Blaine Reed Meteorites for Sale - List 196
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
…………………………………………………..LIST 196
October, 2016
Dear collectors,
Here is the e-mail version of my “after Denver” mailed list. I got slammed with a bunch of calls yesterday afternoon (good thing!) so it is time (past time?) to release this to everyone else (I try my best to make it so pretty much everyone gets this at the same time by mail and then release it electronically as soon as I start receiving calls). Those of you that also get the mailed version of this will notice that a few things (mostly one of a kind end pieces/ main masses) have already disappeared. However those of you getting this e-mailed version have a couple (small) benefits over the mailed list folks. First, it seems that I somehow (prepared the list to fast?) managed to NOT get my largest pieces of the neat Imilac fragments typed onto the mailed list. Not a huge difference/ big deal but these things (particularly the larger pieces) were extremely popular at the show (I pretty much sold out all the pieces I brought). Secondly, it turns out that the maps are a bit cheaper to mail than I thought. I had to use a mailing tube I had bought at a shipping store (our post office had none of the free priority mailing “tubes”) to calculate roughly what those things were going to cost to ship. It seems that the mailing tube I purchased is much heavier than the ones that the USPS supplies for free. The purchased mailing tube and map combo came in at $11for US shipping. Using the USPS “tube” it is only $7 (I just shipped one out). So, two small benefits for those of you getting this electronic version of the list.
ODESSA, Texas: Iron. Coarse octahedrite (IAB). Found 1923.
Here are some pieces I picked out of a small batch I was surprised to find in my deep storage. I have absolutely no idea when I got these, just that they were not part of business inventory (hence the lack of inventory record concerning them and my forgetting about them.). I suspect that they were a gift from one of the guys I used to buy large quantities from more than 25 years or so ago (when you actually could still get Odessa). I picked out the “larger” ones of the batch and hand cleaned them (air abrasion). Some do still have some caliche stuck to them but otherwise have a nice dark brown patina.
1)Natural shaped individuals, lightly cleaned:
a) 5.0 grams - 18mm x 13mm x 5mm - $10
b) 10.5 grams - 27mm x 13mm x 8mm - $20
c) 20.4 grams - 25mm x 15mm x 13mm - $40
NWA (8220): Ordinary chondrite, (H6), S2, W2/3. Found December 2013. Tkw = 509 grams.
Here is one that I am pretty certain that the outer edge (more oxidized) is the part that got studied. The interior portions are actually quite fresh – showing lots of really fine metal grains in a medium gray matrix. Without the research work, I would have guessed that this was an enstatite chondrite. Heck, this thing even passes the scratch and sniff test! Scratch the surface a bit with your fingernails and sniff – it has the distinct odor of sulfur (though perhaps not as strong as in a genuine enstatite chondrite). Anyway, I don’t have a lot of this available so don’t wait too long to ask if you want a piece of this one (my offerings of these fairly small, affordable studied NWA things seem to sell out pretty quickly the past few lists).
1) Slices:
a) 9.0 grams - 30mm x 19mm x 5mm - $15
b) 18.2 grams - 49mm x 30mm x 5mm - $30
c) 43.0 grams - 68mm x 53mm x 4mm - $70 – complete slice.
NWA (8538): Ordinary chondrite (LL6), melt breccia. Found July 2014. Tkw = 994.8 grams.
A single rounded stone was recovered. This shape made this very hard for me to cut, unfortunately (it kept slipping out of the saw vise and such). I ended up making quite a mess of it. Thankfully, Marlin up in Montana had more than enough skill to clean up these pieces for me from thick wedged pieces to nice thin slices that are now much more uniformly thick (though some do show some wedging yet). Regardless, this has an interesting interior. It has obvious large, wide shock melt veins surrounding rounded fragments of lighter brown to light tan colored chondrite fragments. Research showed that this is the 5th known meteorite classified an LL6 melt breccia with only 1.7kg total known among all 5! Interesting and rare material.
1) Slices:
a) 2.0 grams - 22mm x 15mm x 3mm - $15
b) 4.1 grams - 23mm x 20mm x 3mm - $30
c) 7.0 grams - 30mm x 25mm x 3mm - $50
d) 11.1 grams - 35mm x 30mm x 3mm - $79
e) 30.6 grams - 65mm x 40mm x 4mm - $215
f) 61.7 grams - 90mm x 70mm x 4mm - $430 – really nice complete slice!
2) End piece, Main mass:
159.7 grams - 80mm x 55mm x 27mm - $900
NWA (7021): Carbonaceous chondrite (CO3). Found before September 2009. Tkw = 134.4 grams.
Here is another meteorite that took quite a number of years to finally make it through research. I got this as part of an assortment of fairly small NWA individuals I picked up at the 2009 Denver Show. This little piece had nice black crust covering most of it with a thin secondary crust covering a flat broken side (so we know there is at least one more piece of this out there somewhere). Research showed this to be a low shock and low weathering grade meteorite. The interior (and black crust) supports the low weathering as it is a lot lighter than the vast majority of CO3’s I’ve seen (aside from falls), having a
mottled medium gray and light brown color. Lots of small chondrules are visible as well as some small grains of metal – something that I rarely see in CO3’s. Obviously, I have very little of this material available.
1) Slices:
a) 2.3 grams - 17mm x 15mm x 3mm - $35
b) 5.4 grams - 30mm x 18mm x 3mm - $80
c) 9.4 grams - 35mm x 30mm x 3mm - $140
NWA (7397): Martian (Shergottite). Found 2012. Tkw = 2130+ grams.
I picked up a good assortment of natural fragments and individuals from a collector that had them for years. I cut up the pieces that were pretty obviously just fragments. I left the nice obvious individuals (rare for this meteorite) which are covered (probably 75% or more) in black crust alone. The cut pieces turned out quite nice. They show the usual mixed texture of large rounded pyroxene “oikocrysts” in a fine-grained matrix of pyroxene, masleynite and olivine. Nearly all of the cut specimens show at least some shock veining and many show at least some fusion crust. This offering is, by far, the cheapest I have offered mars rock in many, many years (like since early Zagami days) and these pieces are priced around ½ of what a quick internet search showed others asking for samples of this meteorite.
1) Cut fragments:
a) .67 grams - 13mm x 8mm x 3mm - $84
b) .98 grams - 14mm x 9mm x 4mm - $123
c) 1.69 grams - 16mm x 14mm x 4mm - $210
d) 2.79 grams - 25mm x 17mm x 5mm - $340
e) 4.03 grams - 35mm x 13mm x 4mm - $490 – crusted back.
f) 8.40 grams - 32mm x 17mm x 8mm - $1000 – really nice crusted back.
2) Complete individuals:
a) 8.7 grams - 23mm x 14mm x 13mm - $1000
b) 14.3 grams - 25mm x 20mm x 17mm - $1550
IMILAC, Chile: Stony-iron (Pallasite). Found 1822.
Here is a nice assortment of the wild, sculpted, twisted “individuals” that once were fairly plentiful around the Imilac impact site. I have not offered any of these in many, many years. These have been cleaned to remove the usual adhering dirt (both on the metal and in the pockets). They show wild shapes of brown patina metal with yellow to pinkish red shattered olivine in the pockets. I know many people look at these as “weathered individuals”. My personal suspicion is that these are really pallasite “shrapnel fragments” that were blown from the piece(s) that formed the 10m or so diameter crater/ impact pit in the area (shock effects would certainly explain the pulverized olivine in these pieces better than simple weathering).
1) Shrapnel individuals, cleaned to remove dirt:
a) 2.5 grams - 14mm x 10mm x 7mm - $20
b) 5.8 grams - 20mm x 15mm x 10mm - $45
c) 10.1 grams - 21mm x 18mm x 18mm - $75
d) 14.3 grams - 30mm x 25mm x 10mm - $105
e) 19.1 grams – 25mm x 25mm x 15mm - $140
METEORITE MAP: Map of meteorite localities for North America, published 2000.
I know, I know, these are not fully up to date. Regardless, these are really neat as they show a LOT more than just the localities (names, type, fall/ find). This also shows the location and size of known craters (“modern” like Meteor Crater and ancient like Sudbury and Chicxulub). This also shows surface soil/ vegetation cover types AND the extent of glacier cover during the last two ice ages (it is easy to see that there are few meteorites recovered North of those lines). I had these many years ago, but those were the plain unlaminated ones (and tore quite easily). These I have now are laminated so they are tough and long lasting. I don’t have very many of these (less than 10) but I took all I was offered in a trade. I have to use a priority mailing tube for these so shipping will be $7 for US orders. For overseas orders I’ll have to research shipping costs individually but I suspect that they may be quite prohibitive, unfortunately.
Meteorites of North America map - $30
Please note:
Shipping: For small US orders $3 should still be fine for now. Larger orders are now $12 (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 $9 (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 still around $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.
Tuesday, 4 October 2016
Tuesday, 30 August 2016
Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale - List 195 Denver show info, last of Lang Collection Items
Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale - List 195 Denver show info, last of Lang Collection Items
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
……………………………………………………LIST 195
August 30, 2016
Dear collectors,
Here is the last of my Lang Collection pieces (all three of them) plus some Allende and Tissint.
DENVER SHOW INFORMATION:
I can’t believe that it is already that time. I will be leaving next Wednesday morning (Sept 7th) and won’t be back home until September 21st (this show is slowing getting stretched out into another Tucson. Next year will be even worse). For this year, I will be in my usual location: Ramada Plaza (4849 Bannock street) Room 224. I should be open by mid afternoon Saturday the 10th. I will be open at 10AM the rest of the show days (through Sunday the 18th). I will open most evenings until 9PM or so (later if people are still around) but will close early (6PM) on the last day (Sunday the 18th) and probably either the Friday or Saturday before for the COMETS party (I am pretty sure they are having one again this year, I just don’t know the day). The phone number for the hotel is (303) 292-9500 and I am in room 224 (from the 10th through the 18th).
News about next year: If you want to experience the wandering hotel rooms set up as show rooms thing but not to the huge, often overwhelming degree as Tucson, this show is your last chance (at least in Denver). I had heard rumors that I would be loosing my show room (which I have had for around 28 years now) while attending the Colorado Springs show back in early June. Turns out that this is no rumor. I got the official notification that the Ramada is no longer welcoming the show a few days ago The only option I am left with is taking a space at the venue that the spring show ended up in – Crowne Plaza way out east (15 miles I think) in a HUGE ballroom environment. I did tour the place during the spring show hoping to scope out a room I could set up in but that is not going to work. The rooms are far away from the bulk of the show (and somewhat hard to find). Plus they are really small and extremely crowded with furniture. I think about the only people who MIGHT be able to set up a valid (business wise) display in one of these rooms would be the gemstone dealer that only needs a card table and a single brief case of inventory to have a successful show. Thankfully, my somewhat early warning has allowed me to reserve a private meeting room at this new show. It is a bit of a ways from the main ball rooms but it will allow me to stay open as late as I want (and there will be a number of other dealers filling other similar rooms in the area so I won’t be completely alone). Anyway, I will certainly try to fully notify everyone once I know fully what this change brings.
ONE LAST NOTE: I do need to be gone part of this afternoon so please understand if there is a delay in my response to any questions/ order requests.
ALLENDE, Mexico: Carbonaceous chondrite (CV3.2). Fell February 8, 1969.
Here are a couple more really fresh/ early recovery pieces. One is an angular fragment and the other is a fairly thick (and somewhat wedged) slice. Unfortunately, neither has any fusion crust but they are nice pieces none the less. The slice is nothing special really but it does show lots of chondrules, small to medium sized CAIs and some obvious gold colored troilite inclusions. The fragment though has a couple interesting features: a nice irregular CAI (around 5mm x 7mm) and a weird round (5mm) inclusion that is mostly clear crystals of some kind inside and surrounded by troilite around its outside.
a) 35.0 grams fresh fragment – 55mm x 40mm x 10mm - $350
b) 35.7 gram slice – 60mm x 37mm x 7mm - $360
NWA (978): Rumaruttite (R3.8), S3, W2. Purchased August 1, 2001. Tkw = 722 grams.
For awhile, R chondrites were fairly easy to come by. Not so these days. Now they are quite expensive even fresh out of the field (unstudied) if they are recognized by the sellers (which is not particularly hard given their chondrule rich texture and complete lack of magnetic attraction). Most R chondrites are some shade of brown inside. This particular one is distinctly different. It does have the numerous chondrules and sulfides (not fresh metal) visible, but these are set in a medium to dark gray matrix. I have only two different specimens here. The smallest is actually two natural fragments. The largest is a natural fragment that has a roughly 25mm x 10mm polished face. These specimens are Lang Collection pieces and are in Riker boxes so shipping will be a bit higher for people that want to keep the boxes they are in.
a) 3.0 grams; 2 natural fragments (.7g, 2.3 g) - $60
b) 14.6 gram natural fragment with polished face – 30mm x 18mm x 15mm - $250
NWA (1208): Ordinary chondrite (H5), S2, W3. Found 1999. Tkw = 368 grams.
I can’t be certain, but there is a pretty good change that this could be the “main mass”. A single 368gram stone was found and 63 grams were given for classification. This leaves a total of just over 300 grams of remaining material. This particular specimen represents 36% of the remaining material. So, unless the other remaining material was left as a large cut fragment (no or few slices removed) then this should be the main mass. This piece is a cut fragment. The Bulletin description merely mentions “well defined chondrules” for features and this does indeed show a good number of nice round chondrules set in a medium to dark brown matrix. The backside is mostly old natural fracture surface bit there is a roughly 50mm x 15mm or so patch of fairly nice crust along one edge. This is yet another Lang collection piece in a Riker so shipping will be a bit more for those that want to keep it in the riker box it is in (you will get the label regardless)
110 gram cut fragment – 60mmx 40mm x 15mm - $80
TISSINT, Morocco: Martian (Shergottite). Fell July 18, 2011. Tkw = over 7 kilograms.
This is a meteorite that I thought we might be seeing lots of pieces of for many years. Nope, the stuff got pretty much picked out and distributed in a big hurry. Not much of it is available these days (and pretty much none is from the Moroccan sources I have). I got these pieces from a collector that, wisely, bought them when this material was readily available. These are all nice pieces and each has its own special features that I will try to briefly describe below.
1) Slices:
a) .15 grams part slice – 9mm x 5mm x 1.5mm - $105
b) 1.04 gram part slice – 22mm x 12mm x 1.5mm - $700 – some crust along edge, many small (1 to 2mm) melt zones.
c) 2.39 gram full slice – 30mmx 20mm x 1.5 mm - $1600 – 2/3 of edge crusted. Interior shows a couple large black melt zones containing gas bubbles.
d) 3.37 gram part slice – 35mm x 18mm x 2mm - $2200 – has many nice melt areas and veins. Some gas bubbles, one of which goes completely through the slice.
2) End pieces:
a) 1.99 grams – 20mm x 18mm x 4mm - $1300 – back is around 60% plus fusion crusted.
b) 3.82 grams – 28mm x 27mm x 3mm - $2500 – back mostly late natural fracture but edges have some crust.
3) Individual: This piece was listed as a “fragment” on the hand-written label that came with it. This is clearly more of a nice individual. There are a few minor chipped edges/ points that are clearly breaks. The largest obvious “break” is about 15mm x 5mm. Careful inspection though reveals the presence of very light (and spotty) fusion crust covering most of this area. So, it is a break but might be better classified as a zone of (very) light secondary fusion crust. The remainder of the stone is covered in nice shiny black fusion crust.
3.71 gram individual – 15mm x 12mm x 12mm - $2500
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
……………………………………………………LIST 195
August 30, 2016
Dear collectors,
Here is the last of my Lang Collection pieces (all three of them) plus some Allende and Tissint.
DENVER SHOW INFORMATION:
I can’t believe that it is already that time. I will be leaving next Wednesday morning (Sept 7th) and won’t be back home until September 21st (this show is slowing getting stretched out into another Tucson. Next year will be even worse). For this year, I will be in my usual location: Ramada Plaza (4849 Bannock street) Room 224. I should be open by mid afternoon Saturday the 10th. I will be open at 10AM the rest of the show days (through Sunday the 18th). I will open most evenings until 9PM or so (later if people are still around) but will close early (6PM) on the last day (Sunday the 18th) and probably either the Friday or Saturday before for the COMETS party (I am pretty sure they are having one again this year, I just don’t know the day). The phone number for the hotel is (303) 292-9500 and I am in room 224 (from the 10th through the 18th).
News about next year: If you want to experience the wandering hotel rooms set up as show rooms thing but not to the huge, often overwhelming degree as Tucson, this show is your last chance (at least in Denver). I had heard rumors that I would be loosing my show room (which I have had for around 28 years now) while attending the Colorado Springs show back in early June. Turns out that this is no rumor. I got the official notification that the Ramada is no longer welcoming the show a few days ago The only option I am left with is taking a space at the venue that the spring show ended up in – Crowne Plaza way out east (15 miles I think) in a HUGE ballroom environment. I did tour the place during the spring show hoping to scope out a room I could set up in but that is not going to work. The rooms are far away from the bulk of the show (and somewhat hard to find). Plus they are really small and extremely crowded with furniture. I think about the only people who MIGHT be able to set up a valid (business wise) display in one of these rooms would be the gemstone dealer that only needs a card table and a single brief case of inventory to have a successful show. Thankfully, my somewhat early warning has allowed me to reserve a private meeting room at this new show. It is a bit of a ways from the main ball rooms but it will allow me to stay open as late as I want (and there will be a number of other dealers filling other similar rooms in the area so I won’t be completely alone). Anyway, I will certainly try to fully notify everyone once I know fully what this change brings.
ONE LAST NOTE: I do need to be gone part of this afternoon so please understand if there is a delay in my response to any questions/ order requests.
ALLENDE, Mexico: Carbonaceous chondrite (CV3.2). Fell February 8, 1969.
Here are a couple more really fresh/ early recovery pieces. One is an angular fragment and the other is a fairly thick (and somewhat wedged) slice. Unfortunately, neither has any fusion crust but they are nice pieces none the less. The slice is nothing special really but it does show lots of chondrules, small to medium sized CAIs and some obvious gold colored troilite inclusions. The fragment though has a couple interesting features: a nice irregular CAI (around 5mm x 7mm) and a weird round (5mm) inclusion that is mostly clear crystals of some kind inside and surrounded by troilite around its outside.
a) 35.0 grams fresh fragment – 55mm x 40mm x 10mm - $350
b) 35.7 gram slice – 60mm x 37mm x 7mm - $360
NWA (978): Rumaruttite (R3.8), S3, W2. Purchased August 1, 2001. Tkw = 722 grams.
For awhile, R chondrites were fairly easy to come by. Not so these days. Now they are quite expensive even fresh out of the field (unstudied) if they are recognized by the sellers (which is not particularly hard given their chondrule rich texture and complete lack of magnetic attraction). Most R chondrites are some shade of brown inside. This particular one is distinctly different. It does have the numerous chondrules and sulfides (not fresh metal) visible, but these are set in a medium to dark gray matrix. I have only two different specimens here. The smallest is actually two natural fragments. The largest is a natural fragment that has a roughly 25mm x 10mm polished face. These specimens are Lang Collection pieces and are in Riker boxes so shipping will be a bit higher for people that want to keep the boxes they are in.
a) 3.0 grams; 2 natural fragments (.7g, 2.3 g) - $60
b) 14.6 gram natural fragment with polished face – 30mm x 18mm x 15mm - $250
NWA (1208): Ordinary chondrite (H5), S2, W3. Found 1999. Tkw = 368 grams.
I can’t be certain, but there is a pretty good change that this could be the “main mass”. A single 368gram stone was found and 63 grams were given for classification. This leaves a total of just over 300 grams of remaining material. This particular specimen represents 36% of the remaining material. So, unless the other remaining material was left as a large cut fragment (no or few slices removed) then this should be the main mass. This piece is a cut fragment. The Bulletin description merely mentions “well defined chondrules” for features and this does indeed show a good number of nice round chondrules set in a medium to dark brown matrix. The backside is mostly old natural fracture surface bit there is a roughly 50mm x 15mm or so patch of fairly nice crust along one edge. This is yet another Lang collection piece in a Riker so shipping will be a bit more for those that want to keep it in the riker box it is in (you will get the label regardless)
110 gram cut fragment – 60mmx 40mm x 15mm - $80
TISSINT, Morocco: Martian (Shergottite). Fell July 18, 2011. Tkw = over 7 kilograms.
This is a meteorite that I thought we might be seeing lots of pieces of for many years. Nope, the stuff got pretty much picked out and distributed in a big hurry. Not much of it is available these days (and pretty much none is from the Moroccan sources I have). I got these pieces from a collector that, wisely, bought them when this material was readily available. These are all nice pieces and each has its own special features that I will try to briefly describe below.
1) Slices:
a) .15 grams part slice – 9mm x 5mm x 1.5mm - $105
b) 1.04 gram part slice – 22mm x 12mm x 1.5mm - $700 – some crust along edge, many small (1 to 2mm) melt zones.
c) 2.39 gram full slice – 30mmx 20mm x 1.5 mm - $1600 – 2/3 of edge crusted. Interior shows a couple large black melt zones containing gas bubbles.
d) 3.37 gram part slice – 35mm x 18mm x 2mm - $2200 – has many nice melt areas and veins. Some gas bubbles, one of which goes completely through the slice.
2) End pieces:
a) 1.99 grams – 20mm x 18mm x 4mm - $1300 – back is around 60% plus fusion crusted.
b) 3.82 grams – 28mm x 27mm x 3mm - $2500 – back mostly late natural fracture but edges have some crust.
3) Individual: This piece was listed as a “fragment” on the hand-written label that came with it. This is clearly more of a nice individual. There are a few minor chipped edges/ points that are clearly breaks. The largest obvious “break” is about 15mm x 5mm. Careful inspection though reveals the presence of very light (and spotty) fusion crust covering most of this area. So, it is a break but might be better classified as a zone of (very) light secondary fusion crust. The remainder of the stone is covered in nice shiny black fusion crust.
3.71 gram individual – 15mm x 12mm x 12mm - $2500
Tuesday, 16 August 2016
Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale - List 194 - yet more Lang collection material
Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale - List 194 - yet more Lang collection material
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
……………………………………………………LIST 194
August 16, 2016
Dear collectors,
Here is yet another assortment of Lang Collection items. As with the earlier batches these are all in Riker boxes with a Lang Collection label. Once more, these boxes do raise the shipping costs quite a bit (to around $5 or $6 for US orders and much more on overseas sales). As usual, I will offer the option: of having the specimens sent without the boxes for free or US orders or for around $12 for overseas orders (pretty much as chape as I can send any specimens overseas for these days). Fir thise that want the riker bixes, I’ll calculate (or guess as close as possible but erring on the side of cheaper than what is really likely) the shipping and let you know. Regardless, the sample(s) will still be shipped with their labels.
DaG (313), Libya: Ordinary chondrite (L/LL3) S2,W2. Found April 24, 1997. Tkw = 3294 grams.
The Bulletin report says one piece was recovered. This piece is an end piece/ cut fragment. The back side is ½ natural smooth wind-polished surface and ½ rougher fractured surface. The interior is fairly dark brown but still shows lots of chondrules – many that are armored, not so much with fresh metal (some is indeed still visible in the specimen) but surrounded mostly by sulfides and iron oxides.
22.6 gram end piece – 46mm x 18mm x 18mm - $135 - SOLD!
DaG (477), Libya: Ordinary chondrite (L5), S4,W1. Found 1998. Tkw = 16,128 grams.
One number off of a good one – DaG (476) was a famous Mars rock. Not a rare one, but this is a nice part slice. It has 2 cut edges with the remainder being fusion crusted with a nice rounded/ sculpted shape (this, at least this part of the stone, likely had a really nice thumb-printed shape). The interior is quite fresh with lots of metal and some chondrules in a mottled light brown to nearly white matrix. There are also hints of a couple thin shock veins visible as well.
37.1 gram part slice – 60mm x 40mm x 5mm - $50
NWA (1208): Ordinary chondrite (H5), S2,W3. Found 1999. Tkw = 368 grams.
Bulletin research notes say “well defined chondrules” in this meteorite and this specimen does indeed show a good number of chondrules (I would have guessed that this was an H4). This is an end piece/ cut fragment. The backside is mostly natural fracture surfaces but there is a patch of fusion crust along one edge ( about 50mm x 13mm in size). The interior of this is on the darker side of medium brown to dark brown but chondrules and some fresh metal is still visible. This is a substantial portion of the total know of this particular NWA meteorite (close to 1/3rd) and may represent the main mass.
110.5 gram cut fragment – 60mm x 40mm x 20mm - $80
NWA (1222): Enstatite chondrite (EL5) S2,W3. Found 2000. Tkw = 2.8kg.
This is one I was excited to get. E5’s are exceptionally rare. Until this came along I didn’t have one in my collection (yep, I kept a piece of this). At this point, there are only 8 (EL5) known in the world (including Antarctica). This one is, by far, the big recovery of all of these. The other 7 total only 913 grams or about 1/3rd of the size of this find. I really question the W3 weathering grade on this. I am certain that research was done on a weathered external fragment because these pieces look quite fresh and nice. All show lots of metal in a light gray matrix. All but the two smallest specimens listed here have Lang Collection labels. All but the smallest sample here (the crumbs/ fragments is a bag) are in a Riker box.
a) .3 grams crumbs and small slice fragments in a bag - $20 SOLD!
b) .17 gram slice – 9mm x 5mm x 1.5mm - $20 SOLD!
c) .55 gram slice – 10mm x 8mm x 2mm - $55 SOLD!
d) .71 gram slice – 10mm x 9mm x 2mm - $70 SOLD!
NWA (1929): HED achondrite (Howardite). Found 2003. Tkw = 15+kg.
This is a lot of 3 roughly equal sized fragments in a Riker with a label. Each has light brown (dirt?) surfaces and at least one fresh broken surface that shows the light gray interior.
1.3 grams – 3 fragments - $20
TATAHOUINE, Yunisia: HED achondrite (Diogenite). Fell June 27, 1931. Tkw = 13.5+kg.
These are piece of one of the weirdest meteorites I have seen. This thing blew apart low in the atmosphere into strange angular green fragments with no real visible crust (however, there IS crust on some pieces, including a couple of these) but you have to look real carefully as it is usually only tiny 1mm x 1mm patches. The first specimen is a lot of 3 natural fragments in a research lab vial in a Riker. The “large” piece is a single natural fragment. It has more smooth/ rounded surfaces than most pieces. It is alos darker in those areas. Magnification shows that these are likely ablated/ crusted areas. The “crust” on most of these surfaces is merely a thin darker coloration but some small patches of distinct thicker crust can be found.
a) 1.0 grams – 3 natural fragments in a vial - $20
b) 3.6 gram natural fragment – 17mm x 11mm x 10mm - $65
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
……………………………………………………LIST 194
August 16, 2016
Dear collectors,
Here is yet another assortment of Lang Collection items. As with the earlier batches these are all in Riker boxes with a Lang Collection label. Once more, these boxes do raise the shipping costs quite a bit (to around $5 or $6 for US orders and much more on overseas sales). As usual, I will offer the option: of having the specimens sent without the boxes for free or US orders or for around $12 for overseas orders (pretty much as chape as I can send any specimens overseas for these days). Fir thise that want the riker bixes, I’ll calculate (or guess as close as possible but erring on the side of cheaper than what is really likely) the shipping and let you know. Regardless, the sample(s) will still be shipped with their labels.
DaG (313), Libya: Ordinary chondrite (L/LL3) S2,W2. Found April 24, 1997. Tkw = 3294 grams.
The Bulletin report says one piece was recovered. This piece is an end piece/ cut fragment. The back side is ½ natural smooth wind-polished surface and ½ rougher fractured surface. The interior is fairly dark brown but still shows lots of chondrules – many that are armored, not so much with fresh metal (some is indeed still visible in the specimen) but surrounded mostly by sulfides and iron oxides.
22.6 gram end piece – 46mm x 18mm x 18mm - $135 - SOLD!
DaG (477), Libya: Ordinary chondrite (L5), S4,W1. Found 1998. Tkw = 16,128 grams.
One number off of a good one – DaG (476) was a famous Mars rock. Not a rare one, but this is a nice part slice. It has 2 cut edges with the remainder being fusion crusted with a nice rounded/ sculpted shape (this, at least this part of the stone, likely had a really nice thumb-printed shape). The interior is quite fresh with lots of metal and some chondrules in a mottled light brown to nearly white matrix. There are also hints of a couple thin shock veins visible as well.
37.1 gram part slice – 60mm x 40mm x 5mm - $50
NWA (1208): Ordinary chondrite (H5), S2,W3. Found 1999. Tkw = 368 grams.
Bulletin research notes say “well defined chondrules” in this meteorite and this specimen does indeed show a good number of chondrules (I would have guessed that this was an H4). This is an end piece/ cut fragment. The backside is mostly natural fracture surfaces but there is a patch of fusion crust along one edge ( about 50mm x 13mm in size). The interior of this is on the darker side of medium brown to dark brown but chondrules and some fresh metal is still visible. This is a substantial portion of the total know of this particular NWA meteorite (close to 1/3rd) and may represent the main mass.
110.5 gram cut fragment – 60mm x 40mm x 20mm - $80
NWA (1222): Enstatite chondrite (EL5) S2,W3. Found 2000. Tkw = 2.8kg.
This is one I was excited to get. E5’s are exceptionally rare. Until this came along I didn’t have one in my collection (yep, I kept a piece of this). At this point, there are only 8 (EL5) known in the world (including Antarctica). This one is, by far, the big recovery of all of these. The other 7 total only 913 grams or about 1/3rd of the size of this find. I really question the W3 weathering grade on this. I am certain that research was done on a weathered external fragment because these pieces look quite fresh and nice. All show lots of metal in a light gray matrix. All but the two smallest specimens listed here have Lang Collection labels. All but the smallest sample here (the crumbs/ fragments is a bag) are in a Riker box.
a) .3 grams crumbs and small slice fragments in a bag - $20 SOLD!
b) .17 gram slice – 9mm x 5mm x 1.5mm - $20 SOLD!
c) .55 gram slice – 10mm x 8mm x 2mm - $55 SOLD!
d) .71 gram slice – 10mm x 9mm x 2mm - $70 SOLD!
NWA (1929): HED achondrite (Howardite). Found 2003. Tkw = 15+kg.
This is a lot of 3 roughly equal sized fragments in a Riker with a label. Each has light brown (dirt?) surfaces and at least one fresh broken surface that shows the light gray interior.
1.3 grams – 3 fragments - $20
TATAHOUINE, Yunisia: HED achondrite (Diogenite). Fell June 27, 1931. Tkw = 13.5+kg.
These are piece of one of the weirdest meteorites I have seen. This thing blew apart low in the atmosphere into strange angular green fragments with no real visible crust (however, there IS crust on some pieces, including a couple of these) but you have to look real carefully as it is usually only tiny 1mm x 1mm patches. The first specimen is a lot of 3 natural fragments in a research lab vial in a Riker. The “large” piece is a single natural fragment. It has more smooth/ rounded surfaces than most pieces. It is alos darker in those areas. Magnification shows that these are likely ablated/ crusted areas. The “crust” on most of these surfaces is merely a thin darker coloration but some small patches of distinct thicker crust can be found.
a) 1.0 grams – 3 natural fragments in a vial - $20
b) 3.6 gram natural fragment – 17mm x 11mm x 10mm - $65
Sunday, 31 July 2016
Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale - LIST 193 - more Lang Collection
Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale - LIST 193 - more Lang Collection
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
……………………………………………………LIST 193
July 26, 2016
Dear collectors,
Here is another assortment of Lang Collection items. As with the last batch these are all (with the exception of the DaG (429) – the first listed piece below which also does not have a collection label – just the info on a sticker on the side of the container) are in Riker boxes with a Lang Collection label. Once more, these boxes do raise the shipping costs quite a bit (to around $5 or $6 for US orders and much more on overseas sales). I will offer this option: As last time, overseas orders will be have to individually calculated if you want the Riker sent along with the specimen. Without it the usual cheapest (jewelry box in a padded envelope) for around $12 will work fine. For US sales, I’ll pay the shipping if you want to leave me with the Riker as this saves me the need for a larger box and extra packing (plus I can re-use the Riker to make more of my Sahara arrowhead displays or such). Regardless, the sample(s) will still be shipped with their labels.
DAR al Gani (429), Libya: Carbonaceous chondrite (C3) – ungrouped. Found 1998. Tkw = 253 grams.
This is a quite fresh looking fragment in a membrane box. It does not have any fusion crust unfortunately, but does show some chondrules (and holes where, very clearly, some chondrules were but have since fell out) in a very light gray matrix. This does have some minor light brown spots from oxidation and or adhering dirt on one side but is otherwise very fresh. I checked photos of known pieces of this and this matches perfectly, so there is no doubt that this is the correct material.
1.00gram fragment in small membrane box – 17mm x 8mm x 5mm - $80 SOLD
DAR al GANI (475), Libya: Ordinary chondrite (H3.4) S3, W3. Found May 1998. Tkw = 269 grams.
This is a cut end piece. It is nearly a complete end piece but has one end cut off that looks to have removed about 1cm of surface area from the piece. This has been polished on the cut surfaces but the largest intersected a natural internal crack so some of the polished areas are now missing (around 15% or so) and likely broke out during cutting or polishing. Regardless, the polished areas do show lots of chondrules (and one large 6mm or so clast on the larger surface). This particular H3 shows chondrules as well as or better than any I am aware of. Usually H3s have really small, hard to see chondrules in dark matrix so only careful observation allows one to see them – not so with this meteorite specimen.
10.4 gram end piece with one edge removed – 24mm x 20mm x 11mm - $60 SOLD
DAR al GANI (521), Libya: Carbonaceous chondrite (CV3). Found 1998. Tkw = 1567 grams.
This is very clearly a weathered complete individual or natural fragment. There is no discernable fusion crust remaining but the generally rounded shape says that this is quite possibly an old individual. The Meteoritical Bulletin records say that 22 pieces of this meteorite were recovered. This particular specimen has a small piece of cloth glued to it with the number “18” written on it in blue ink (kind of old museum style labeling). Not sure what this means for sure, but it could mean that this was the 18th piece recovered though I am not certain who recovered these pieces and how careful they were with record keeping (back then new desert meteorites were far more special than now). Anyway, this is a nice solid little specimen.
11.8 gram individual as found – 35mm x 20mm x 12mm - $75 SOLD
DHOFAR (132), Oman: Achondrite (Ureilite), S3, W3. Found March 18, 2000. Tkw = 5.01kg.
The reports say that one stone was recovered. The pieces here are slices with the exception of the largest which looks to be a natural fragment that spalled off of the outer surface of the main mass (but does have a cut edge that clearly shows that the piece is indeed ureilite). Looking over the specimens, I can see that this one was, like most ureilites, very hard to cut and polish. Most of these have one cut face that shows how the saw blade struggled (and sometimes offset substantially) in trying to cut through this stuff. Regardless, each specimen has at least one face that has been polished flat and shows the classic granular ureilite texture but many still show some saw marks on their surfaces (except the thicker 2.8g and 7.9 gram pieces. I suspect that those got the better polish because they could be easily held onto and less likely to burn your fingers while polishing, unlike the thinner ones).
1) Part slices:
a) .5 grams – 10mm x 7mm x 3mm - $15
b) 1.6 grams – 15mm x 12mm x 4mm - $35
c) 2.8 grams – 14mm x 12mm x 5mm - $55
d) 3.8 grams – 30mm x 20mm x 2mm - $75
e) 7.9 grams – 42mm x 13mm x 4mm - $135
2) Natural fragment with small (20mm x 5mm) cut edge:
11.6 grams – 35mm x 26mm x 7mm - $175
NWA (1182): HED achondrite (Howardite). Found 1999. Tkw = 780 grams.
A single “mostly crusted” stone was found. These two specimens are small part slices that each have one natural edge. Each piece has at least one small patch of actual crust on that natural edge The smaller has the tiny patch the larger piece’s natural edge is mostly crusted. The interior of this meteorite is quite nice. These show a nice typical howardite texture with small clasts of many different colors (browns, white, gray and bright green (Diogenite fragments likely)) in a light gray matrix.
1) Part slices:
a) .82 grams – 15mm x 9mm x 2mm - $15
b) 1.4 grams – 15mm x 15mm x 2mm - $25 SOLD
NWA (1793): Ordinary chondrite (L3), S3, W1. Found October 2002. Tkw = 585 grams.
This is a complete slice of the only stone found (well, the only one recognized and reported at the time). The edged is completely crusted, though most of it (a bit over ½) is wind-polished. The interior is quite fresh and shows lots of metal , much o it in interesting short (1cm or so long) veins. This does have plenty of chondrules (which show clearest on the back not fully polished side) but they are very hard to see as they are in a fairly dark (shock darkened) gray matrix.
64.8 gram complete slice – 80mm x 35mm x 8mm - $200 SOLD
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
……………………………………………………LIST 193
July 26, 2016
Dear collectors,
Here is another assortment of Lang Collection items. As with the last batch these are all (with the exception of the DaG (429) – the first listed piece below which also does not have a collection label – just the info on a sticker on the side of the container) are in Riker boxes with a Lang Collection label. Once more, these boxes do raise the shipping costs quite a bit (to around $5 or $6 for US orders and much more on overseas sales). I will offer this option: As last time, overseas orders will be have to individually calculated if you want the Riker sent along with the specimen. Without it the usual cheapest (jewelry box in a padded envelope) for around $12 will work fine. For US sales, I’ll pay the shipping if you want to leave me with the Riker as this saves me the need for a larger box and extra packing (plus I can re-use the Riker to make more of my Sahara arrowhead displays or such). Regardless, the sample(s) will still be shipped with their labels.
DAR al Gani (429), Libya: Carbonaceous chondrite (C3) – ungrouped. Found 1998. Tkw = 253 grams.
This is a quite fresh looking fragment in a membrane box. It does not have any fusion crust unfortunately, but does show some chondrules (and holes where, very clearly, some chondrules were but have since fell out) in a very light gray matrix. This does have some minor light brown spots from oxidation and or adhering dirt on one side but is otherwise very fresh. I checked photos of known pieces of this and this matches perfectly, so there is no doubt that this is the correct material.
1.00gram fragment in small membrane box – 17mm x 8mm x 5mm - $80 SOLD
DAR al GANI (475), Libya: Ordinary chondrite (H3.4) S3, W3. Found May 1998. Tkw = 269 grams.
This is a cut end piece. It is nearly a complete end piece but has one end cut off that looks to have removed about 1cm of surface area from the piece. This has been polished on the cut surfaces but the largest intersected a natural internal crack so some of the polished areas are now missing (around 15% or so) and likely broke out during cutting or polishing. Regardless, the polished areas do show lots of chondrules (and one large 6mm or so clast on the larger surface). This particular H3 shows chondrules as well as or better than any I am aware of. Usually H3s have really small, hard to see chondrules in dark matrix so only careful observation allows one to see them – not so with this meteorite specimen.
10.4 gram end piece with one edge removed – 24mm x 20mm x 11mm - $60 SOLD
DAR al GANI (521), Libya: Carbonaceous chondrite (CV3). Found 1998. Tkw = 1567 grams.
This is very clearly a weathered complete individual or natural fragment. There is no discernable fusion crust remaining but the generally rounded shape says that this is quite possibly an old individual. The Meteoritical Bulletin records say that 22 pieces of this meteorite were recovered. This particular specimen has a small piece of cloth glued to it with the number “18” written on it in blue ink (kind of old museum style labeling). Not sure what this means for sure, but it could mean that this was the 18th piece recovered though I am not certain who recovered these pieces and how careful they were with record keeping (back then new desert meteorites were far more special than now). Anyway, this is a nice solid little specimen.
11.8 gram individual as found – 35mm x 20mm x 12mm - $75 SOLD
DHOFAR (132), Oman: Achondrite (Ureilite), S3, W3. Found March 18, 2000. Tkw = 5.01kg.
The reports say that one stone was recovered. The pieces here are slices with the exception of the largest which looks to be a natural fragment that spalled off of the outer surface of the main mass (but does have a cut edge that clearly shows that the piece is indeed ureilite). Looking over the specimens, I can see that this one was, like most ureilites, very hard to cut and polish. Most of these have one cut face that shows how the saw blade struggled (and sometimes offset substantially) in trying to cut through this stuff. Regardless, each specimen has at least one face that has been polished flat and shows the classic granular ureilite texture but many still show some saw marks on their surfaces (except the thicker 2.8g and 7.9 gram pieces. I suspect that those got the better polish because they could be easily held onto and less likely to burn your fingers while polishing, unlike the thinner ones).
1) Part slices:
a) .5 grams – 10mm x 7mm x 3mm - $15
b) 1.6 grams – 15mm x 12mm x 4mm - $35
c) 2.8 grams – 14mm x 12mm x 5mm - $55
d) 3.8 grams – 30mm x 20mm x 2mm - $75
e) 7.9 grams – 42mm x 13mm x 4mm - $135
2) Natural fragment with small (20mm x 5mm) cut edge:
11.6 grams – 35mm x 26mm x 7mm - $175
NWA (1182): HED achondrite (Howardite). Found 1999. Tkw = 780 grams.
A single “mostly crusted” stone was found. These two specimens are small part slices that each have one natural edge. Each piece has at least one small patch of actual crust on that natural edge The smaller has the tiny patch the larger piece’s natural edge is mostly crusted. The interior of this meteorite is quite nice. These show a nice typical howardite texture with small clasts of many different colors (browns, white, gray and bright green (Diogenite fragments likely)) in a light gray matrix.
1) Part slices:
a) .82 grams – 15mm x 9mm x 2mm - $15
b) 1.4 grams – 15mm x 15mm x 2mm - $25 SOLD
NWA (1793): Ordinary chondrite (L3), S3, W1. Found October 2002. Tkw = 585 grams.
This is a complete slice of the only stone found (well, the only one recognized and reported at the time). The edged is completely crusted, though most of it (a bit over ½) is wind-polished. The interior is quite fresh and shows lots of metal , much o it in interesting short (1cm or so long) veins. This does have plenty of chondrules (which show clearest on the back not fully polished side) but they are very hard to see as they are in a fairly dark (shock darkened) gray matrix.
64.8 gram complete slice – 80mm x 35mm x 8mm - $200 SOLD
Tuesday, 12 July 2016
Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale List 192 - 12JUL2016
Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale List 192
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
……………………………………………………LIST 192
July 12, 2016
Dear collectors,
Here, finally, is an offering. I think it has been nearly two months since my last one.
Today is the first chance I have had all summer to pull together an offering. This is a quickly pulled together offering at that. These are items that I got from Alan Lang and all but the thin howardite slices -NWA (8559)- come with a Lang Collection label. These are also all in Riker mounts so the shipping will be a bit higher on these ($4 to $6 maybe for US orders) as they will require boxes and extra packing. For overseas orders it might be best to consider letting me ship the sample on its own as I suspect that a Riker (or similar) could be picked up overseas for cheaper than the shipping will be to send it on now (the post office actually lowered our domestic shipping rates a few cents recently but seems to have jacked up overseas rates substantially to make up for it. The past few overseas orders that I have sent out I expected $9 to ship were now $13 – and that was for my usual small specimen in a small jewelry box in a padded envelope!). I’ll try to let any overseas buyers know what the rough shipping costs will be either way and let them decide from there.
DAR al GANI (313), Libya: Ordinary chondrite (L/LL3). Found April 24, 1997. Tkw = 3294 grams.
Now here is one that I believe is the opposite of the NWA chondrites listed below. This one is listed as a W2 for the weathering grade but I see very little fresh metal left in it. Regardless, it does show lots of chondrules in a very dark (nearly black) matrix. I wish they had done the sub-typing on this one. The huge spread in the Faylites in this and the dark matrix hint that this might be a really low sub type number. These are small slices. They have natural edges so they are complete slices of natural fragments.
1) Slices:
a) 1.3 grams – 15mm x 12mm x 2mm - $25
b) 6.4 grams – 42mm x 20mm x 2.5mm - $95
DAR al GANI (442), Libya: Ordinary chondrite (H3.6). Found 1998. Tkw = 188 grams.
This is a nice complete slice. It has nice black crust completely around its edge, aside from a 4mm natural chip. The interior shows lots of metal in a medium brown matrix. There are lots of chondrules present but they are not super easy to see at first glance (H chondrites generally have quite small chondrules). However, tipping the specimen so light reflects off of the metal shows lots of chondrules – many of them armored (surrounded by metal and sulfides).
13.4 gram complete slice – 40mm x 29mm x 4mm - $100
DAR al GANI (521), Libya: Carbonaceous chondrite (CV3). Found 1998. Tkw = 1567 grams.
This is a complete slice of a fragment, though the longest edge has a curved shape that is likely the original exterior of the meteorite. This CV has a very different look to it than most. This is dark brown and very hard, almost glassy (most CV’s are light gray and soft). The hardness of the piece allowed this slice to take a high diamond polish, something not really possible with the typical CV specimen. Some chondrules and CAIs are visible, but nothing like the typical CV. I looked up a couple pictures of this material available on the Meteoritical Bulletin site and this is definitely the right stuff.
6.7 gram complete slice – 55mm x 18mm x 2mm - $90
DHOFAR (125), Oman: Primitive achondrite (Acapulcoite) S1, W1/2. Found January 26, 2000. Tkw = 2697 grams.
This riker has two small thin part slices. The smallest is .17 grams and measures 9mm x 4mm x 1.5mm. The larger piece is .55 grams and measures 12mm x 9mm x 1.5mm. Both piece show a typical granular acapulcoite texture.
.72 gram thin slices (2 pieces) - $40
NWA (1203): Ordinary chondrite (H5). Found 1999. Tkw = 716 grams.
I am not sure if much of this has ever been available to the collecting world. It was classified ion Tokyo and has an unlisted owner for the main mass. Regardless, this is actually a pretty nice complete slice. It has nice dark fusion crust around most of the edge. Despite its W3 in the Bulletin report, this is also quite fresh inside as well. There is lots of fresh metal and a number of clear breccia clasts visible in a nice light brown matrix. Frankly, this is every bit as nice as some of the Plainview, TX slices I have had recently.
77.1 gram complete slice – 85mm x 70mm x 4mm - $100
NWA (1224): Ordinary chondrite (L5). Found 1999. Tkw = 93 + grams.
I put a + on the total known weigh as I know it can’t be correct as I have 102 grams here. Regardless, this is a meteorite I wish I had more of as it has a wonderful breccia texture. It has lots of thin dark shock veins (and this is only a S3?) surrounding angular to rounded light to medium tan fragments. The back sides of these have nice dark chocolate brown to black crust (the smaller piece being pretty much completely crusted and the larger having some old surface chipping covering about 30%). This, along with the abundance of fresh metal makes me question a bit the W3 weathering grade assigned to this stone. Note, the larger piece has a high diamond polish that hides the structure a bit. Lower sanding/ polishing levels (around 220 grit) tend to show breccia textures better. However the super nice polish job has me hesitant to back sand this, so I’ll leave it as it is for now.
1) End pieces:
a) 50.9 grams – 50mm x 40mm x 15mm - $100
b) 51.2 grams – 60mm x 33mm x 20mm - $100
NWA (8559): HED achondirite (Howardite). Found April 1, 2013. Tkw = 1758.8 grams.
Here are a couple nice thin complete slices of this meteorite. The research report on this find says this meteorite is composed of 20% diogenite, 30% basaltic eucrite and 50% cumulate eucrite material (pretty much a complete run of the common Vesta surface materials). These slices have the classic howardite look angular clasts of different colors (white, gray black, etc) in medium gray matrix. The smaller piece has a couple larger clasts that are clearly eucrite fragments (completely different from each other texturally). The larger piece has a couple larger obvious black inclusions. The larger of the two (about 1cm x 1cm) looks to be (and likely is) a CM2 fragment (I almost sold this piece to a new collector at the Colorado Springs show last month, partly because of this feature. Unfortunately, they started flashing the lights saying “show is over for the day NOW” – despite the show having the best foot traffic of the day. The collector lived far enough away that he could not come back the next day to finish deciding if he was going to take this or the pallasite slice he was looking at).
1) Complete slices:
a) 39.9 grams – 105mm x 63mm x 2mm - $550
b) 42.1 grams – 115mm x 75mm x 1.5mm - $600
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
……………………………………………………LIST 192
July 12, 2016
Dear collectors,
Here, finally, is an offering. I think it has been nearly two months since my last one.
Today is the first chance I have had all summer to pull together an offering. This is a quickly pulled together offering at that. These are items that I got from Alan Lang and all but the thin howardite slices -NWA (8559)- come with a Lang Collection label. These are also all in Riker mounts so the shipping will be a bit higher on these ($4 to $6 maybe for US orders) as they will require boxes and extra packing. For overseas orders it might be best to consider letting me ship the sample on its own as I suspect that a Riker (or similar) could be picked up overseas for cheaper than the shipping will be to send it on now (the post office actually lowered our domestic shipping rates a few cents recently but seems to have jacked up overseas rates substantially to make up for it. The past few overseas orders that I have sent out I expected $9 to ship were now $13 – and that was for my usual small specimen in a small jewelry box in a padded envelope!). I’ll try to let any overseas buyers know what the rough shipping costs will be either way and let them decide from there.
DAR al GANI (313), Libya: Ordinary chondrite (L/LL3). Found April 24, 1997. Tkw = 3294 grams.
Now here is one that I believe is the opposite of the NWA chondrites listed below. This one is listed as a W2 for the weathering grade but I see very little fresh metal left in it. Regardless, it does show lots of chondrules in a very dark (nearly black) matrix. I wish they had done the sub-typing on this one. The huge spread in the Faylites in this and the dark matrix hint that this might be a really low sub type number. These are small slices. They have natural edges so they are complete slices of natural fragments.
1) Slices:
a) 1.3 grams – 15mm x 12mm x 2mm - $25
b) 6.4 grams – 42mm x 20mm x 2.5mm - $95
DAR al GANI (442), Libya: Ordinary chondrite (H3.6). Found 1998. Tkw = 188 grams.
This is a nice complete slice. It has nice black crust completely around its edge, aside from a 4mm natural chip. The interior shows lots of metal in a medium brown matrix. There are lots of chondrules present but they are not super easy to see at first glance (H chondrites generally have quite small chondrules). However, tipping the specimen so light reflects off of the metal shows lots of chondrules – many of them armored (surrounded by metal and sulfides).
13.4 gram complete slice – 40mm x 29mm x 4mm - $100
DAR al GANI (521), Libya: Carbonaceous chondrite (CV3). Found 1998. Tkw = 1567 grams.
This is a complete slice of a fragment, though the longest edge has a curved shape that is likely the original exterior of the meteorite. This CV has a very different look to it than most. This is dark brown and very hard, almost glassy (most CV’s are light gray and soft). The hardness of the piece allowed this slice to take a high diamond polish, something not really possible with the typical CV specimen. Some chondrules and CAIs are visible, but nothing like the typical CV. I looked up a couple pictures of this material available on the Meteoritical Bulletin site and this is definitely the right stuff.
6.7 gram complete slice – 55mm x 18mm x 2mm - $90
DHOFAR (125), Oman: Primitive achondrite (Acapulcoite) S1, W1/2. Found January 26, 2000. Tkw = 2697 grams.
This riker has two small thin part slices. The smallest is .17 grams and measures 9mm x 4mm x 1.5mm. The larger piece is .55 grams and measures 12mm x 9mm x 1.5mm. Both piece show a typical granular acapulcoite texture.
.72 gram thin slices (2 pieces) - $40
NWA (1203): Ordinary chondrite (H5). Found 1999. Tkw = 716 grams.
I am not sure if much of this has ever been available to the collecting world. It was classified ion Tokyo and has an unlisted owner for the main mass. Regardless, this is actually a pretty nice complete slice. It has nice dark fusion crust around most of the edge. Despite its W3 in the Bulletin report, this is also quite fresh inside as well. There is lots of fresh metal and a number of clear breccia clasts visible in a nice light brown matrix. Frankly, this is every bit as nice as some of the Plainview, TX slices I have had recently.
77.1 gram complete slice – 85mm x 70mm x 4mm - $100
NWA (1224): Ordinary chondrite (L5). Found 1999. Tkw = 93 + grams.
I put a + on the total known weigh as I know it can’t be correct as I have 102 grams here. Regardless, this is a meteorite I wish I had more of as it has a wonderful breccia texture. It has lots of thin dark shock veins (and this is only a S3?) surrounding angular to rounded light to medium tan fragments. The back sides of these have nice dark chocolate brown to black crust (the smaller piece being pretty much completely crusted and the larger having some old surface chipping covering about 30%). This, along with the abundance of fresh metal makes me question a bit the W3 weathering grade assigned to this stone. Note, the larger piece has a high diamond polish that hides the structure a bit. Lower sanding/ polishing levels (around 220 grit) tend to show breccia textures better. However the super nice polish job has me hesitant to back sand this, so I’ll leave it as it is for now.
1) End pieces:
a) 50.9 grams – 50mm x 40mm x 15mm - $100
b) 51.2 grams – 60mm x 33mm x 20mm - $100
NWA (8559): HED achondirite (Howardite). Found April 1, 2013. Tkw = 1758.8 grams.
Here are a couple nice thin complete slices of this meteorite. The research report on this find says this meteorite is composed of 20% diogenite, 30% basaltic eucrite and 50% cumulate eucrite material (pretty much a complete run of the common Vesta surface materials). These slices have the classic howardite look angular clasts of different colors (white, gray black, etc) in medium gray matrix. The smaller piece has a couple larger clasts that are clearly eucrite fragments (completely different from each other texturally). The larger piece has a couple larger obvious black inclusions. The larger of the two (about 1cm x 1cm) looks to be (and likely is) a CM2 fragment (I almost sold this piece to a new collector at the Colorado Springs show last month, partly because of this feature. Unfortunately, they started flashing the lights saying “show is over for the day NOW” – despite the show having the best foot traffic of the day. The collector lived far enough away that he could not come back the next day to finish deciding if he was going to take this or the pallasite slice he was looking at).
1) Complete slices:
a) 39.9 grams – 105mm x 63mm x 2mm - $550
b) 42.1 grams – 115mm x 75mm x 1.5mm - $600
Wednesday, 25 May 2016
Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale - List 191 - Allende, Murchison and more
Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale - List 191 - Allende, Murchison and more
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
……………………………………………………LIST 191
May 24, 2016
Dear collectors,
Here are a few carbonaceous chondrite pieces I just received along with yet more pieces I brought home from Tucson.
Some of the “from Tucson” pieces are from a collection of material I picked up from Alan Lang (mostly small things he had set aside from many years ago). Pieces from that lot you will start to see filling out future offerings this summer.
I also need to announce that it seems that I will be doing the Colorado Springs show in a couple weeks. A friend and fellow dealer (who I see mostly at the Creede show in August) ended up being assigned a 10’ X 30’ booth with no way to fill it. I will be brining a couple tables (one 8’ and one 6’ I think) and help fill the space. This show is now located at the Mortgage Solutions Expo Center (it used to be at the Mining Museum north of town. Neat place to have a show, but out of the way and quite hard to find if you didn’t know where you were going). This is at 3650 N. Nevada Ave in Colorado Springs. The days are: Friday June 3rd through Sunday June 5th with hours of 10-5 on Friday and Saturday and 10-4 on Sunday. Anybody that thinks they might come to the show please contact me if there is anything off of any semi recent (past 6 months or even longer perhaps) offerings (mailed and e-mail) or otherwise that you want me to bring (being a relatively small show I don’t automatically bring a lot of inventory).
ALLENDE, Mexico: Carbonaceous chondrite (CV3.2). Fell February 8, 1969.
I haven’t had much Allende recently but got two pieces of this just a couple days ago. Both are very fresh. One is an angular fragment that has no crust but shows a lot of chondrules and CAIs. This particular piece is nice and interesting the way it is but it might be a good candidate for cutting into some nice slices. The other sample is also super fresh but is a really nice end piece. The cut side shows lots of chondrules and CAIs. The back side is mostly covered by fresh black crust (probably 85% coverage). It is apparent that this piece was picked up pretty much immediately after the fall. The crust shows some scuff marks from its impact BUT it also shows smeared in plant fibers (so it obviously hit some plants when it fell). These are such that they likely would have easily washed off if this had been out in the weather much.
a) 169.0 gram fragment – 70mm x 50mm x 35mm - $1350
b) 108.5 gram end piece – 80mm x 50mm x 17mm - $1300
DAR AL GANI (449), Libya: Ordinary chondrite (LL6). Found 1998. Tkw = 184 grams.
This is a cut natural fragment. The cut face shows a nice classic LL6 texture. There are some rounded light gray clasts, smaller chondrules and metal grains in a mottled light tan to brown matrix. The back side is a mix of wind polished fracture surfaces (mostly very old) and fusion crust. The fusion crusted surface makes up 40% or so of the back side. Not a rare item by type but a nice specimen none the less and probably now next to impossible to get for those that want a piece of all the different numbers they can get. This specimen is in a Riker with a Lang Collection label.
14.9 gram cut fragment – 25mm x 20mm x 16mm - $75
MURCHISON, Australia: Carbonaceous chondrite (CM2). Fell September 28, 1969.
These are all nice little natural fragments. When I received these they had some dirt on them but a quick air blasting cleaned them up such that they look pretty much like they just fell. Each specimen has some fusion crust. The 1.14 gram piece has the most at around 30% coverage. The worst (the smallest) still has a crust patch that is around 10mm x 6mm in size but has a lot of deep flow structure and bubbling.
1) Natural fragments with crust:
a) .78 grams – 12mm x 11mm x 4mm - $110
b) 1.14 grams – 16mm x 10mm x 7mm – 160
c) 1.66 grams – 13mm x 12mm x 9mm - $230
d) 1.87 grams – 15mm x 10mm x 10mm - $260
NWA (865): Ordinary chondrite (L4). Found 2000. Tkw = 263 grams.
The Meteoritical Bulletin report for this find shows that seven pieces total of this meteorite were found. Kind of too bad more weren’t recovered as this is actually very nice. This is a complete stone that is completely covered in thick, heavy fusion crust. This does show some minor amounts of wind-polishing but not much as the crust retains its full fresh crust texture. The shape of this is the classic rounded edges meteorite shape. A great little piece for showing people what a real meteorite should look like. This specimen is in a Riker with a Lang Collection label. I have priced this pretty much the same as Alan had it priced nearly 15 years ago.
39.1 gram complete individual – 40mm x 20mm x 18mm - $80
NWA (1500): Achondrite (Ureilite). Found 2000. Tkw = 3.3 kilograms.
I single nearly complete stone with patches of fusion crust was found. This little part slice shows some of that crust. This little part slice is a ¼ slice and has two cut edges and one long natural edge. The long natural edge clearly shows a rounded meteorite shape and does have a few small patches of actual fusion crust remaining (for some reason, it is pretty rare to see fusion crust on a ureilite). This is a specimen from Alan Lang. It is mounted in a membrane box that is then in a small Riker with a RA Langheinrich Meteorite Collection label.
2.0877 gram part slice – 17mm x 8mm x 5mm - $60
NWA (8362): HED achondrite (howardite). Found 2013. Tkw = 548 grams.
This is an interesting specimen. It is a ½ slice (one cut edge, remaining edges are natural) that shows a lot of rounded clasts of many colors (gray, tan, greenish) and a surprising amount (for a howardite anyway) of metal grains in a light gray matrix. The Meteoritical Bulletin report indicates that this is close to the perfect howardite. Howardites are simply breccia mixes of diogenites and eucrites. To officially be a howardite there must be at least 10% diogenitic material in the mix (not sure of the minimum of eucritic material but I suspect that it is also around 10%). The research report for this particular stone says that it is composed of roughly 50% diogenitic orthopyroxene with the remaibder being eucritic material.
11.0 gram part slice – 47mm x 35mm x 3mm - $150
SEYMCHAN, Russia: Stony-iron (pallasite). Found 1967.
This is a triangular/ wedge- shaped piece that probably resulted from someone making a sphere (to do that, you start with a cube and then begin cutting edges and corners off until you have a rough, lumpy roundish thing that you put into the sphere grinder). Regardless, this piece is very rich in olivine crystals (some gemmy).
16.2 grams – 40mm x 17mm x 7mm - $80
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
……………………………………………………LIST 191
May 24, 2016
Dear collectors,
Here are a few carbonaceous chondrite pieces I just received along with yet more pieces I brought home from Tucson.
Some of the “from Tucson” pieces are from a collection of material I picked up from Alan Lang (mostly small things he had set aside from many years ago). Pieces from that lot you will start to see filling out future offerings this summer.
I also need to announce that it seems that I will be doing the Colorado Springs show in a couple weeks. A friend and fellow dealer (who I see mostly at the Creede show in August) ended up being assigned a 10’ X 30’ booth with no way to fill it. I will be brining a couple tables (one 8’ and one 6’ I think) and help fill the space. This show is now located at the Mortgage Solutions Expo Center (it used to be at the Mining Museum north of town. Neat place to have a show, but out of the way and quite hard to find if you didn’t know where you were going). This is at 3650 N. Nevada Ave in Colorado Springs. The days are: Friday June 3rd through Sunday June 5th with hours of 10-5 on Friday and Saturday and 10-4 on Sunday. Anybody that thinks they might come to the show please contact me if there is anything off of any semi recent (past 6 months or even longer perhaps) offerings (mailed and e-mail) or otherwise that you want me to bring (being a relatively small show I don’t automatically bring a lot of inventory).
ALLENDE, Mexico: Carbonaceous chondrite (CV3.2). Fell February 8, 1969.
I haven’t had much Allende recently but got two pieces of this just a couple days ago. Both are very fresh. One is an angular fragment that has no crust but shows a lot of chondrules and CAIs. This particular piece is nice and interesting the way it is but it might be a good candidate for cutting into some nice slices. The other sample is also super fresh but is a really nice end piece. The cut side shows lots of chondrules and CAIs. The back side is mostly covered by fresh black crust (probably 85% coverage). It is apparent that this piece was picked up pretty much immediately after the fall. The crust shows some scuff marks from its impact BUT it also shows smeared in plant fibers (so it obviously hit some plants when it fell). These are such that they likely would have easily washed off if this had been out in the weather much.
a) 169.0 gram fragment – 70mm x 50mm x 35mm - $1350
b) 108.5 gram end piece – 80mm x 50mm x 17mm - $1300
DAR AL GANI (449), Libya: Ordinary chondrite (LL6). Found 1998. Tkw = 184 grams.
This is a cut natural fragment. The cut face shows a nice classic LL6 texture. There are some rounded light gray clasts, smaller chondrules and metal grains in a mottled light tan to brown matrix. The back side is a mix of wind polished fracture surfaces (mostly very old) and fusion crust. The fusion crusted surface makes up 40% or so of the back side. Not a rare item by type but a nice specimen none the less and probably now next to impossible to get for those that want a piece of all the different numbers they can get. This specimen is in a Riker with a Lang Collection label.
14.9 gram cut fragment – 25mm x 20mm x 16mm - $75
MURCHISON, Australia: Carbonaceous chondrite (CM2). Fell September 28, 1969.
These are all nice little natural fragments. When I received these they had some dirt on them but a quick air blasting cleaned them up such that they look pretty much like they just fell. Each specimen has some fusion crust. The 1.14 gram piece has the most at around 30% coverage. The worst (the smallest) still has a crust patch that is around 10mm x 6mm in size but has a lot of deep flow structure and bubbling.
1) Natural fragments with crust:
a) .78 grams – 12mm x 11mm x 4mm - $110
b) 1.14 grams – 16mm x 10mm x 7mm – 160
c) 1.66 grams – 13mm x 12mm x 9mm - $230
d) 1.87 grams – 15mm x 10mm x 10mm - $260
NWA (865): Ordinary chondrite (L4). Found 2000. Tkw = 263 grams.
The Meteoritical Bulletin report for this find shows that seven pieces total of this meteorite were found. Kind of too bad more weren’t recovered as this is actually very nice. This is a complete stone that is completely covered in thick, heavy fusion crust. This does show some minor amounts of wind-polishing but not much as the crust retains its full fresh crust texture. The shape of this is the classic rounded edges meteorite shape. A great little piece for showing people what a real meteorite should look like. This specimen is in a Riker with a Lang Collection label. I have priced this pretty much the same as Alan had it priced nearly 15 years ago.
39.1 gram complete individual – 40mm x 20mm x 18mm - $80
NWA (1500): Achondrite (Ureilite). Found 2000. Tkw = 3.3 kilograms.
I single nearly complete stone with patches of fusion crust was found. This little part slice shows some of that crust. This little part slice is a ¼ slice and has two cut edges and one long natural edge. The long natural edge clearly shows a rounded meteorite shape and does have a few small patches of actual fusion crust remaining (for some reason, it is pretty rare to see fusion crust on a ureilite). This is a specimen from Alan Lang. It is mounted in a membrane box that is then in a small Riker with a RA Langheinrich Meteorite Collection label.
2.0877 gram part slice – 17mm x 8mm x 5mm - $60
NWA (8362): HED achondrite (howardite). Found 2013. Tkw = 548 grams.
This is an interesting specimen. It is a ½ slice (one cut edge, remaining edges are natural) that shows a lot of rounded clasts of many colors (gray, tan, greenish) and a surprising amount (for a howardite anyway) of metal grains in a light gray matrix. The Meteoritical Bulletin report indicates that this is close to the perfect howardite. Howardites are simply breccia mixes of diogenites and eucrites. To officially be a howardite there must be at least 10% diogenitic material in the mix (not sure of the minimum of eucritic material but I suspect that it is also around 10%). The research report for this particular stone says that it is composed of roughly 50% diogenitic orthopyroxene with the remaibder being eucritic material.
11.0 gram part slice – 47mm x 35mm x 3mm - $150
SEYMCHAN, Russia: Stony-iron (pallasite). Found 1967.
This is a triangular/ wedge- shaped piece that probably resulted from someone making a sphere (to do that, you start with a cube and then begin cutting edges and corners off until you have a rough, lumpy roundish thing that you put into the sphere grinder). Regardless, this piece is very rich in olivine crystals (some gemmy).
16.2 grams – 40mm x 17mm x 7mm - $80
Thursday, 12 May 2016
Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale - List 190 - Moon rocks
Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale - List 190 - Moon rocks
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
……………………………………………………LIST 190
May 11, 2016
Dear collectors,
Here is an assortment of older Lunar slices that I had on display over in Montrose (I picked them up yesterday). I had left them there for a few years so that the folks of Montrose who thought they were plowing up, tripping over, building fence rows out moon rocks (thanks to the local paper, library and the loon they supported/ aided and abetted) would have the chance to see and compare to genuine Lunar material. We (the store and I) were going to have a publicized “come see real moon rocks and have your potential meteorites identified” event. He had been asking me to do this for a few years now but I didn’t think it was a particularly safe idea. Now with the loon in jail for the time being, we began to set up a schedule and began making plans. However, the event has now been permanently canceled. The store owner’s wife saw the still huge potential danger in hosting such an event and (wisely in my opinion) has forbade it from happening in their store. I won’t go into the ugly details here (some day I might explain all the “excitement” that has developed because of my involvement in showing Montrose is NOT the “Meteorite Capital of the World”) but she CLEARLY understands that there are far more people that are upset and involved in the issue than just the guy in jail (unfortunately, it seems my actions have also managed to upset the local and state “Sovereign Citizen” movement. These folks are listed by the FBI as the greatest terrorist threat within the US). Basically, the store no longer needs (nor wants) the liability of these rocks on display so now I am making some of them available for sale. Needless to say, I have only one of each of these (and some of these are really hard to come by these days) so contact me quickly if possible if you are interested. On the expensive pieces I am happy to work out time payments or such if needed as well.
DAR al GANI (400), Libya: Lunar (anorthositic breccia). Found 1998. Tkw = 1425 grams.
Boy, this meteorite sure scared the _ell out of me when its discovery was announced. I had wired $87k to Germany to buy a piece of Dar al Gani (262) that was the size of a nickel and had not received it yet when this new lunar was announced. Thankfully (or I would have probably gone bankrupt and left meteorites all together) this huge new lunar did not become available for quite some time (not much of it was offered for sale and it was not cheap when it did finally make its way to collectors). So, me and my chips of Dar al Gani (262) ended up being the first lunar material released widely to collectors. Anyway, this is a long triangular thin slice. There are some light clasts in a medium to dark gray mottled matrix. Not real exciting but this particular material is not commonly available.
.243 gram slice – 20mm x 8mm x .5mm - $400
DHOFAR (461), Oman: Lunar (anorthositic crystalline melt breccia). Found 2001. Tkw = 33.7 grams.
The total known weight listed above is for the particular stone this slice was cut from. Apparently, 13 paired pieces totaling 708 grams were ultimately recovered. To be honest, this sure does not look exciting (but it is a bit different in type/ texture from most Lunar specimens) with only a few really tiny white clasts in dark brown matrix. The edge of this piece is about ½ natural and ½ cut. I got it years ago (at a much higher price) form the Russians that supposedly found it.
.95 gram slice – 28mm x 18mm x .5mm - $1000
NWA (032): Lunar (olivine-pyroxene basalt). Found October 1999. Tkw = about 300 grams.
Hmm, for 300 grams supposedly being found of this I sure haven’t ever seen much of it around over the years. I got this from Alan Lang many years ago (and it was really expensive back then – not that it is really cheap now). Of all the Lunar basalts I have ever seen, this stuff looks the most like a basalt (at least a terrestrial basalt). It has small (mm or so sized) greenish tan crystals in a dark gray, nearly black matrix. This is a super thin slice in a membrane box. A small (around 3mm x 2mm) corner has broken off (good E-Bay micro?). The slice is solid otherwise (though so thin I would advise against handling it).
.206 gram slice – 15mm x 10mm x .5mm - $600
NWA (482): Lunar (impact melt breccia). Found 2000. Tkw = 1015 grams.
Here is small but super nice piece of possibly the most famous Lunar meteorite. This piece may be small but it has absolutely everything you want to see in a piece of this meteorite. Half of the edge has a nice sculpted shape and is covered with fusion crust (the remainder is broken, not cut). The interior shows a fantastic breccia texture. About 1/3rd is a large white clast. The remainder shows lots of small angular white clasts separated by black shock melt veins. A “micro” specimen in size only.
.388 gram slice – 12mm x 11mm x 1mm - $750
NWA (2727): Lunar (mare basalt/ gabbro breccia). Found 2005. Tkw = 191.2 grams.
Here is one that I shared with a few other people. Four stones were recovered (30.6g, 11.6g, 64g, 85g). I got the 30.6 gram piece. This particular slice is a complete slice (well complete slice of the fragments anyway) of my specimen. This is interesting/ odd looking stuff. A bit over half of this slice is a mottled medium gray material (likely the mare basalt portion) with the remainder being neat brecciated mix of green, white and gray material (likely the gabbro).
4.15 gram complete slice – 35mm x 27mm x 2mm - $3500
NWA (2995): Lunar (feldspathic breccia). Found 2005. Tkw = 538 grams.
Here is a slice that makes people say “Wow!”. This slice is exactly what most people think of when they think “moon rock”. This has the classic highly brecciated texture with LOTS of light colored clasts (of all sizes – up to close to a centimeter) in a dark gray matrix. This is a nice, solid complete slice. A real museum piece.
11.5 gram complete slice – 70mm x 45mm x 1mm - $8000
NWA (2977): Lunar (gabbro). Found 2005. Tkw = 233 grams.
This is a slice I picked up years ago as the “gabbro” (basaltic composition but solidified slower below the surface so it developed coarser crystal structure) for my collection. This is a part slice that has crust/ natural exterior around about 2/3rds of the edge. The remaining edge is freshly broken but has a natural appearance to it. The interior is a fine granular light greenish tan color with lots of fine black shock veins running through it.
1.55 gram slice – 23mm x 20mm x 1mm - $1100
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
……………………………………………………LIST 190
May 11, 2016
Dear collectors,
Here is an assortment of older Lunar slices that I had on display over in Montrose (I picked them up yesterday). I had left them there for a few years so that the folks of Montrose who thought they were plowing up, tripping over, building fence rows out moon rocks (thanks to the local paper, library and the loon they supported/ aided and abetted) would have the chance to see and compare to genuine Lunar material. We (the store and I) were going to have a publicized “come see real moon rocks and have your potential meteorites identified” event. He had been asking me to do this for a few years now but I didn’t think it was a particularly safe idea. Now with the loon in jail for the time being, we began to set up a schedule and began making plans. However, the event has now been permanently canceled. The store owner’s wife saw the still huge potential danger in hosting such an event and (wisely in my opinion) has forbade it from happening in their store. I won’t go into the ugly details here (some day I might explain all the “excitement” that has developed because of my involvement in showing Montrose is NOT the “Meteorite Capital of the World”) but she CLEARLY understands that there are far more people that are upset and involved in the issue than just the guy in jail (unfortunately, it seems my actions have also managed to upset the local and state “Sovereign Citizen” movement. These folks are listed by the FBI as the greatest terrorist threat within the US). Basically, the store no longer needs (nor wants) the liability of these rocks on display so now I am making some of them available for sale. Needless to say, I have only one of each of these (and some of these are really hard to come by these days) so contact me quickly if possible if you are interested. On the expensive pieces I am happy to work out time payments or such if needed as well.
DAR al GANI (400), Libya: Lunar (anorthositic breccia). Found 1998. Tkw = 1425 grams.
Boy, this meteorite sure scared the _ell out of me when its discovery was announced. I had wired $87k to Germany to buy a piece of Dar al Gani (262) that was the size of a nickel and had not received it yet when this new lunar was announced. Thankfully (or I would have probably gone bankrupt and left meteorites all together) this huge new lunar did not become available for quite some time (not much of it was offered for sale and it was not cheap when it did finally make its way to collectors). So, me and my chips of Dar al Gani (262) ended up being the first lunar material released widely to collectors. Anyway, this is a long triangular thin slice. There are some light clasts in a medium to dark gray mottled matrix. Not real exciting but this particular material is not commonly available.
.243 gram slice – 20mm x 8mm x .5mm - $400
DHOFAR (461), Oman: Lunar (anorthositic crystalline melt breccia). Found 2001. Tkw = 33.7 grams.
The total known weight listed above is for the particular stone this slice was cut from. Apparently, 13 paired pieces totaling 708 grams were ultimately recovered. To be honest, this sure does not look exciting (but it is a bit different in type/ texture from most Lunar specimens) with only a few really tiny white clasts in dark brown matrix. The edge of this piece is about ½ natural and ½ cut. I got it years ago (at a much higher price) form the Russians that supposedly found it.
.95 gram slice – 28mm x 18mm x .5mm - $1000
NWA (032): Lunar (olivine-pyroxene basalt). Found October 1999. Tkw = about 300 grams.
Hmm, for 300 grams supposedly being found of this I sure haven’t ever seen much of it around over the years. I got this from Alan Lang many years ago (and it was really expensive back then – not that it is really cheap now). Of all the Lunar basalts I have ever seen, this stuff looks the most like a basalt (at least a terrestrial basalt). It has small (mm or so sized) greenish tan crystals in a dark gray, nearly black matrix. This is a super thin slice in a membrane box. A small (around 3mm x 2mm) corner has broken off (good E-Bay micro?). The slice is solid otherwise (though so thin I would advise against handling it).
.206 gram slice – 15mm x 10mm x .5mm - $600
NWA (482): Lunar (impact melt breccia). Found 2000. Tkw = 1015 grams.
Here is small but super nice piece of possibly the most famous Lunar meteorite. This piece may be small but it has absolutely everything you want to see in a piece of this meteorite. Half of the edge has a nice sculpted shape and is covered with fusion crust (the remainder is broken, not cut). The interior shows a fantastic breccia texture. About 1/3rd is a large white clast. The remainder shows lots of small angular white clasts separated by black shock melt veins. A “micro” specimen in size only.
.388 gram slice – 12mm x 11mm x 1mm - $750
NWA (2727): Lunar (mare basalt/ gabbro breccia). Found 2005. Tkw = 191.2 grams.
Here is one that I shared with a few other people. Four stones were recovered (30.6g, 11.6g, 64g, 85g). I got the 30.6 gram piece. This particular slice is a complete slice (well complete slice of the fragments anyway) of my specimen. This is interesting/ odd looking stuff. A bit over half of this slice is a mottled medium gray material (likely the mare basalt portion) with the remainder being neat brecciated mix of green, white and gray material (likely the gabbro).
4.15 gram complete slice – 35mm x 27mm x 2mm - $3500
NWA (2995): Lunar (feldspathic breccia). Found 2005. Tkw = 538 grams.
Here is a slice that makes people say “Wow!”. This slice is exactly what most people think of when they think “moon rock”. This has the classic highly brecciated texture with LOTS of light colored clasts (of all sizes – up to close to a centimeter) in a dark gray matrix. This is a nice, solid complete slice. A real museum piece.
11.5 gram complete slice – 70mm x 45mm x 1mm - $8000
NWA (2977): Lunar (gabbro). Found 2005. Tkw = 233 grams.
This is a slice I picked up years ago as the “gabbro” (basaltic composition but solidified slower below the surface so it developed coarser crystal structure) for my collection. This is a part slice that has crust/ natural exterior around about 2/3rds of the edge. The remaining edge is freshly broken but has a natural appearance to it. The interior is a fine granular light greenish tan color with lots of fine black shock veins running through it.
1.55 gram slice – 23mm x 20mm x 1mm - $1100
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