Wednesday, 17 April 2019

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 225

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

April, 17, 2019

                        LIST 225


Note for Colorado buyers: I have not seen any changes recently to the “grace period” on the requirement that I collect and remit ALL sales taxes for your locations (this will be different, with different agencies that have to be properly paid for every address I need to ship to). The grace period runs out on May 31st (despite there being no system set up for me to even be able to begin to try and comply with this ridiculous new regulation). So, if you are a RETAIL buyer in Colorado, please try to place orders for anything you might like from this list at least couple days before the May 31st compliance deadline so I can have the items fully invoiced, packed and shipped out on or before May 31st. Thanks! 

Note: Pieces listed with ** after the weight are replacements for the piece that was originally in the group photo for these meteorites. They are, for the most part, very similar to the photo piece but are NOT the actual pieces in the photo(s)
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CANYON DIABLO, Arizona: Coarse octahedrite (IAB). Found 1891.
Here is something I have not had in a long, long time – etched slices of this meteorite! Even better, these are all nice complete slices of small individuals. Canyon Diablo is not often cut. I have known several people over the years that have tried but they usually end up giving up after they hit a diamond in a specimen (and a diamond in an iron meteorite will win against those on the edge of a multi-hundreds of $ saw blade every time) or (what embarrassingly happened to me in a geochemistry class in college) the specimens don’t etch from being heated during the impact. Anyway, these are nice little complete slices that all show a good etch (and inclusions) structure. 
1) Etched complete slices:
a) 10.8 grams - 30mm x 20mm x 3mm - $22
b) 22.7 grams - 38mm x 25mm x 3mm - $45
c) 33.7 grams** - 40mm x 32mm x 3mm - $66 
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NWA (11190): Ordinary chondrite. (L4), S2, W1. Found before January 2017. Tkw = 1000grams.
This is a Main Mass I have decided to offer intact (well, mostly, there is an end cut off that supplied the material for the research work done on this) because this is actually a pretty nice desk specimen as it is. This is quite fresh, shows lots of chondrules and metal in a light gray matrix that has only minor rust staining on the 50mm x 45mm cut face. This also has a good amount of fairly fresh fusion crust covering around 70% or so of the exterior surfaces. If this does not sell intact, I will likely cut it and offer up slices (and an end piece) on a future list.
    977.3 gram main mass – 85mm x 80mm x 70mm - $900
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NWA (7902): Ordinary chondrite, (L3.7), W2. Found before February 2013. Tkw = 2016.5 grams.
This is a stone that I have had for some years but had only offered as a nearly 2kg main mass in the past (and nearly sold it as such). I finally got around to cutting it. The interior shows densely packed chondrules (though not super vibrant) and small veins of Fe-oxide in a brown matrix. Research work showed this meteorite to have kind of a split personality. The Fa (a measure of the iron content) spread of the olivines indicates a type 3.7 classification but the Pyroxenes Fs spread (again a measure of the iron content) indicates a lower type 3.4.
1) Slices:
a) 5.1 grams - 24mm x 15mm x 4mm - $20
b) 10.3 grams - 27mm x 22mm x 5mm - $40
c) 21.3 grams - 50mm x 40mm x 4mm - $80
d) 39.2 grams - 80mm x 44mm x 4mm - $135 – complete slice.
e) 77.6 grams - 90mm x 65mm x 5mm - $250 – complete slice.

2) End piece:
a) 889.2 grams - 85mm x 74mm x 80mm - $1600 – Main Mass.
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NWA (12007), Ordinary chondrite, (LL6), S2, W1. Found before Feb. 2018. Tkw = 155.6 grams.
Like the earlier offered NWA (12005), this one came to me at the very end of the show. Like NWA (12005) offered on my last list, this also looked to be far more interesting than research showed it to be. This had the exterior look of a CK meteorite, though the “chondrules” looked like they could be rounded breccia clasts. This also showed no attraction to a strong magnet. I thought that this was either weird CK (many of those do show magnetic attraction though) or a weird eucrite. Nope, this is actually a weird looking LL6. It’s interior in a dark gray with a few chondrule remnants (one large one is offset by a shock vein) in a couple of the slices and, despite its lack of magnetic attraction, some “metal” (more likely troilite) grains. Nothing special really but a bit different from the usual LL6 stones I have had. 
1) Slices:
a) 2.0 grams - 18mm x 15mm x 2mm - $16
b) 3.9 grams - 25mm x 18mm x 3mm - $31
c) 8.6 grams - 35mm x 30mm x 3mm - $67
d) 10.7 grams - 50mm x 33mm x 2mm - $80 – complete slice.

2) Main mass: 42.1 gram end piece – 50mm x 30mm x 15mm - $250.00
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VINALES, Cuba: Unstudied but likely L or LL6. Fell February 1, 2019.
I actually had these on the way to my house before I left Tucson. I rapidly sold the complete individuals but have (finally – in between the endless snow and rain storms we’ve had since I’ve been home) prepped up some end pieces and slices from a few of the larger broken individuals I had. These were all cut from pieces that were recovered before rains had come in after the fall so these are (for the most part – there are a few pieces cut from a piece that was found in a low area that show some minor hints of brown staining near the edges) quite bright white and show lots of fresh metal and sulfides. All of my pieces show some shock veining and some have larger areas of shock darkening and brecciation (looking somewhat similar to some Chelyabinsk specimens). I am giving out temporary identification cards with these specimens and will have to send buyers of these pieces real cards once research work is done and reported on this new fall. This is only the second meteorite reported from Cuba! (the other was a small 1.5kg iron found way back in 1871. I found notes in one article commenting about a supposed fall near a reservoir back in 1994 but can’t find any further records of the event in official meteorite records).
1) Slices:
a) 1.1 grams** - 13mm x 11mm x 3mm - $27
b) 2.0 grams - 17mm x 14mm x 3mm - $50
c) 3.8 grams** - 26mm x 21mm x 3mm - $95 – complete slice.
d) 7.2 grams - 33mm x 27mm x 3mm - $180 – nice complete slice.

2) End pieces: with nice crust on the back. I have only one of each of these:
a) 6.3 grams - 24mm x 17mm x 8mm - $160
b) 9.7 grams** - 17mm x 16mm x 5mm - $240 – mostly secondary crust on back.
c) 16.6 grams - 33mm x 23mm x 13mm - $415
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El MEDANO (395), Chile: Primitive achondrite (Brachinite). Found November 2018. Tkw = 2288 grams.
Steve Arnold found this stone on top of a hill while on a meteorite hunt in the Chile. He sent me a piece to run on the XRF wanting to know if it was a meteorite. I did not know that he had already sent pieces off to a researcher. My answer was “Yes” it is a meteorite and that it looked to be a brachinite (a very rare type achondrite that is mostly olivine). He said the researcher thought it was a “low carbon ureilite”. Well, the Fe content (and Fe/Mn ratio) was wrong for such a thing (even though this does indeed have the granular/ crystalline texture almost identical to many ureilites). I (rightfully it turned out) suggested that he tell the researcher about this as Brachinites are rare enough that many researchers have never seen one (and thus not consider that possibility so easily). Anyway, this DID turn out to be a brachinite and it is the first one from the entire Western Hemisphere! These are all slices that were cut fairly thin with a wire saw. I got them unpolished and I did try (using both a flat lap and my usual drum sander) sanding these but ended up with somewhat bad results. Given the granular texture of this material, it kept crumbling into ever smaller pieces the more I tried to work with it. I eventually gave up and decided to simply spray-coat one side of each of these (gives a polished look without my making all of this into sub-gram sized pieces) that can easily be removed in the future if one is so inclined.
1) Slices:
a) .45 grams - 11mm x 7mm x 2mm - $23
b) .91 grams - 17mm x 9mm x 2mm - $46
c) 1.4 grams - 20mm x 12mm x 2mm - $70
d) 2.0 grams - 20mm x 18mm x 2mm - $100
e) 2.9 grams - 28mm x 17mm x 2mm - $140
f) 5.4 grams - 37mm x 25mm x 2.5mm - sold
g) 10.3 grams - 50mm x 42mm x 2mm - sold

Please note:
Shipping:  For small US orders $4 is OK 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 $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, 2 April 2019

Blaine Reed Meteorites for Sale - List 224

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax
(970) 874-1487                                                                                                                               
                                                                      LIST 224

April 2, 2019

Here is an assortment of consigned items that I will be returning to their owner while visiting the Denver Spring Show next week (I will be gone from the 10th through the 15th for this event and other things). So, I won’t have easy access to the things listed here after next Wednesday.

The show itself is at the same location I set up at for the fall show (Crowne Plaza DIA – 15500 E. 40th Ave). The show opens at 10am each day (Friday the 12th through Sunday the 14th) and is open until 6pm the first 2 days and 5pm on Sunday. I don’t set up at this show but I will visit it fairly extensively from Friday afternoon through mid day Sunday. I’ll have a room at the show hotel Friday and Saturday nights. So, if any of you out there want to meet (let me know if there are any things you want me to bring from any of my recent offerings) let me know and we’ll make arrangements (I’ll give you the cell number I’ll have while I am at the show to make it easier).



BELMONT, Wisconsin: Ordinary chondrite (H6), veined. Found 1950. Tkw = 25.3kg.
This is the last piece I have of this meteorite. I have had it for quite some time but I have not had it set out for high visibility for quite some time (it is usually in a bag in my tub full of bags of meteorites that I have had go through my various, more obvious Riker displays at shows for a year or so first). This is a part slice that has weathered fusion crust along ½ of its edge. The remaining edge is either cut (the short dimension length listed below) or a break/ fracture edge. The interior shows lots of really fine metal grains, some dark chondrules in a chocolate brown matrix. I’m offering this as it is initially, but I think it would be OK for me to break this into some smaller pieces if this does not sell intact first and any of you are wanting a smaller specimen.
                78.5 gram part slice – 85mm x 45mm x 5mm - $1150

INDOCHINITES: Vietnam, from Dr. Nininger.
Here is a nice assortment of teardrop tektites that Dr. Nininger recovered years ago. I think I have had some of these in the past BUT I think mine were not labeled. Nope, I don’t have paper labels with these, unfortunately, but all of these do have catalog numbers painted on them by Dr. Nininger (the numbers painted on each is listed after the weight below).
1)       Teardrop specimens:
a)       10.6 grams (V6011) – 30mm x 17mm x 15mm - $106
b)       16.3 grams (V6300) – 65mm x 15mm x 12mm - $163
c)       21.4 grams (V7137) – 55mm x 20mm x 17mm - $214
d)       23.1 grams (14V228) – 57mm x 20mm x 18mm - $231

NWA (5484): HED achondrite (diogenite). Found 2008. Tkw = 328grams.
This is more of the material I had (and sold out of) some years ago (I sold several pieces when I put this material out in Tucson this year). This is the diogenite that looks pretty much identical to the Alan Hills 84001 Martian which WAS originally classified as a simple diogenite at first but is now Mars’ only classified known “orthopyroxenite”. The slices listed here each have some fusion crust along their edges and the end pieces have good crust coverage (around 70%) of their backsides.
1)       Slices:
a)       1.8 grams – 18mm x 10mm x 3mm - $45
b)       3.5 grams – 33mm x 12mm x 3mm - $85
c)       4.3 grams – 40mm x 12mm x 3mm - $105

2)       End pieces:
a)       3.5 grams – 19mm x 12mm x 6mm - $85
b)       10.2 grams – 40mm x 17mm x 6mm - $230

NWA (7325): Anomalous achondrite. Found 2012. Tkw = 345+g.
Well, this is actually a pairing to that original find. This is the strange stuff that some pieces have a bizarre bright green fusion crust (the fragment listed below is the only piece that shows some of this – a roughly 2mm x 2mm patch). The low iron content, the “ basaltic” nature of this, indicating an origin from a somewhat large parent body has some believing that this MAY be from the planet Mercury. However, I seem to recall that this material has a quite ancient crystallization age so this origin story is somewhat unlikely (unfortunately). Regardless, this is a strange meteorite and very little was ever recovered (so prices never came down much on this).
1)       Slices:
a)       .05grams – 5mm x 4mm x 1mm - $50
b)       .52 grams – 13mm x 10mm x 1mm - $450
c)       .87 grams – 16mm x 12mm x 1mm - $750
d)       2.47 grams – 25mm x 16mm x 2mm - $2100

2)       Fragment: 1.55 grams – 13mm x 12mm x 7mm - $1250. Has 2mm x 2mm patch of green crust.

NWA (10153): Martian (Nakhlite). Found December 2014. Tkw = 119g.
This is actually a pairing (by Dr. Agee at UNM) to the 10153 original reported find. This is a bit different in appearance from other nakhlites I have seen. This has a granular texture with a mix of crystals that are green, tan and pink – looking very much like a terrestrial granite to some degree. Some of these pieces have a little bit of resin on their edges – as I suspect that such was needed to keep this material from turning into a pile of dirt during cutting.
1)       slices:
a)       .40 grams – 12mm x 7mm x 1.5mm - $280
b)       .86 grams – 14mm x 11mm x 2mm - $600
c)       1.60 grams – 21mm x 12mm x 3mm - $1100
d)       2.17 grams – 22mm x 15mm x 3mm - $1500

OWASCO, Nebraska: (L6). Recognized 1984. Tkw = 168.4 kilograms.
This is a cut end piece/ bookend specimen that has a Huss number (H441.10) painted on it and comes with an American Meteorite Laboratory label. However, this label indicates that this piece was larger at some point in the past. The listed weight on the label was originally 1087.4 grams.
                320.1 gram ½ end piece/ bookend – 95mm x 50mm x 40mm - $1100 

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 

Monday, 11 March 2019

Blaine Reed Meteorites for Sale- List 222 Rohr Collection: Part 2, volume 1

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487                                                                                                                                
List 222

Rohr Collection: Part 2, volume 1


ALMAHATA SITTA, Sudan: Polymict Ureilite. Fell October 7, 2008. 
This is a piece of the stuff that was seen by telescopes approaching as an asteroid before its fall. This asteroid turned out to be a rubble pile of all kinds of different things (E’s, H’s, R’s, etc) but was mostly ureilites of various types and textures. A recent discovery from this meteorite I heard of a few months ago (but haven’t heard anything since of) is that one piece of the ureilite material from this fall had high pressure minerals in it that indicate that the ureilite parent body was somewhere between the size of Mercury and Mars!  This specimen is a small fragment of clearly ureilite material that has fusion crust on its longest side. It is in a 55mm x 30mm plastic display box that has an Impactika label.
    .23gram ureilite fragment with crust – 10mm x 5mm x 3mm - $250

HAXTUN, Colorado: Ordinary chondrite (H/L 4). Found August 1975. Tkw = 45.5kg.
Though it isn’t particularly pretty, this is an interesting meteorite. I turned this up years ago along with John Martin (Oklahoma Meteorite Lab).  Research work that this had olivine and pyroxene iron contents right out in the middle between those of H and L chondrites. There are some hints that this leans towards L-type, but the high weathering of this meteorite makes that unclear. Anyway, this in an end piece/ cut fragment that Linton likely bought from Ann Black as it comes with an Impactika label (as well as another unnamed label and I’ve added one of my old labels from when I had this stuff for sale). 
    27.8 grams end piece/ cut fragment – 55mm x 18mm x 20mm - $125

LIBYAN DESERT GLASS:
This is actually a really nice piece. This stuff has gotten really hard (and expensive) to get these days and I think it would be hard to replace this for near the price on this. It has some minor recent chips and dings but is mostly covered in a pleasing light textured sand etched surface. This is also of high quality as far as the glass itself is concerned. It is very clear (particularly for a piece of this size) and has a nice light yellow color.  Linton got this from Jensen Meteorites and this comes with that label. 
    45.3gram nice natural fragment – 55mm x 30 x 20mm - $125

MILLBILLILLIE, Australia: HED (Eucrite). Fell October 1960.
This is listed as a fall, but none of this was picked up until 1970. Worse yet, most of this stuff remained in the field until the mid to late 1980’s. This is one of those later recovered pieces as it has a good amount of that orange dirt staining that most pieces of millbillillie had. Nope, not going to try and clean it (the horror stories I could tell of botched cleaning jobs on pieces of this meteorite. I had a chemical that would remove the orange but then left a white residue that pretty much nothing would touch). I do know that this is a pre – Calcalong Creek piece because it is absolutely complete – no chips, dings or ground flat spots (all the Millbillillies after Calcalong had one of these breaks or grinds as the folks finding them wanted to make certain they were not about to send off another moon rock as a eucrite). This does have some nice areas of black shiny crust and is absolutely covered in nice fine flow lines.
    17.4 gram complete individual – 35mm x 20mm x 17mm - $225

MUNDRABILLA, Australia: Medium octahedrite, anomalous. Found 1911.
This is actually a really neat piece. Turned upside down from how it sits naturally, it looks identical in shape to the wild Chantrelle mushrooms I like to pick in the fall (didn’t get a single one last fall – was far too dry here last summer). This has been left absolutely as found and has some caliche and dirt remaining on its surface. Best shaped piece for the size I have seen in a long time. 
    126.8 gram natural individual – 48mm x 30mm x 25mm - $125

NWA (4473): HED. Polymict Diogenite. Found 2006. Tkw = 7kg.
This is a slice of the interesting diogenite that looks very much like a Lunar anorthositic breccia. In fact, I think the Hupe brothers bought the original pieces of this material believing that that was what this was. Nope, it turned out to be more interesting scientifically (I think this was the first known polymict diogenite) but far less valuable selling to collectors wise. The only giveaway that this is not lunar is that the angular to rounded light-colored clasts (that are in a classic lunar like dark gray matrix) have a greenish tint to them. This a part slice – one natural edge and three cut, and is wedged (but you can’t see that unless you take it out of the plastic display container it is in). This comes with its original Hupe Collection label.
    8.3 gram part slice – 28mm x 21mm x 5mm - $100

TAFASSASSET, Niger: Primitive achondrite, ungrouped. Found 2000. Tkw = 110kg.
I haven’t had a piece of this interesting meteorite in quite awhile. It looks very much like a common (L6) at first glance - nice shiny grains of metal in a mottled light (nearly white) tan and brown matrix. Research work showed that it had no relationship to the L parent body. I seem to recall that it seems to be related closest to the CV parent body (making this a CV7 perhaps?). This is a nice part slice that has one cut edge (the others appear to be recent fractured edges) and is in a small membrane box that has an Impactika label.
    2.14 gram part slice – 18mm x 17mm x 2mm - $100   SOLD

Saturday, 5 January 2019

Blaine Reed Meteorites for Sale - List 221


Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487                                                                                                                                                            LIST 221

January 4, 2018


    HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Here is the e-mail version of my just mailed “what’s new” offering.

TUCSON SHOW INFO: I will be on the road from January 29th until around February 20th. For the show itself, I will be in my usual spot but the motel has a new name. It was Ramada Limited but is now “Days Inn” I believe. Regardless, it is the same place (665 N. Freeway, Tucson) and I’ll be in my usual spot (room 134). I should be open by mid to late morning Saturday February 2nd. 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 (or 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 rare.  

I apologize that this list is a little more difficult to read than most. it seems the Yahoo groups thing is not letting me format this better at this time.

GAO, Burkina Faso: Ordinary chondrite (H5). Fell March 5, 1960. Tkw = 100+ kilograms.
I know, I know, this is officially supposed to be “Gao-Guenie”. I remember the guy that came up with the notion of an overlapping fall a month apart brought specimens to my house in Durango for cutting. He got all excited exclaiming that he REALLY had a new fall after I split a few in half. I tried to explain to him that all I saw was that there was a difference in weathering grade (the Guenie pieces were simply more weathered in my opinion) and the pieces were otherwise structurally identical. So, I always considered the “Guenie” thing to be a false hope from the start. Regardless, I recently got a nice assortment of mostly complete (many of these have some areas of secondary crust) but dirty stones. I have cleaned them up (soda blasting) and they turned out quite nice. They all do have some small areas of brown rust spotting but are otherwise mostly covered in nice slate gray to black crust. By, far my cheapest witnessed fall individuals.
1) Nice individuals, cleaned to remove dirt and (most) oxide.a) 10.1 grams - 23mm x 17mm x 12mm - $15
b) 20.9 grams - 27mm x 22mm x 20mm - $30
c) 35.9 grams - 32mm x 27mm x 17mm - $50
d) 63.1 grams - 40mm x 28mm x 24mm - $85
e) 109.8 grams - 38mm x 37mm x 36mm - $135
f) 176.1 grams - 50mm x 34mm x 31mm - $220

NWA (8225): Ordinary chondrite. (H4), S2, W1. Found 2013. Tkw = 100 grams.
I believe this is the last of the small individual “Main masses” I have. Not sure I fully believe the research report of W1 on this though. The exterior has a nice rounded edge, somewhat thumb-printed shape. It does look like it is pretty much fully crusted, but the crust looks to me to be substantially weathered and wind-polished. The interior does not seem to show any fresh metal either. However, the interior does show lots of chondrules (mostly light gray to purplish brown) in medium brown matrix. I am sure it is all the chondrules that caused this little stone to get sent out for classification. Unfortunately, that work showed that this was an equilibrated type 4 chondrite. This is priced (more than $100) below what it would currently cost to get the classification work done.
    85.1 gram main mass – 35mm x 18mm x 28mm - $150.00 

NWA (10638): Ordinary chondrite (L6). Found before February 2016. Tkw = 306.6 grams.
I got this stone from a Moroccan dealer in Tucson who claimed that it was a “low number type 3” (but at a lower price than would be normal for such a stone – that should have given me a clue in itself). The small cut window did indeed show an interesting interior. It seemed to show light gray chondrules (what turned out to be mostly rounded breccia clasts) in a nearly black matrix. Regardless, actual research work showed this to be an L6! It still has in interesting texture though and, despite what the bulletin report suggests, lots of metal and sulfides. This meteorite certainly does not have your typical L6 look to it.
1) Slices:
a) 4.7 grams - 22mm x 18mm x 3mm - $9
b) 9.6 grams - 30mm x 29mm x 4mm - $18
c) 16.3 grams - 45mm x 40mm x 3mm - $30 – complete slice.
d) 26.8 grams - 50mm x 47mm x 4mm - $47 – complete slice.
2) End piece:
a) 31.2 grams - 40mm x 25mm x 40mm - $55 – main mass.

NWA (12005), Ordinary chondrite. (LL6/7), S2, W2. Found before Feb. 2018. Tkw = 223.4 grams.
This is not fully “ordinary” but it is more so than the diogenite it really, really looked like when I bought it in Tucson. This had absolutely no attraction to even the strongest magnet and, as it was the very end of the show, I had already packed up the XRF (which would have quickly sorted this out). Anyway, this has dark gray metamorphic textured clasts (the LL7 part I believe) in a fine-grained medium brown matrix. It turns out that this is only the 5th meteorite to be classified as an LL6/7. The other four where NWA stones from years earlier and totaled only a mere 2.1kg in weight! So, this is actually a fairly rare item after all.
1) Slices:
a) 2.1 grams - 18mm x 11mm x 3mm - $20
b) 4.0 grams - 30mm x 19mm x 3mm - $38
c) 8.1 grams - 35mm x 27mm x 3mm - $75
d) 16.1 grams - 48mm x 38mm x 3mm - $145 – complete slice.
2) Main mass:  25.9 gram end piece – 45mm x 33mm x 12mm - $200

NWA (11880): Rumuruti chondrite (R3.5-4), S2, W0. Found before Feb. 2018. Tkw = about 3.2 kilograms.
A 33gram piece was originally purchased at the 2018 Tucson Show. A couple months later, an additional 3150 grams were sent by mail. Studies showed that this is a breccia containing equilibrated (type4) lighter clasts mixed with darker unequilibrated (type 3.5) clasts. At the time of this discovery, this was only the second meteorite in the world to have the (R3.5-4) classification. The other is NWA (7489) weighing only 248 grams, bringing the entire world’s known weight of this type to just over 3.4kg. I don’t have a lot of this interesting meteorite (under a few hundred grams), so contact me fairly quickly if you want a piece. NOTE: I listed end pieces here as many collectors prefer them when they can get them. I do have some slices of this meteorite (.5g- $8, 1.1g- $17, 2.5g-$38, 5.8g- $85, 10.1g- $140. The 2 largest are complete slices) if you prefer a slice.
1) End pieces:
a) 1.2 grams - 20mm x 12mm x 3mm - $18
b) 3.8 grams - 26mm x 15mm x 4mm - $56
c) 6.4 grams - 30mm x 30mm x 5mm - $92
d) 9.3 grams - 28mm x 20mm x 6mm - $130
e) 15.0 grams - 35mm x 27mm x 9mm - $200
f) 25.3 grams - 45mm x 27mm x 8mm - $315

NWA (11761): Stony-iron (Mesosiderite). Found before June 2016. Tkw = 2258 grams.
This is an interesting meteorite I picked up at the Denver spring show. At first glance, all I saw was a beautiful fresh mesosiderite with a classic texture (silicate clasts of many sizes in a metal rich matrix). The lighting in the ballroom venue wasn’t real good but I swore I could see some light rusting (browning) of the metal on a bit closer look. Well, it has that look under brighter lighting as well. However it is NOT rusting! This brassy look is caused by the unusually high troilite content (13%) of this meteorite. As a consequence of this (as well as the unusually low Fe metal content of 22%) this is considered to an anomalous type 4 mesosiderite. Really pretty and, to me, really cheap for what it is (fresh, anomalous and well prepared).
1) Slices: a) 2.1 grams - 20mm x 11mm x 2mm - $21
b) 4.0 grams - 21mm x 20mm x 2mm - $40
c) 7.2 grams - 30mm x 25mm x 2mm - $70
d) 14.3 grams - 45mm x 36mm x 2mm - $140
e) 23.6 grams - 65mm x 37mm x 2mm - $225
f) 55.1 grams - 80mm x 75mm x 2mm - $500 – complete slice.

TRINITITE:
This is the glass that was formed by the melting of sand (and some supporting equipment) by the world’s first nuclear explosion (code named “trinity”). This explosion happened the morning of July 16, 1945 about 35 miles southeast of Socorro, New Mexico. This 20 kiloton sized explosion sucked up sand (and the metal of the bomb’s supporting structure) and dropped it back as molten blobs into the nearly 1100 foot (335meter) wide crater that was formed by it. I constantly have people asking for this stuff at shows and lately all I could show them was pea-sized pieces (around 1cm and less maximum dimension, low tenths of a gram weights). I recently managed to trade for some nice larger pieces. Most of these have the typical shape: one surface smooth and rounded and the other generally rough with attached bits of rock and sand. Glad to have been able to get this lot, but have no idea where (or if) I’ll be able to replace it later.
1) Natural fragments:a) 1.0 grams - 16mm x 12mm x 5mm - $6
b) 2.0 grams - 22mm x 16mm x 7mm - $12
c) 3.3 grams - 23mm x 16mm x 11mm - $20
d) 4.7 grams - 37mm x 20mm x 7mm - $28
e) 7.7 grams - 30mm x 25mm x 10mm - sold

Please note:
 Shipping:  For small US orders $4 is fine. 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 $13 (I’ll have to custom quote any larger items/ orders). Registration (recommended on more valuable overseas orders) is $15.
    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.

Friday, 4 January 2019

Blaine Reed Meteorites for Sale - List 220

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487                                                                                                                                
                            LIST 220

October 30, 2018

Dear collectors,

It has been awhile since I posted a list. I seem to have been living in a full speed run since the Denver show. That run yet continues. I would normally send out this offering on November 6th – the first Tuesday of the month (I may end up switching to the first and third Mondays of the month for these offerings sometime soon as the schedule conflict that had me tied up Mondays has long since gone away) but then I realized that I’ll be leaving the next day for my Socorro trip.

Notes on Socorro, Mew Mexico Mineral Symposium:

As mentioned above, I leave November 7th and should be back home November 14th (This assumes good weather. As I have to go over some of the toughest passes – Red Mountain, etc. I could end up leaving a day earlier or getting back home a day later if bad weather sets in). Assuming no disasters (I have had a lot of problems with motels simply loosing my reservations this year) I will, as usual, be set up at the Comfort Inn on the north end of town (on the frontage road on the west side of the interstate). I am supposed to be on the bottom floor, last room on the left at the west end of the hallway. We have had problems with some government agency in the area wanting all of the ground floor rooms at the same time for themselves and occasionally some of us dealers get routed to other floors. I’ll try to hang a couple signs in the lobby and such if this ends up happening to me. I should be set up and open by mid day Friday the 9th. I will be gone from around 5pm to around 6pm or so that evening for a “Friends of the Museum” event at the mineral museum about a mile away. I’ll likely be open until around 11pm or midnight after getting back. On Saturday, I should be open around 5pm until 11pm or so again. If you do want to visit the show and need to see me some other time you can try calling ( cell (970) 417-8783 – this ONLY works while I am traveling at shows so DON’T put this number in any files as a regular contact number) and I’ll see if we can schedule something that will work for you.

ALLENDE, Mexico: Carbonaceous chondrite (CV3). Fell February 8, 1969.
I got this piece as part of a collection and kind of misplaced it for a bit (this would have certainly sold in Denver had I brought it). This was a later recovery specimen as it had some dirt adhering to it. I soda-blasted it and most of this has now been removed. This piece now looks quite nice. Lots of nice black crust – much fuller coverage, less and smaller chipping than most Allende specimens.
    36.3 grams complete individual – 40mm x 25mm x 20mm - $400

BRENHAM, Kansas: Stony-iron (Pallasite). Found 1881.
Here is a bag of specimens that I got with Linton Rohr’s collection. It contains crystals, fragments and slices. This stuff is rusty but still shows lots of metal on most pieces. I think Linton had planned on cleaning these up, coating them and then selling them. I kind of thought of that myself (I don’t think it would take too much effort to make the bulk of this material look nice for resale), but just haven’t had the time. Most of the slices are in the 2 to 3cm size range, so they’d make nice specimens when fixed up.
    82.2 grams crystals, fragments, slices in bag - $40

CAMEL DONGA, Australia. HED achondrite (eucrite). Found 1984.
Not sure where I got this piece, just found it hiding with my “new” stuff for offerings material recently. I remember when this meteorite first came out. The pieces were all pitch black covered in super shiny crust. It is not known when this fell, but it could not have been too long before its discovery. This eucrite is strange in that it has a fairly high content of fresh iron (some iron nodules being large enough to, sometimes, make it difficult to split some of these in half). This iron also seems to have made pieces of this meteorite weather fairly rapidly out in nature. Pieces that came out only a few years later had already lost much of the glassy luster of the crust and had substantial amounts of adhering dirt and rust. I can tell that this piece is not one of the earliest pieces recovered but it likely not recovered terribly long after. This does have some (very minor) adhering dirt (mostly down in the contraction cracks In the fusion crust) and there are a few small areas that have lost a bit of the original luster but, overall, it is quite fresh compared to most pieces I have seen available of this meteorite in recent years.
    13.5 gram complete individual – 32mm x 22mm x 10mm - $250

CHINGA, Russia: Iron. Ni-rich ataxite, ungrouped. Found 1913.
This is a piece I sold to a collector out east many years ago. When I go it back I kind of had to say “wow”! This thing looks really, really nice for this meteorite. It has the flattish disk/ lensoidal shape typical for pieces of this meteorite but this has a wonderful solid patina to it. This does not show any of the scaling, flaking that is typical for pieces of this meteorite. This has a really nice chocolate brown, hard somewhat shiny patina covering its surface. No evidence of rust scaling at all. I also know that this has not been cleaned recently to hide any earlier scaling as it still has my original name and weight sticker on it. So, this one is a nice, apparently very stable piece of a rare type meteorite.
    881.9 gram complete, solid individual – 115mm x 70mm x 30mm - $450

MONTURAQUI, Chile, Impact Glass.
Here are a few more pieces of the Monturaqui impact glass that I offered (and quickly sold out of) on a list around a year or so ago. I managed to trade a few more pieces out of the guy that recovered this himself on a trip to the crater back in September of 2014. This is NOT the usual, commonly available “impactities” from this crater (I have some of those for $1/g if anybody wants some). This is actually a light pinkish gray glass that was likely formed from the melting of rhyolite lavas in the area of the crater during impact. It does have some vesicles and rock fragments but far, far less than the black glass cemented fragments of the impactites. I was told that only a few tens of grams of this material was found after intensive searching, so it is likely quite rare. Note: The last piece (on the right) in the group photo of this offering is NOT the 9.5g piece (this one measures 35mm x 25mm x 10mm) but a 2.0 gram piece that was originally supposed to be offered. The 9.5 gram piece now on the list was on hold for a customer who called a few minutes ago (well after the photo had been taken and uploaded) to pass on it (too much $ for them at the moment they decided) and took the 2.0g (the next largest piece I had) instead.
    Fragments as found - $15/g. Sizes available: .73g, .90g, 1.0g, 1.7g, 9.5g

NUEVO MERCURIO, Mexico: Ordinary chondrite (H5). Fell December 15, 1978. Tkw = 200kg.
Here is a specimen that I thought was really two separate partly crusted stones. Well, they are indeed that BUT they also fit together to form one larger stone. Even put together, this still looks like a partly crusted stone as there is one large face that looks to be a fresh break (in addition to chipping of the crust on the back side – quite common on pieces of this meteorite for some reason – probably a tight fall group resulting in lots of collisions between falling pieces or smashing into and rolling around on a hard, rocky surface maybe). However, close inspection of this large fracture surface reveals the presence of very light secondary crust (only a few tiny dots of black crust perched on high points on some areas) so this is actually a very late atmospheric break (however, the break that made this into two pieces is clearly a ground impact break). This comes with an Aerolite (Geoff Notkin) label that notes that this specimen was from the King collection.
    127.6 gram broken individual – 65mm x 25mm x 25mm - $1250

TATAHOUINE, Tunisia: HED achondrite (Diogenite). Fell June 27, 1931. Tkw = 13.5kg +
I have always considered this to be one of the weirdest looking meteorites. It is composed of large, blocky green crystals that have dark shock bands going through it. Years ago, I think this was the ONLY known unbrecciated diogenite. I am not sure if this is still the case, but I would not be surprised if it is as I certainly have not seen anything new similar come out. Anyway, most of this material was in the form of small gravel-sized pieces from sub-gram to a few grams in size maybe (I have a pretty good stash of those things myself). However, I recall when some “large” pieces of this came out and all the excitement that brought about. Usually, meteorites (unlike gold nuggets) get cheaper per gram as their size goes up. Nope, not this time. These large pieces were commanding huge premiums – I think around $100/g (when the small pieces were lucky to bring $15 or $20/g) was pretty common. Well, the person I got this piece from did indeed pay around $100/g for it. He got it from Robert Haag. No invoice or card came with it but it does have the original bag it came in with Robert’s very recognizable (to me anyway) hand writing saying “Tatahouine Diogenite 12g” on it (I have added the correct weight of 11.9g). Neat piece, neat meteorite and quite rare in this size.
    11.9 gram large fragment as found – 25mm x 19mm x 10mm - $500

Sunday, 14 October 2018

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale - List 219


Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale - List 219
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487                                                                                                                                
                            LIST 219
October 10, 2018

Dear collectors,

Here is the e-mail version of my recently mailed list. This (and the mailed paper version) went out quite a bit later than I normally like to send my “after Denver” lists. I had forgotten that I had made plans (waaaaay back in February or March) to go with friends for a long weekend goof-off trip to the Black Hills of South Dakota (got back from that on the first and then had to turn right around and head back to Denver for a watch and clock convention (where I get many parts, tools and watches to fix). This is normally held in mid July but, for some reason, was cancelled and rescheduled to October 5th and 6th. Anyway, here (finally) is my most recent list.

NWA (6903): Iron. Medium octahedrite (IIIAB). Found 2008. Tkw = 50kg.
This is material I have had set aside for quite some years now. I got these (very) few slices with the expectation that I’d get more when it was prepared (cut, etched, etc.) Well, all of the prep happened, but I never got the chance to get more material (it seems that it all sold to others before I even knew it was ready). I hesitate to even offer this little amount of material on one of these catalogs but I don’t want to simply leave it sitting in a box forever either. All of these are “one of a kind” so act fast if you want a particular specimen. All are “complete” slices (no cut edges) and are etched on both sides.
1) Etched complete slices:
a) 11.0 grams - 20mm x 17mm x 4mm - sold
b) 47.8 grams - 45mm x 37mm x 5mm - sold
c) 90.7 grams - 90mm x 40mm x 4mm - $300
d) 220.3 grams - 85mm x 80mm x 4mm - $650

NWA (7254): Ordinary chondrite, (L3.4), W2. Found before Sept.. 2004. Tkw = 1447 grams.
This is one that I had to submit multiple times before it finally got classified, taking years to finally get finished. I had a fair amount of this but now have only a couple hundred grams. I sold a bunch while it was waiting to get published. This is a nice looking meteorite – lots of lighter-colored chondrules in a light to medium brown matrix - and is one that tends to sell itself whenever I have shown someone a piece of it. Helping it sell fast is also the fact that this is actually a REALLY rare meteorite type, far rarer than I realized until now. There are only 5 total L3.4s (including this one) known from outside of Antarctica. Of those, only the 433g NWA (2960) MIGHT be available to collectors! Even more interesting is that a slice of this meteorite (now at UNM) had a large (2cm) rectangular ‘exotic” inclusion that studies showed to be very similar (in texture and mineralogy) to the rare Brachinite type achondrite. Sorry, I don’t have any pieces remaining that show this, unfortunately.
1) Slices:
a) 1.2 grams - 13mm x 11mm x 3mm - $24
b) 2.7 grams - 23mm x 16mm x 2mm - $54
c) 6.5 grams - 40mm x 25mm x 2mm - $130
d) 17.8 grams - 47mm x 35mm x 4mm - sold
e) 46.8 grams - 65mm x 47mm x 4mm - $750 – complete slice.
2) 82.9 gram end piece with cut edge – 62mm x 55mm x 10mm - $1200.00 – Main Mass.

QUITOVAC, Mexico: Ordinary chondrite (L6). Found October 12, 2017. Tkw =  about 17kg.
Originally, 5 pieces totaling 9.11kg of this meteorite were found by a group of people looking for gold using metal detectors near the village of Quitovac in Sonora, Mexico. A further 8kg of fragments and individuals were brought to light in early 2018. Despite the Meteoritcal Bulletin report indicating that this is fairly weathered material (indicating that the research work was done on a more weathered subsurface find), the pieces I have here are quite bright and fresh. Though some pieces do have some attached caliche, most of the natural exterior surfaces show fairly fresh fusion crust and fracture surfaces. The interior is really quite fresh, showing nearly white chondrules, bright metal (often surrounded by an orange halo) in a light tan, nearly white matrix. I do have a few (mostly larger) end pieces and individuals available.
1) Slices:
a) 5.0 grams - 22mm x 17mm x 5mm - $13
b) 10.1 grams - 30mm x 18mm x 6mm - $25
c) 20.1 grams - 40mm x 38mm x 5mm - $50
d) 45.1 grams - 57mm x 45mm x 5mm - $110
e) 91.0 grams - 78mm x 63mm x 5mm - $215
f) 189.0 grams - 140mm x 95mm x 5mm - $425
g) 466.3 grams - 215mm x 170mm x 5mm - $1000 – nice complete slice.

NWA (11516): HED achondrite (Eucrite, polymict). Found before Sept. 2016. Tkw = 1234.6g
I wanted to put an HED on this list as I finally got to see their origin (Vesta) back in June and July. I don’t know my way around the sky but did manage to nail it down and see its progress across the sky over several weeks (before wildfire smoke moved in and wiped out pretty much all sky viewing). Anyway, this is a brecciated meteorite that has clasts (white, gray, brown, etc.) of various sizes and some metal grains in a medium gray matrix. This closely resembles a Howardite, which it would have been if it had a bit more diogenite in it (this fell just short of the required 10% to qualify). This stuff is neat as parts of it (some clasts and some thin veins) fluoresce a light yellow green (and phosphoresce some as well) under my Convoy UV light. I think most of this is from terrestrial carbonate contamination but cool none the less.
1) Slices:
a) 1.5 grams - 15mm x 12mm x 3mm - $15
b) 3.0 grams - 24mm x 15mm x 3mm - $30
c) 6.2 grams - 40mm x 18mm x 3mm - $60
d) 10.2 grams - 42mm x 26mm x 3mm - $95 – complete slice.
e) 20.6 grams - 47mm x 42mm x 3mm - $190 – complete slice.
2) End pieces:
a) 38.3 grams - 60mm x 40mm x 10mm - $300
b) 57.1 grams - 47mm x 45mm x 15mm - $440

SERICHO, Kenya: Stony-iron (pallasite). Recognized 2016. Tkw = tons.
I know, I offered pieces this stuff on this same “after Denver” list last year. However, when I put out that list I did not have any small end pieces or individuals to offer. I do now! I managed to pick up bag of nice small individuals this past spring. I cleaned them up (soda blasted) a bit to remove dirt. Some I left intact and others I split in half. So, here is a great chance for those of you that want to have an affordable nice complete or cut piece of a pallasite in their collection. I am noticing some minor brown staining on some of the cut pieces, so I am pricing these cheap and cannot give long-term stability assurances on these particular pieces (but then, Linda has been running a humidifier in the house, thanks to the incredibly/ unbelievably dry conditions we have had the 6months or so I have had these cut pieces sitting around).
1) Complete individuals:
a) 17.8 grams - 30mm x 22mm x 15mm - $27
b) 32.9 grams - 33mm x 27mm x 16mm - $49
c) 59.1 grams - 38mm x 35mm x 20mm - $89
d) 95.6 grams - 53mm x 40mm x 20mm - $143
e) 183.7 grams - 50mm x 45mm x 40mm - $275
2) End pieces:
a) 13.0 grams - 30mm x 18mm x 10mm - $26
b) 25.1 grams - 40mm x 30mm x 10mm - $50
c) 36.8 grams - 40mm x 30mm x 15mm - $74
d) 69.3 grams - 55mm x 40mm x 20mm - $139 – only one this size.
e) 109.7 grams - 60mm x 35mm x 20mm - $219

K-T BOUNDARY SAMPLE: Slope County, North Dakota.
Here is an interesting item I picked up at the Denver show while an electrical issue had my show room closed for an entire day (Sunday the 9th). This destroyed sales for the day but gave me a chance to get out and see things I’d normally completely miss – like this item. This is a 6cm long, 15mm diameter glass vial filled with dirt. The lower (K) section is light gray, the middle (the actual K-T ash, fallout layer) is black and the top (T) is light tan. These are NOT samples as found in the field. The folks that made these collected material from each layer and then put these little vials together (in proper as found order if not in actual as found thickness) using that collected material. A neat and affordable K-T boundary item. These each come with a color post card telling a little about them and the extinction event.
    15mm diameter 6cm long glass vial with the three different layers - $8 each

Please note:
    I do have “group photos” of each lot of material above I can e-mail to those who want (please tell me what material you want a photo of). These contain the exact pieces cataloged under each name. I often have duplicate (well, similar sized anyway) pieces of many listed items. I generally send the first folks to order an item the largest available for the size. You can request the exact pictured piece if it is still available however.
 Shipping:  The post office has, once again, raised rates quite substantially. For small US orders $4 is now needed. Larger orders are now $6 to $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 $13 (I’ll have to custom quote any larger items/ orders). Registration (recommended on more valuable overseas orders) is $15.
    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.