Wednesday, 24 July 2019

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 228

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

LIST 228
July 23, 2019

  Well, summer has certainly arrived here. We had a fairly nice, mild (and damp) spring this year. In fact, I actually spent the 4th of July up at A-Basin ski area skiing! It is a rare year that they get to sty open for the 4th (I think it was around 8 or 9 years ago that they last pulled it off). Normally, we break 100 by the end of May. This year we made it all the way into July before seeing or first 100 degree day (it was just over 102 about a week and a half ago). Right now, we are getting the full sun hot treatment usually reserved for June. We have been right at (or slightly above) 100 for the past week. Supposedly, we have some rain (and very slightly cooler temps – but still solidly in the mid 90s or higher) coming later this week.

Anyway, here is a summer offering of a few things I found sitting in the “new” or “rediscovered” pile. Looking at the group photo, I see that the structure of the Zagora didn't turn out. I'll try and get a better picture of this (so the silicates at least show) if anyone does end up being interested in this piece.
CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE.
Blaine Reed Meteorite List 228
FRANCONIA, Arizona: Ordinary chondrite (H5). Found 2002. Tkw = about 100 kilogram.
This is a mostly natural, as found fragment/ partial individual. It shows fusion crust on around 50% of the surface. The remainder of the stone is in the form of two relatively flat ancient breaks. Despite the obvious (to me and likely to most other meteorite collectors anyway) fusion crust, it seems the finder (or someone that they gave it to) ground down a bit of one of the flat break surfaces to show fresh metal, likely to prove that this was indeed a meteorite. I believe that this was a Linton Rohr piece but I did not find a Rohr collection label to go with it when I picked up this (and other) piece back before this year’s Tucson show.
16.3 gram natural fragment with crust – 25mm x 22mm x 18mm - $25

MOLDAVITE:
This is a selection of 10 really nice small complete specimens (I don’t see any fresh fracture surfaces on any of these) that I picked up in a trade in Tucson this past February. These are mostly elongate, quasi-teardrop shaped that measure around 20mm to 25mm long. These are in an 8cm x 5.5cm plastic display box.
10 nice individuals. 6.5 grams total in display box - $50 SOLD OUT

NWA (1950): Martian (Shergottite), Iherzoltitc. Found January and March 2001. Tkw = 812 grams.
This has two different find dates as two different paired stones were found (one in each month). This is a “peridotitic” cumulate that is mostly olivine (55%), pyroxenes (35%) and plagioclase. This is indeed an interesting looking meteorite. These pieces show dark (dark gray to black) angular to sub-angular crystals (the olivine I think) in a light green matrix. It seems there is a reason that this does not look “typical” to me. It seems that it really isn’t. From a little poking around I see information that seems to be saying that this is the ONLY Iherzolitic shegottite available to collectors. The others are, supposedly, all from Antarctica and more weathered. Not sure how true this is, but it does show that this is something far more interesting than just a shegottite. This “lot” consists of pieces that I think are leftovers or broken off of larger pieces while cutting and polishing. There are two large pieces (one slice and one end piece/ cut fragment) that are around 8mm to 10mm in size, one medium sized slice (around 5mm or so across) and some small (around 2-3mm) fragments (around 5 pieces). The three large pieces each have fusion crust along a decent part of their edges. These are in a 7cm by 6cm glass fronted plastic display box. I have priced this considerably lower than the few prices I could find for this material elsewhere (which were around $1k to $2k/ gram).
.87 grams of slices and fragments in display box - $500

NWA (6903): Iron. Medium octahedrite (IIIAB). Found 2008. Tkw = 50 kilograms.
This is a small piece of a nice medium octahedrite that I offered (and sold out of) on a mailed list some time ago. This particular piece got misplaced somehow or it too would likely have been sold back then. This is a rectangular specimen with one small natural (but highly cleaned) edge and is etched on both sides. I had this priced at $4/g when I originally offered it on my list but I am pricing it a bit cheaper here to “get it out of inventory” (so I no longer have to keep track of it as a separate inventory item) and give someone a fairly good middle of summer deal.
16.6 gram etched part slice – 32mm x 14mm x 4mm - $50

NWA (8179): Achondrite. (Ureilite). Found 2013. Tkw = 245 grams.
This is interesting stuff. It certainly does not look like a typical ureilte. It seems that the research work on it also showed that this is indeed not a typical ureilite. The research description says that this is a “relatively coarse-grained, protogranular aggregate of predominantly olivine (with reduced rims containing stained Fe metal) accompanied by minor orthopyroxene and pigionite”. It seems that (aside from its strange texture) that this is unusual in that it does contain orthopyroxene in addition the usual pigionitic pyroxene found in ureilites. The appearance of this is a mottled mix of light tan (nearly white in some spots) to medium brown matrix that has a lot of really fine brown veins running through it. I am not certain if these are shock related (this meteorite is listed as “moderate” in shock level) or from weathering of fresh metal (some of which is visible in this piece along one edge. An interesting specimen (that is a complete slice of a fragment) that is in a 7cm x 6cm glass fronted display case.
6.3 gram complete slice – 40mm x 25mm x 2mm - $175

TOLUCA, Mexico: Coarse octahedrite (IAB). Found 1776.
I have always found it odd that this meteorite is called a “coarse” octahedrite. Most of the etched pieces I have ever seen (and that includes this one) show more of a really nice medium octahedrite etch. This is a part slice that is etched on both sides. It, overall, is roughly square in shape and has one natural edge (the 3 others are cut edges). Other than showing a nice etch, this slice also has a couple (roughly 10mm to 15mm sized) troilite surrounded by graphite inclusions. A nice etched slice of a meteorite that I have seen very little of in recent years.
56.1 gram etched part slice – 45mm x 42mm x 4mm - $110

ZAGORA, Morocco: Iron. (IAB) with silicate inclusions. Found 1987. Tkw = 20+ kilograms.
This is a fairly thick part slice that I picked up from a collector who was letting go of a few items from his collection. He was not sure of the ID on this. He had not written down the name, assuming he’d always remember it (like I do sometimes) and then didn’t (also something I am guilty of). However, he had notes showing that he got this over 20 years ago. Well, pretty much the only silicated irons available back then were Zagore and (occasionally) Udei Station. This certainly looks like Zagora and the XRF tends to support this. Also, the thick cut was certainly something not uncommon back then for this material either. This has two cut edges with the remainder (a bit over 50% of the edge) being natural.
24.7 gram part slice – 25mm x 20mm x 7mm - $125

Tuesday, 7 May 2019

Blaine Reed Meteorites for Sale - List 226

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487                                                                                                                                
                            LIST 226


May 6, 2019

I am sending this out in a very rushed way. It is a day earlier than usual and I do not have the photos for this offering yet (will work on that next). This is because I need to hear back ASAP on the question below (Aguas Zarcas). I have folks waiting for my response to their questions (buy now, at what price, make arrangements to go back into the field or not, etc).

New Costa Rica (CM2) Aguas Zarcas:
Nope, I don’t have any at this moment (but Kevin Kichinka has a few pieces he is offering on Meteorite Central I believe). However, we can get more material but it is NOT particularly cheap. I guess what I need to know is how many of you are still wanting a piece of this material and roughly how big of a piece would you be interested in. I am not certain exactly what kind of price we’d be talking (the locals seem to be raising the prices daily) but I’d certainly want to keep it at or below the prevailing prices currently (which I believe are around $100 to $150/g or so right now, but possibly less, particularly on big pieces and certainly on any that were recovered after the first rain). Anyway, if any of you are interested, please let me know. This will help me decide if it is worth shuffling $ around, possibly buying plane tickets, car/ hotel rental, etc.  It seems that I ended up being a few days late when I jumped on the new Cuba fall a couple months ago. For the most part, those that really wanted a piece already had a piece (and didn’t need one from me, even if my price was a tad lower). I just want to avoid making the same mistake (at much higher costs) on this one.

Anyway, here is an offering of things I (mostly) brought home from Tucson. Most of these things are consignments that were left with me. These are expensive things mostly as those are the kinds of things I don’t have a lot of in my own inventory and it is good to have some higher end things on display at the show (hence their being consignments). The owners of these items have been wondering when I was going to offer them: sell them or return them. I have been tied up with “must offer now” things since getting back from Tucson when I have had tome to do an e-mail offering such as this. I guess this is not really any different this time either, come to think of it.

Photos for this list: I will have two associated with this offering but they will have to wait. We have (yet again) more cloudy/ thunderstorm weather and Blake is currently buried in building an emergency “need these yesterday” Ham radio equipment order. I will post the pictures as soon as I have them and will send them directly to any of you wanting them as soon as I get them on my computer. 





ALLENDE, Mexico: Carbonaceous chondrite  (CV3). Fell February 8, 1969.
This is a nice end piece. It is not super, super fresh but nice none the less. In fact, what light weathering this has seems to have only highlighted the chondrules and other interior features. The back- side has a roughly 35mm x 35mm patch of thick primary crust in its center. The remainder is light secondary crust and the usual (for this fall) late fall edge chipping. This comes with a Moritz Karl label.
    86.6 gram end piece – 53mm x 51mm x 15mm - $1300

BASSIKOUNOU, Mauritania. Ordinary chondrite (H5). Fell October 16, 2006.
I am pretty certain that this is a piece I picked up from Karen Rohr when I picked up more of Linton’s collection a couple weeks before going to Tucson (I bough outright the stuff that was cheaper/ more common rather than trying to keep track of it all as consignment). This is a nice complete individual that Linton likely got from me (at least the label that came with it was from me). This is about 50% covered in thick, rounded edges fusion crust/ form with the remainder being still thick but rougher textured secondary crust.
    19.1 gram fully crusted individual – 35mm x 20mm x 16mm - $95

HENBURY, Australia: Medium octahedrite (IIAB). Found 1931.
This is a specimen that Jay Piatek left with me. He didn’t have the price on hand (had to go back and look that up). When he told me, it was a bit of a shock. It is, admittedly, quite high. However, this is indeed a superior specimen. It is one of the nicest Henbury pieces of its size I have ever seen. This is distinctly a shrapnel fragment but it has a wonderful oriented look to it. The “front” has a nice, smooth dome-like shape whereas the back has a distinct torn, bent edges shrapnel look to it (I’ll try and get a picture to send out of the back of this if anyone is seriously interested in this piece). Jay seems to have gotten this from Anne Black as it comes with an Impactika label.
    745.9 gram exceptional natural individual – 130mm x 65mm x 25mm - $2600

NWA (unstudied): Likely (H5) or (H6).
I got this end piece in some kind of trade (for Moldavite or Libyan Glass I think) in Tucson. Kind of wish I had the rest of this meteorite. It is one of the nicest examples of an H chondrite I have seen. This has lots of fresh metal – most of it in the form of the usual blebs scattered throughout, but also has a really nice solid metal vein. The back-side is really interesting as well. It has been highly wind-polished (though there is obvious crust around the edges) such that the metal vein and metal blebs stand out high and have been (naturally) polished to have a shiny metallic look to them. 
    38.9 gram end piece – 48mm x 35mm x 7mm - $40 
  
NWA (7034): Martian, polymict breccia. Found 2011.
Yep, here are the first pieces of ‘Black Beauty” I have ever offered. I remember when Carl Agee (UNM) carried a nice end piece into my room (probably Tucson 2012) and had me run it on my XRF. He stood there with a big grin. To me, this looked like a “typical” moon rock but the XRF read it as Mars! Yep, I got that one right. This was originally called a basaltic breccia, as much of this is composed of fragments of various basalt rocks. However, more interesting things have turned up as researchers have worked on it. Pieces of impact melts, sedimentary rocks (! – our first from Mars) and more have been found so this has been re-classified as a “polymict” (multiple different rock types) breccia. I admit that the prices on these pieces are some fairly large numbers BUT this is, by far, the cheapest per gram I have ever seen this material. These are all natural fragments as found. I have considered (and may yet) buying one of these (likely one of the smaller pieces) getting it wire-sawed in half (any of these should work for that), sell half and put the other half in my collection (I think this is the only type Mars rock I don’t have yet). These come with a Jay Piatek Collection label.
a) 1.24 grams – 18mm x 15mm x 3mm - $3100
b) 1.61 grams – 17mm x 11mm x 5mm - $4000
c) 4.12 grams – 20mm x 20mm x 6mm - $10,300

NWA (10652): Primitive achondrite (Lodranite). Found 2015.
I am not certain if the exact story on this piece. It was dropped off with me in Tucson in a Riker that has a simple round sticker saying “NWA 10652, Lodranite, 9.47”. This may be a piece of the original 146.1g reported stone (I have my doubts on this, given the large surface area of this slice) or (more likely) a pairing. I did a bit of research and found that, regardless, this does indeed look the to be the same stuff as the original reported stone. This is weird/ odd material. It is a “matrix-poor” breccia that, on first glance, looks very, very much like an LL6 chondrite. It has some metal grains and small breccia fragments that are rounded and do a good job of mimicking chondrules! However, the XRF (yep, I ran it to be sure) clearly shows that this is NOT an LL6. This is a complete slice of a natural fragment. About 1/3 of the edge of this slice has weathered fusion crust with the remainder being weathered old natural breaks (or since lost thin secondary crust).
    9.47 gram complete slice – 55mm x 43mm x 1mm - $250

TISSINT, Morocco: Martian (Shergottite), olivine phyric. Fell July 18, 2011.
This is a beautiful complete stone. It does have some areas (maybe 20% of the surface) that, at first glance, look to be fresh breaks. They indeed are BUT they were formed late in the fall. Careful inspection under magnification shows that these “fresh breaks” have small patches of melt/ fusion crust on the high points so they are really very light secondary crusted areas. The remainder of the stone is covered by nice shiny black primary crust. A nice piece of a meteorite I don’t see much of these days.
    3.71 gram complete individual – 16mm x 12mm x 12mm - $2500 

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.