 2008
This is a nice mirror-polished (on both sides) super thin complete slice. I had sold this to an antiquities dealer some years ago (he thought it might sell to people collecting Egypt stuff among his customers). He ended up trading it back to me this Tucson for Moon/ Mars boxes. Anyway, this is a nice piece and is probably priced below what I sold it for those years ago (it was a consigned item at that time).
41.6 gram mirror-polished complete slice – 85mm x 60mm x 1mm - $145

MOLDAVITES:
I traded for a nice hand-full of these at the show. These are mostly fairly typical pieces (in size shape and texture). I try to have in inventory pieces that are complete (not chips and fragments), have nice texturing (not super deep etching like Besednice pieces but not river rounded lumps either) and are moderately priced. The few I picked out here are merely a few that kind of caught my eye as being a bit better and larger than much of the rest (though there are indeed plenty of other nice pieces remaining in the lot). These are nice complete specimens that are covered with quite intense (but not real deep) pitting/ etching. The largest piece has several deep grooves that are likely the result of ground acid etching of cooling or stretch cracks in the specimen originally after it fell.
1) Nice natural individuals:
a) 7.2 grams – 33mm x 17mm x 9mm - $40
b) 9.9 grams – 30mm x 28mm x 8mm - $55
c) 14.1 grams – 33mm x 30mm x 9mm - $80

SIKHOTE-ALIN, Russia: Coarsest octahedrite (IIAB). Fell February 12, 1947.
This is actually a pretty nice specimen despite the fact that it has been cleaned (wire-brushed) a bit harsher than I would have chosen. Sadly, it does not really appear that the piece originally had enough rust spots on it to warrant brushing in the first place. None the less, this is still covered with fusion crust (that is just a bit shinier than an unbrushed crusted piece) and is clearly a nice oriented specimen. The front is the conical (all be it fairly thin) thumb-printed shaped you expect on an oriented specimen. The back is very flat and has a clear a roll-over rim running around its outer edge. A nice piece, just cleaned a little more than I would have done.
50.3 gram oriented individual – 40mm x 25mm x 10mm - $175

Thursday 5 January 2017

Blaine reed meteorites For sale - List 199 - recently mailed list and Tucson info

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
……………………………………………………LIST 199

January 5, 2017

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

TUCSON SHOW INFO: For the far too rapidly approaching Tucson show, I will be on the road from January 25th until around February 15th. For the show itself, I will be in my usual spot: Ramada Limited (665 N. Freeway, Tucson) room 134. I should be open by mid to late morning Saturday January 28th. I likely will indeed stay through the bitter end – February 11th will be the last day. I open the door most days at 10AM. I will have the door open most evenings until around 9:30pm or so (or later if people are visiting/ still wandering about) but there may be a couple nights I will be out for dinner or such but that should be rare.

SIKHOTE-ALIN, Russia: Coarsest octahedrite (IIB). Fell February 12, 1947.
I had set aside a sealed ammo can of really nice larger shrapnel pieces (now quite rare) many, many years ago. A bulk order for some pieces that I didn’t have readily available in my “working inventory” caused me to pull this batch out. WOW! I really set aside some nice piece way back when. These listed here are all the super classic thin, twisted, heavily stretch-marked top quality specimens one desires from a shrapnel piece. The price might seem high (and it is compared to when I set these aside) but I am offering these at or below what pretty much any Sikhote-Alin shrapnel specimens (generally plain and small) would cost to replace from the very few sources that have them these days.
1) Shrapnel fragments, classic shape, wire brushed clean:
a) 51.1 grams - 47mm x 35mm x 10mm - $50
b) 91.7 grams - 64mm x 35mm x 10mm - $87
c) 134.1 grams - 60mm x 44mm x 17mm - $120
d) 247.2 grams - 70mm x 50mm x 20mm - $210
e) 639.2 grams - 90mm x 60mm x 35mm - $500

DIMMITT, Texas: Ordinary chondrite (H3.7). Found 1942. Tkw = about 200 kilograms.
Here are some wonderful individuals that I set aside many, many years ago. I got them when TCU/ Monig collection first started to release specimens to the collecting world (they have since stopped). These all have nice rounded edges, sculpted shapes. They are complete as found (except I have cleaned the dirt off of them) and are mostly primary crusted but some do show some old breaks (most being likely secondary crust). These have a pleasing orange brown to dark chocolate brown color. Unfortunately, none of these has a clear Monig label as, back in those very early days, TCU required that these be removed in hopes that the larger meteorite world would not know where these specimens came from (that didn’t work. TCU soon got flooded with requests for trades and sales – some 200 e-mails in one day at one point I was told!).
1) Nice sculpted individuals:
a) 40.6 grams - 38mm x 32mm x 17mm - $100
b) 86.1 grams - 55mm x 35mm x 30mm - $200
c) 161.5 grams - 65mm x 45mm x 30mm - $365
d) 299.8 grams - 65mm x 50mm x 40mm - $600
e) 495.8 grams - 80mm x 60mm x 50mm - $850
f) 866.7 grams - 120mm x 55mm x 55mm - $1300

NWA 8387: Ordinary chondrite. (LL3.9). Found before February 2014. Tkw = 1149.5 grams.
Here is a piece that I pulled out of a bin of Moroccan chondrites during the 2014 Tucson Show. It looked identical to the NWA (7197) L3.8 that I had offered on a mailed list immediately before the show. I thought that this was another piece and would save time (and some money) on getting it “market ready”. It turned out, however, that this was NOT the same as NWA (7197) but quite a bit rarer. This is an almost equilibrated LL chondrite, not an L. LLs are quite a bit less common then Ls (something like 1/5th or 1/7th as many I think) and the 3s and 4s are the rarer of this group (actually 4s are a bit scarcer than 3s, interestingly). This is quite nice. It has lots of chondrules of all sizes (though the light color makes it a bit hard to see many of them at a casual glance), metal and sulfides in a light mottled gray to tan matrix.
1) Slices:
a) 4.7 grams - 24mm x 15mm x 4mm - $24
b) 8.1 grams - 34mm x 23mm x 3mm - $40
c) 16.2 grams - 46mm x 33mm x 3mm - $80
d) 34.8 grams - 55mm x 52mm x 4mm - $165
e) 60.9 grams - 87mm x 46mm x 4mm - $280 – complete slice.
f) 96.6 grams - 105mm x 54mm x 5mm - $425 – complete slice.
2) End piece:
405.3 grams - 100mm x 56mm x 35mm - $1600 – Main mass.

SaU 582, Oman: Ordinary chondrite (L5) S3, W2. Found March 12, 2010. Tkw = 55 kilograms.
This might be my last “new” Oman stone. It seems that the Meteoritical Society has indeed set up rules against researchers working on “things that may not have been fully legally exported”. I think this one got done just before that was announced (and there is still some argument as to whether or not there truly was any kind of ban on meteorites from Oman at the time this was found. Frankly, I’d be surprised if they really were concerned about an L5 “getting away” regardless). Anyway, this is nothing special really, just a typical weathered L5 but it is very affordable (for fully studied and prepared material anyway). Chondrules and some metal is visible in the medium to dark brown matrix. Robert Ward found this stuff as a number of large stones (7kg the largest I think) and fragments in a small area. I got a couple kilos of the fragments from him a couple years ago and finally got around to preparing them for sale.
1) Slices:
a) 13.4 grams - 30mm x 28mm x 5mm - $10
b) 23.0 grams - 45mm x 40mm x 5mm - $17
c) 44.1 grams - 60mm x 40mm x 5mm - $33
3) End pieces:
a) 45.2 grams - 55mm x 22mm x 18mm - $32
b) 94.9 grams - 60mm x 35mm x 20mm - $65
c) 162.3 grams - 65mm x 60mm x 20mm - $95

NWA 10637: Primitive achondrite (Brachinite). Found before February 2016. Tkw = 554.2 grams.
It has been a loooong time since I have offered a brachinite on a catalog (possibly more than 20 years, when I had a couple chunks from Australia in the early ‘90s). I picked up this natural fragment late in the show last year (in fact, I think it is the only NWA meteorite I picked up in Tucson last year). Brachinites are one of the very rarest and least understood meteorite types. They are mostly olivine (this one is 87% olivine) along with trace amounts of pyroxene. These rocks likely represent mantle material from an unknown parent body (though their oxygen isotopes overlap those of Angrites). These slices are somewhat weathered (dark to medium almost orange brown) but clearly show the classic equigranular crystal texture of brachinites.
1) Slices:
a) 1.5 grams - 20mm x 9mm x 3mm - $30
b) 2.9 grams - 20mm x 13mm x 4mm - $58
c) 4.9 grams - 30mm x 17mm x 3mm - $98
d) 9.0 grams - 42mm x 28mm x 3mm - $180 – full slice.
e) 17.8 grams - 64mm x 30mm x 3mm - $320 – full slice.
f) 36.4 grams - 80mm x 45mm x 3.5mm - $625 – full slice.

PALLADOT: Extraterrestrial faceted olivine gemstones.
Here is an assortment of wonderful little faceted peridot (olivine) gemstones from the Admire, Kansas pallasite. Admire is one of the most beautiful meteorites in the world but it is known (generally) for rapid rusting (though I have a nice 9.2kg chunk that is indeed very stable – It will be on display for sale in Tucson). However, pieces that do fall apart turned out to be a good source for true outer space gems stones. It turns out that pallasite olivine is indeed noticeably different (under microscopic inspection) from common terrestrial peridot gems. The pallisitc material has unique inclusions (and often shows a “cats eye” Chatoyancy effect – also unique to pallisitic peridot) such that the G.I.A. has officially recognized these as a new gemstone type – now officially listed as “Palladot” (a combination of the words pallasite and peridot). Anyway, here is an assortment of round “brilliant” cut stones at a price of about 1/5th what they were originally priced at. Supply is VERY limited. I do have a few oval and emerald cut (square/ rectangular) in similar sizes and prices available, so ask if that is what you prefer.
1) Round brilliant cut gemstones in glass fronted plastic display box.
a) 1.5mm diameter stone - about .016 carat - $20
b) 2.0mm diameter stone – about .035 carat - $35
c) 2.5mm diameter stone – about .064 carat - $60
d) 3.0mm diameter stone – about .10 carat - $90

Please note:
Shipping: For small US orders $3 should still be fine for now. Larger orders are now $13 (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 $10 (I’ll have to custom quote any larger items/ orders). Thankfully, it seems that the rate for registration (recommended on more valuable overseas orders) is $13.
I do have a new 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. How ever, for overseas orders, it probably is best to go ahead and use my brmeteorites@yahoo.com e-mail.