Blaine Reed Meteorites- List 142. More interesting small rarities
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
…………………………………………………………………LIST 143
October 22, 2013
Dear Collectors,
Here is my second “after Denver list”. Much like the last one, this is mostly small, inexpensive (from an overall price stand point not necessarily from a price per gram view though) but interesting things offering. Some of these things are meteorites that I am certain I have never had pieces of before.
BURSA, India: (L6). Fell 1946. Tkw = 25 kilograms.
I am quite certain that this is a meteorite that I have not had a piece of before. I am not certain that I have ever had a meteorite from Turkey before. As much of the things on this list, these are small fragments. Unlike many of the other pieces listed though, the plastic research vial contains the lot of smaller pieces in this case. Part of this is because there was no real stand out pieces size wise but part of it was that most of these small pieces show nice patches of fusion crust (not the case with the larger but single piece specimens).
a) .04 gram fragment in a capsule - $12
b) .075 gram fragment in a capsule - $20
c) .133 grams fragments (most showing crust) in plastic vial - $40
DHURMSALA, India: (LL6). Fell July 14, 1860. Tkw = 149.4 kilograms.
This is a batch of fragments (up to 4 or 5mm in size) in a lidded research vial labeled “Dhurmsala #41a chips”.
.28 grams o fragments in vial - $40
ERGHEO, Somalia: (L5). Fell July 1, 1889. Tkw = 20 kilograms.
This might be one of the ones that I have never offered a piece of before. However, I think I had a piece of this in my micro collection that I sold privately years ago (helped pay or the land I am living on now I think). These are a mix of capsules of fragments, capsules that have only one fragment and the plastic research vial (that is labeled “Ergheo $45a chips” that contains a single (the largest) fragment I had in this batch.
a) .055 gram fragment in capsule - $10
b) .10 gram of fragments in capsule - $20
c) .152 gram fragment in plastic lidded vial - $30
GOLD BASIN, Arizona: (L4). Found 1995. Tkw = about 200 kilograms.
This is a neat little specimen I won at the COMETS auction during the Denver Show. I think this was the first of the specimens being sold with the proceeds going to the club. They put on one heck of an event with great food, beer and fun. To support them, I bid on this. It didn’t cost a lot but I was more than thrilled to help out the club. This piece is interesting in that it comes in its original University of Arizona labeled bag (they were doing research on this material when it started showing up). The bag is labeled with a bright (almost neon) orange label that has “UA 1016, D. Hill” on it. The piece is only 1.8 grams. It is an angular fragment but still has one side (15mm x 6mm) that is obviously old weathered crust.
1.80 gram natural fragment – 16mm x 7mm x 6mm - $10
KUNASHAK, Russia: (L6). Fell June 11, 1949. Tkw = 200+ kilograms.
I still have a slice or two of this that I offered on an earlier list. This however is a batch of fragments (up to 6 or 7mm sized) in a lidded vial that is labeled “Kunashak #741 chips.
1.0 gram of fragments in lidded research vial - $15
NULLES, Spain: (H6). Fell November 5, 1851. Tkw = 8.85 kilograms.
This is one I am certain I have never had before. Not even in my own collection. These are all single fragments in either a capsule or (the largest) a plastic lidded vial. The vial is labeled “Nulles #783 chips”.
a) .16 gram fragment in capsule - $30
b) .26 gram fragment in plastic vial - $50
ORGUIEL, France: Carbonaceous chondrite (CI1). Fell May 14, 1864. Tkw = 10.5+ kilograms.
This is a batch of fragments in a capsule that is in a membrane box. It looks to be that about 2/3 of the weight is in one fragment that is roughly 8mm x 5mm x 4mm.
.25 grams of fragments in capsule in membrane box - $300
SANTA ROSALIA, Mexico: (Pallasite). Found 1950. Tkw = 1631 grams.
Personally, I think this is, perhaps, the rarest most interesting thing on this list. It is not a fall (so there will be a large segment of the collecting community that will have no interest in it) BUT it is a PALLASITE! And not just any pallasite, but one that is probably nearly impossible to acquire (really low total known weight). I think next to falls (perhaps even exceeding falls) pallasites are the most important collection focus (they are generally beautiful and truly rare). I know I have never had any pieces of this one. Two of these pieces have at least some visible olivine and two are “just” metal fragments (though they may show pockets where there was olivine). The largest is in a pill vial labeled “Santa Rosalia 599.1”.
a) .18 gram cut fragment with some olivine in a capsule – 7mm x 4mm x 2mm - $40
b) .37 gram cut metal fragment – 14mm x 5mm x 2mm - $40
c) .72 gram cut metal fragment – 10mm x 8mm x 2mm - $80
d) .54 gram cut fragment with obvious olivine – 14mm x 4mm x 3mm - $150
SARATOV, Russia: (L4). Fell September 6, 1918. Tkw = 328 kilograms.
This is another lidded plastic research style vial that is nearly full of fragments, dust and chondrules. The vial is labeled “Saratov #740 chips”.
1.5 grams of fragments in vial - $10
Wednesday, 23 October 2013
Tuesday, 8 October 2013
Blaine Reed Meteorites - List 142, mailed offering
Blaine Reed Meteorites - List 142, mailed offering
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
…………………………………………………….LIST 142
October 8, 2013
Dear Collectors,
Here is the e-mail version of my mailed list that many of you (and many other collectors) are just now receiving. Some of these things I have had around awhile but many I picked up in Denver at the show a few weeks ago (usually I have most of this “after Denver” offering already typed up in the computer before I leave for the show). Most of the items on this offering are small or quite cheap (or both). Some of these things (like the Agoudal) that was all that was available and others (like The Jbilet CM2) that was all I could get (the larger pieces of this were quite a bit higher price per gram, rare in meteorites, and sold out at the show rapidly none the less).
AGOUDAL, Morocco: Iron, coarsest octahedrite (IIAB). Found 2000. Tkw = over 100 kilograms.
This was a “new thing” in Tucson this year (at a much higher priced). The first pieces found were sold to tourists and it wasn’t until late 2012 that a dealer got one and recognized it as a meteorite. A (successful) recovery campaign soon followed. Most of the pieces are quite small (as are mine) have a shrapnel shape and are heat recrystallized, leading many to speculate that there might be an impact crater associated with their fall. Shattercones have been found in the area but it is not currently known if they are associated with these meteorites. These pieces have been lightly/ moderately brushed but are natural otherwise.
1) Lightly brushed natural fragments:
a) 6.0 grams - 20mm x 10mm x 5mm - $12
b) 13.1 grams - 34mm x 17mm x 6mm - $25
c) 25.0 grams - 32mm x 18mm x 14mm - $48
d) 52.3 grams - 40mm x 23mm x 18mm - $100
e) 82.7 grams - 35mm x 35mm x 15mm - $150
f) 126.5 grams - 55mm x30mm x 22mm - $220 – my largest and only this size.
NWA (7017): Ordinary chondrite (L6). Found before September 2011. Tkw = about 20 kilograms.
I bought two pieces that totaled nearly 5kg in Denver during the 2011 show. The next Tucson show, the same dealer brought me another 15kg piece. The pieces all fit together, so I KNOW they were indeed all the same meteorite. Unfortunately, I was not able to come up with the money to buy the other 15 kilos (it was priced as a fresh meteorite as this is). Probably a good thing though. This has really nice thumb-printing, nice dark crust (though shows some wind-polishing) and a really fresh nearly white interior. If I had pieced the whole thing back together, I’d probably end up keeping it. Anyway, a museum in North Carolina landed the 15 kilo piece for their display.
1) Slices:
a) 9.9 grams - 28mm x 25mm x 5mm - $15
b) 20.5 grams - 47mm x 35mm x 5mm - $30
c) 32.1 grams - 70mm x 35mm x 4mm - $45
d) 72.3 grams - 85mm x 55mm x 5mm - $105
2) Natural fragment:
3768 grams – 150mm x 150mm x 90mm - $2400 – around 50% crusted. Nice display specimen.
NWA (7901): Ordinary chondrite (H6). Found before February 2013. Tkw = 1962 grams.
This was a stone I picked up for a customer that wanted a stone that showed nice slightly weathered crust (chocolate brown but still showing proper crust texture, not wind polished). This fit the bill, but they changed their minds on it (or found something to fit their need somewhere else while I was in Tucson). A small broken area showed a crystalline look to it so I cut a piece off and had it run to be sure I wasn’t about to sell of an E or such (I just figured out how to tell a cut H from a Winonnaite or Acapulcoite thankfully but I have not figured out the H versus E yet). Anyway, this is a nice stone that has crust covering around 70% of it. The remainder is natural fracture and a 45mm x 35mm cut where the research specimen was removed.
1924.7 gram main mass - 120mm x 120mm x 75mm - $1250
NWA (6135), Ordinary chondrite (LL3.8). Found 2008. Tkw = 3.8 kilograms.
This is something I got from Matt Morgan a few years ago, set aside and then pretty much forgot about it. I finally re-discovered it and cataloged it. Most of this is just really nice LL3, showing lots of chondrules and clasts (having the appearance of a much lower type number than 3.8). A few rare pieces have larger or more interesting clasts. The largest pieces here are such specimens. The 120g one has a roughly 17mm x 15mm obvious clast of a different LL type (looks like LL5). The 121 gram piece is more subtle. It has a number of small (cm size or so) LL5 clasts BUT it also has about 6 or so small (couple mm) black carbonaceous looking clasts.
1) Slices:
a) 5.3 grams - 24mm x 22mm x 3mm - $37
b) 8.9 grams - 30mm x 30mm x 3mm - $62
c) 15.7 grams - 40mm x 35mm x 4mm - $105
d) 30.6 grams - 45mm x 40mm x 6mm - $180
e) 64.5 grams - 75mm x 55mm x 6mm - $375
f) 120.3 grams - 105mm x 60mm x 5mm - $725 – complete slice with LL5 inclusion.
g) 121.1 grams - 105mm x 65mm x 6mm - $725 – complete slice with carbon inclusions.
JBILET WINSELWAN, Morocco/ Western Sahara: Carbonaceous (CM2). Found May 24, 2013. Tkw = about 6 kg.
I think that this is the first (CM2) I have had from any desert region. These are usually fragile enough that they don’t withstand a lot of weathering. These pieces though indicate that this probably did not fall all that long before its recovery. Many have some light wind polishing but many also still show patches of fresh undamaged fusion crust and have a fresh looking black color overall. This is a very new discovery (having been recovered this past summer) so I have not seen any scientific papers on it yet, but I am certain it will contain the organics, amino acids and such that other CM2 meteorites contain. These are all broken fragments that are as found, except that I did my best to clean what dirt they had off of them with distilled water and a tooth brush. I got mostly small pieces, unfortunately. So I have very few of the larger items listed here.
1) Natural fragments:
a) .50 grams - 11mm x 8mm x 4mm - $18
b) .80 grams - 13mm x 10mm x 5mm - $25
c) 1.03 grams - 15mm x 10mm x 6mm - $31
d) 1.34 grams - 16mm x 10mm x 7mm - $40
e) 1.91 grams - 23mm x 11mm x 6mm - $57
f) 2.60 grams - 17mm x 11mm x 10mm - $78
g) 5.15 grams - 20mm x 13mm x 12mm – sold, trying to get more “large” pieces.
NWA (1877): Diogenite, olivine rich. Found 2003. Tkw = 934 grams.
I think these are now officially “Diogenite, Harzburgite”. The classification system for these changed recently (Dunites are now Diogenite with a sub-description of “dunitic”). It is believed that this material has an origin from very deep in Vesta (however, I had one researcher tell me recently that the spacecraft that orbited Vesta a year or so ago did not see any olivine so there is still some slight uncertainty as to the origin of these things and dunites). This type material is fairly uncommon and these “pieces” are surprisingly cheap. I got these from a friend who deals mostly in fossils but has some meteorites. This material is quite friable (crumbles easily) so he set up these samples as small glass vials with 2.5 grams of fragments and crumbs.
1) 2.5 grams of fragments in a glass vial - $30.00
JEPARA, Indonesia: Stony-iron (Pallasite). Ound May 2008. Tkw = 499.5 kilograms.
A single nearly spherical boulder was found. The nickel-iron had oxidized completely to a mix of magnetite and nickel sulfides and sulfates. However, the olivine (which made up some 64% of the stone) was left very fresh and clear. Many pieces are bright green and very clear and being of faceting quality. It is it these olivine grains I am offering. Some have some rust staining but most are bright and fresh. Some of these certainly could be faceted although only into small stones (the pieces I have are a couple millimeters to maybe 5 or 6mm in size). I do have a couple small pieces where the olivine is still in the magnetite matrix available, but I mostly got the loose olivine crystals because they were so eye catching.
1) 1.5 grams of loose olivine crystals in glass vial – $15.00
CHINESE TEKTITES:
I know these are really common but these pieces are uncommonly large. They are simple flattened disks but they were so large and I was able to hand pick the pieces I wanted at a “typical” price. Usually, the sellers make you buy a 10 or 20kg flat full just to get a few large pieces among the usual sized ones or charge an exorbitant price for these large ones when selling by the piece. There weren’t many, unfortunately, but I bought these at a regular price and am selling these at my usual Chinese Tektite show price. Only the largest carries a bit of a premium.
1) Natural individuals:
a) 143.8 grams - 62mm x 58mm x 25mm - $30
b) 196.2 grams - 65mm x 62mm x 30mm - $40
c) 247.2 grams - 68mm x 65mm x 35mm - $50
d) 304.1 grams – 75mm x 70mm x 35mm - $90
Please note:
The post office drastically increased most shipping rates. For small US orders $3 should still be fine. Larger orders are now $12 (insurance is extra if desired – I’ll look it up if you want it). The real increases came in overseas (or even Canada) shipping. These prices pretty much doubled from what they were before. Now small overseas orders are around $9 (I’ll have to custom quote any larger items/ orders). Thankfully, it seems that the rate for registration (recommended on more valuable overseas orders) is still $12 (for now).
My fax machine has pretty much blown up on me. I can nurse it to work if I must (but often loose the incoming fax if I am not really careful). For overseas orders, it probably is best to go ahead and use my brmeteorites@yahoo.com e-mail. I generally get/ deal with phone calls quicker but I will try to keep up on checking e-mail this time.
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
…………………………………………………….LIST 142
October 8, 2013
Dear Collectors,
Here is the e-mail version of my mailed list that many of you (and many other collectors) are just now receiving. Some of these things I have had around awhile but many I picked up in Denver at the show a few weeks ago (usually I have most of this “after Denver” offering already typed up in the computer before I leave for the show). Most of the items on this offering are small or quite cheap (or both). Some of these things (like the Agoudal) that was all that was available and others (like The Jbilet CM2) that was all I could get (the larger pieces of this were quite a bit higher price per gram, rare in meteorites, and sold out at the show rapidly none the less).
AGOUDAL, Morocco: Iron, coarsest octahedrite (IIAB). Found 2000. Tkw = over 100 kilograms.
This was a “new thing” in Tucson this year (at a much higher priced). The first pieces found were sold to tourists and it wasn’t until late 2012 that a dealer got one and recognized it as a meteorite. A (successful) recovery campaign soon followed. Most of the pieces are quite small (as are mine) have a shrapnel shape and are heat recrystallized, leading many to speculate that there might be an impact crater associated with their fall. Shattercones have been found in the area but it is not currently known if they are associated with these meteorites. These pieces have been lightly/ moderately brushed but are natural otherwise.
1) Lightly brushed natural fragments:
a) 6.0 grams - 20mm x 10mm x 5mm - $12
b) 13.1 grams - 34mm x 17mm x 6mm - $25
c) 25.0 grams - 32mm x 18mm x 14mm - $48
d) 52.3 grams - 40mm x 23mm x 18mm - $100
e) 82.7 grams - 35mm x 35mm x 15mm - $150
f) 126.5 grams - 55mm x30mm x 22mm - $220 – my largest and only this size.
NWA (7017): Ordinary chondrite (L6). Found before September 2011. Tkw = about 20 kilograms.
I bought two pieces that totaled nearly 5kg in Denver during the 2011 show. The next Tucson show, the same dealer brought me another 15kg piece. The pieces all fit together, so I KNOW they were indeed all the same meteorite. Unfortunately, I was not able to come up with the money to buy the other 15 kilos (it was priced as a fresh meteorite as this is). Probably a good thing though. This has really nice thumb-printing, nice dark crust (though shows some wind-polishing) and a really fresh nearly white interior. If I had pieced the whole thing back together, I’d probably end up keeping it. Anyway, a museum in North Carolina landed the 15 kilo piece for their display.
1) Slices:
a) 9.9 grams - 28mm x 25mm x 5mm - $15
b) 20.5 grams - 47mm x 35mm x 5mm - $30
c) 32.1 grams - 70mm x 35mm x 4mm - $45
d) 72.3 grams - 85mm x 55mm x 5mm - $105
2) Natural fragment:
3768 grams – 150mm x 150mm x 90mm - $2400 – around 50% crusted. Nice display specimen.
NWA (7901): Ordinary chondrite (H6). Found before February 2013. Tkw = 1962 grams.
This was a stone I picked up for a customer that wanted a stone that showed nice slightly weathered crust (chocolate brown but still showing proper crust texture, not wind polished). This fit the bill, but they changed their minds on it (or found something to fit their need somewhere else while I was in Tucson). A small broken area showed a crystalline look to it so I cut a piece off and had it run to be sure I wasn’t about to sell of an E or such (I just figured out how to tell a cut H from a Winonnaite or Acapulcoite thankfully but I have not figured out the H versus E yet). Anyway, this is a nice stone that has crust covering around 70% of it. The remainder is natural fracture and a 45mm x 35mm cut where the research specimen was removed.
1924.7 gram main mass - 120mm x 120mm x 75mm - $1250
NWA (6135), Ordinary chondrite (LL3.8). Found 2008. Tkw = 3.8 kilograms.
This is something I got from Matt Morgan a few years ago, set aside and then pretty much forgot about it. I finally re-discovered it and cataloged it. Most of this is just really nice LL3, showing lots of chondrules and clasts (having the appearance of a much lower type number than 3.8). A few rare pieces have larger or more interesting clasts. The largest pieces here are such specimens. The 120g one has a roughly 17mm x 15mm obvious clast of a different LL type (looks like LL5). The 121 gram piece is more subtle. It has a number of small (cm size or so) LL5 clasts BUT it also has about 6 or so small (couple mm) black carbonaceous looking clasts.
1) Slices:
a) 5.3 grams - 24mm x 22mm x 3mm - $37
b) 8.9 grams - 30mm x 30mm x 3mm - $62
c) 15.7 grams - 40mm x 35mm x 4mm - $105
d) 30.6 grams - 45mm x 40mm x 6mm - $180
e) 64.5 grams - 75mm x 55mm x 6mm - $375
f) 120.3 grams - 105mm x 60mm x 5mm - $725 – complete slice with LL5 inclusion.
g) 121.1 grams - 105mm x 65mm x 6mm - $725 – complete slice with carbon inclusions.
JBILET WINSELWAN, Morocco/ Western Sahara: Carbonaceous (CM2). Found May 24, 2013. Tkw = about 6 kg.
I think that this is the first (CM2) I have had from any desert region. These are usually fragile enough that they don’t withstand a lot of weathering. These pieces though indicate that this probably did not fall all that long before its recovery. Many have some light wind polishing but many also still show patches of fresh undamaged fusion crust and have a fresh looking black color overall. This is a very new discovery (having been recovered this past summer) so I have not seen any scientific papers on it yet, but I am certain it will contain the organics, amino acids and such that other CM2 meteorites contain. These are all broken fragments that are as found, except that I did my best to clean what dirt they had off of them with distilled water and a tooth brush. I got mostly small pieces, unfortunately. So I have very few of the larger items listed here.
1) Natural fragments:
a) .50 grams - 11mm x 8mm x 4mm - $18
b) .80 grams - 13mm x 10mm x 5mm - $25
c) 1.03 grams - 15mm x 10mm x 6mm - $31
d) 1.34 grams - 16mm x 10mm x 7mm - $40
e) 1.91 grams - 23mm x 11mm x 6mm - $57
f) 2.60 grams - 17mm x 11mm x 10mm - $78
g) 5.15 grams - 20mm x 13mm x 12mm – sold, trying to get more “large” pieces.
NWA (1877): Diogenite, olivine rich. Found 2003. Tkw = 934 grams.
I think these are now officially “Diogenite, Harzburgite”. The classification system for these changed recently (Dunites are now Diogenite with a sub-description of “dunitic”). It is believed that this material has an origin from very deep in Vesta (however, I had one researcher tell me recently that the spacecraft that orbited Vesta a year or so ago did not see any olivine so there is still some slight uncertainty as to the origin of these things and dunites). This type material is fairly uncommon and these “pieces” are surprisingly cheap. I got these from a friend who deals mostly in fossils but has some meteorites. This material is quite friable (crumbles easily) so he set up these samples as small glass vials with 2.5 grams of fragments and crumbs.
1) 2.5 grams of fragments in a glass vial - $30.00
JEPARA, Indonesia: Stony-iron (Pallasite). Ound May 2008. Tkw = 499.5 kilograms.
A single nearly spherical boulder was found. The nickel-iron had oxidized completely to a mix of magnetite and nickel sulfides and sulfates. However, the olivine (which made up some 64% of the stone) was left very fresh and clear. Many pieces are bright green and very clear and being of faceting quality. It is it these olivine grains I am offering. Some have some rust staining but most are bright and fresh. Some of these certainly could be faceted although only into small stones (the pieces I have are a couple millimeters to maybe 5 or 6mm in size). I do have a couple small pieces where the olivine is still in the magnetite matrix available, but I mostly got the loose olivine crystals because they were so eye catching.
1) 1.5 grams of loose olivine crystals in glass vial – $15.00
CHINESE TEKTITES:
I know these are really common but these pieces are uncommonly large. They are simple flattened disks but they were so large and I was able to hand pick the pieces I wanted at a “typical” price. Usually, the sellers make you buy a 10 or 20kg flat full just to get a few large pieces among the usual sized ones or charge an exorbitant price for these large ones when selling by the piece. There weren’t many, unfortunately, but I bought these at a regular price and am selling these at my usual Chinese Tektite show price. Only the largest carries a bit of a premium.
1) Natural individuals:
a) 143.8 grams - 62mm x 58mm x 25mm - $30
b) 196.2 grams - 65mm x 62mm x 30mm - $40
c) 247.2 grams - 68mm x 65mm x 35mm - $50
d) 304.1 grams – 75mm x 70mm x 35mm - $90
Please note:
The post office drastically increased most shipping rates. For small US orders $3 should still be fine. Larger orders are now $12 (insurance is extra if desired – I’ll look it up if you want it). The real increases came in overseas (or even Canada) shipping. These prices pretty much doubled from what they were before. Now small overseas orders are around $9 (I’ll have to custom quote any larger items/ orders). Thankfully, it seems that the rate for registration (recommended on more valuable overseas orders) is still $12 (for now).
My fax machine has pretty much blown up on me. I can nurse it to work if I must (but often loose the incoming fax if I am not really careful). For overseas orders, it probably is best to go ahead and use my brmeteorites@yahoo.com e-mail. I generally get/ deal with phone calls quicker but I will try to keep up on checking e-mail this time.
Tuesday, 24 September 2013
Blaine Reed Meteortes For Sale - List 141
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
…………………………………………………………………LIST 141
September 24, 2013
Dear Collectors,
Here are a few small but interesting items I either picked up at the Denver Show or were things that were sent to me while I was gone.
Many of you probably had no idea that I had even been away to a show. Worse still I was gone for several more days than usual. This is because starting with this year the show promoter is asking us to show and open up a few days earlier than what was usual because the “Coliseum Show” has begun opening earlier. I can see them (the Coliseum people) now opening on Thursday next year to “get the jump” on the other shows. Then we’ll have to match it and so on and so on until Denver tries to stretch out to two weeks like Tucson. I did give the earlier opening a try this year and the results were certainly NOT impressive. I will give it one more try next year (opening Sunday afternoon maybe) and switch back to something closer to my usual opening ( mid to late Tuesday morning) if the results are the same as this year.
My reason for posting this here and now is that I came home to many phone calls (and e-mails – I don’t really have the ability or time to keep up with them while at a show unfortunately) from people that were somewhat distressed that I had not responded/ returned calls over many days. In the past most of these people would have read a pre-show/ pre travel post and known that I was gone and expected such a delay, instead of thinking I am simply ignoring them.
Anyway, on to the items up for grabs:
ABEE, Canada: enstatite chondrite (EH4), melt breccia. Fell June 9, 1952. Tkw = 107 kilograms.
I picked up a few small pieces of this recently. They are just fragments, unfortunately, but they do appear to be quite fresh. I had a brief notion of cutting them to show the high metal content interior but then realized I’d probably be more likely cut myself (or turn these to crumbs and powder) in the process than turn these pieces into nice end pieces.
a) .28 grams of fragments in small research vial - $14
b) .52 gram fragment – 9mm x 5mm x 4mm - $25
c) .74 gram fragment – 7mm x 6mm x 5mm - $35
BEARDSLEY, Kansas: (h5). Fell October 15, 1929. Tkw = 16 kilogrsms.
I have a couple of these. One is a single fragment and the other contains a few fragments. Let me know which you want (a re-seller might prefer the capsule that has the multiple pieces).
.16 gram fragment(s) in capsule about 5mm x 4mm x 3mm - $10
CHELYABINSK, Russia: (LL5). Fell February 15, 2013.
Oops, I wasn’t supposed to have these. Mike Farmer had brought some of these neat “coins” and left some with me to sell on consignment in my room while he was at the show (I did sell several). I thought I had given him back all of the left over pieces the morning he left the show. I ended up finding these two in a different drawer when I packed up. Anyway, these are quite nice. They have a picture of the smoke trail let by the falling meteorite on one side. This side has a small recess that contains a small (roughly 3 or 4mm) stone that looks to be complete. The other side has a picture showing a map of the fall region.
Chelyabinsk coin containing small individual - $50
HONOLULU, Hawaii: (L5). Fell September 27, 1825. Tkw = 3+ kilograms.
This is a small fragment that clearly shows shock veining/ breccia texture. It is in a plastic box with a New England Meteoritical Services label. Not cheap by any stretch but I think this is the first time I have ever had a piece of this fall.
1.34 gram fragment – 12mm x 10mm x 7mm - $1100
LEEDEY, Oklahoma: (L6). Fell November 25, 1943. Tkw = 51.5 kilograms.
This is a batch of fragments in a vial. There are two larger pieces (one around 5mm and the other closer to 8mm) and some crumbs. The vial is labeled “Leedey, #489.1, chips” so this was likely from a Nininger specimen at some point.
.74 grams fragments in vial - $10
MOLONG, Australia: (Pallasite). Found 1912. Tkw = 104 kilograms.
This is a small weathered piece that does indeed seem to show both metal and olivine. One side even appears to show a patch of fusion crust, though I cannot be certain on that (it may be just the natural exterior weathering rind).
.35 gram fragment – 9mm x 7mm x 4mm - $20
NAGOYA, Argentina: Carbonaceous chondrite (CM2). Fell June 30, 1879. Tkw = 4 kilograms.
This is just powder in a research style vial labeled “clean powder” and No. 556.2 (Nininger number). There is not a lot of material here (maybe a few cubic mm) but then there is not a lot of this fall floating around either.
Powder in vial - $30
NORTON COUNTY, Kansas: (Aubrite). Fell February 18, 1948.
This is a bag of fragments ranging in size from small (mm or so ) up to about 7 or 8mm in size. The larger pieces (most of the bag) are, interestingly, mostly fusion crust and clearly show the strange cream colored crust this low in iron meteorite is famous for.
1.68 grams of mostly crust fragments - $50
NWA (4852): (Ureilite). Found 2007. Tkw = 1073 grams.
This is a nice little slice of this really difficult to cut meteorite. I recently offered some on a mailed listing and sold all of my “mid-sized” pieces similar to this (I have a few really small under a gram pieces and then a couple large complete slices which, though I should, I am hesitant to break up right now). I got this one at the COMETS auction as the price was reasonable and the beer very good 9got to help support the cause). This is in a membrane box that has Impactika labeling on it (Anne got the part o this stone that I did not years ago, we shared the number). I think this was cut and prepared by Bob Falls (poor guy0. It has a really nice high diamond polish on both sides.
3.48 grams – 22mm x 14mm x 4mm - $75
QUEEN”S MERCY, South Africa: (H6). Fell April 30, 1925. Tkw = 6859 grams.
I have a couple of the smaller size listed here but only the one on the “larger”. The smaller are fragments in a capsule and the larger is a single fragment in a vial labeled “Queen’s Mercy #765”.
a) .04 grams of fragments in capsule - $15
b) .093 gram fragment in vial - $35
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
…………………………………………………………………LIST 141
September 24, 2013
Dear Collectors,
Here are a few small but interesting items I either picked up at the Denver Show or were things that were sent to me while I was gone.
Many of you probably had no idea that I had even been away to a show. Worse still I was gone for several more days than usual. This is because starting with this year the show promoter is asking us to show and open up a few days earlier than what was usual because the “Coliseum Show” has begun opening earlier. I can see them (the Coliseum people) now opening on Thursday next year to “get the jump” on the other shows. Then we’ll have to match it and so on and so on until Denver tries to stretch out to two weeks like Tucson. I did give the earlier opening a try this year and the results were certainly NOT impressive. I will give it one more try next year (opening Sunday afternoon maybe) and switch back to something closer to my usual opening ( mid to late Tuesday morning) if the results are the same as this year.
My reason for posting this here and now is that I came home to many phone calls (and e-mails – I don’t really have the ability or time to keep up with them while at a show unfortunately) from people that were somewhat distressed that I had not responded/ returned calls over many days. In the past most of these people would have read a pre-show/ pre travel post and known that I was gone and expected such a delay, instead of thinking I am simply ignoring them.
Anyway, on to the items up for grabs:
ABEE, Canada: enstatite chondrite (EH4), melt breccia. Fell June 9, 1952. Tkw = 107 kilograms.
I picked up a few small pieces of this recently. They are just fragments, unfortunately, but they do appear to be quite fresh. I had a brief notion of cutting them to show the high metal content interior but then realized I’d probably be more likely cut myself (or turn these to crumbs and powder) in the process than turn these pieces into nice end pieces.
a) .
b) .52 gram fragment – 9mm x 5mm x 4mm - $25
c)
BEARDSLEY, Kansas: (h5). Fell October 15, 1929. Tkw = 16 kilogrsms.
I have a couple of these. One is a single fragment and the other contains a few fragments. Let me know which you want (a re-seller might prefer the capsule that has the multiple pieces).
.16 gram fragment(s) in capsule about 5mm x 4mm x 3mm - $10
CHELYABINSK, Russia: (LL5). Fell February 15, 2013.
Oops, I wasn’t supposed to have these. Mike Farmer had brought some of these neat “coins” and left some with me to sell on consignment in my room while he was at the show (I did sell several). I thought I had given him back all of the left over pieces the morning he left the show. I ended up finding these two in a different drawer when I packed up. Anyway, these are quite nice. They have a picture of the smoke trail let by the falling meteorite on one side. This side has a small recess that contains a small (roughly 3 or 4mm) stone that looks to be complete. The other side has a picture showing a map of the fall region.
Chelyabinsk coin containing small individual - $50
HONOLULU, Hawaii: (L5). Fell September 27, 1825. Tkw = 3+ kilograms.
This is a small fragment that clearly shows shock veining/ breccia texture. It is in a plastic box with a New England Meteoritical Services label. Not cheap by any stretch but I think this is the first time I have ever had a piece of this fall.
1.34 gram fragment – 12mm x 10mm x 7mm - $1100
LEEDEY, Oklahoma: (L6). Fell November 25, 1943. Tkw = 51.5 kilograms.
This is a batch of fragments in a vial. There are two larger pieces (one around 5mm and the other closer to 8mm) and some crumbs. The vial is labeled “Leedey, #489.1, chips” so this was likely from a Nininger specimen at some point.
MOLONG, Australia: (Pallasite). Found 1912. Tkw = 104 kilograms.
This is a small weathered piece that does indeed seem to show both metal and olivine. One side even appears to show a patch of fusion crust, though I cannot be certain on that (it may be just the natural exterior weathering rind).
.35 gram fragment – 9mm x 7mm x 4mm - $20
NAGOYA, Argentina: Carbonaceous chondrite (CM2). Fell June 30, 1879. Tkw = 4 kilograms.
This is just powder in a research style vial labeled “clean powder” and No. 556.2 (Nininger number). There is not a lot of material here (maybe a few cubic mm) but then there is not a lot of this fall floating around either.
NORTON COUNTY, Kansas: (Aubrite). Fell February 18, 1948.
This is a bag of fragments ranging in size from small (mm or so ) up to about 7 or 8mm in size. The larger pieces (most of the bag) are, interestingly, mostly fusion crust and clearly show the strange cream colored crust this low in iron meteorite is famous for.
NWA (4852): (Ureilite). Found 2007. Tkw = 1073 grams.
This is a nice little slice of this really difficult to cut meteorite. I recently offered some on a mailed listing and sold all of my “mid-sized” pieces similar to this (I have a few really small under a gram pieces and then a couple large complete slices which, though I should, I am hesitant to break up right now). I got this one at the COMETS auction as the price was reasonable and the beer very good 9got to help support the cause). This is in a membrane box that has Impactika labeling on it (Anne got the part o this stone that I did not years ago, we shared the number). I think this was cut and prepared by Bob Falls (poor guy0. It has a really nice high diamond polish on both sides.
3.48 grams – 22mm x 14mm x 4mm - $75
QUEEN”S MERCY, South Africa: (H6). Fell April 30, 1925. Tkw = 6859 grams.
I have a couple of the smaller size listed here but only the one on the “larger”. The smaller are fragments in a capsule and the larger is a single fragment in a vial labeled “Queen’s Mercy #765”.
a) .04 grams of fragments in capsule - $15
Tuesday, 20 August 2013
Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale - List 140, a few new things 21AUG2013
Blaine Reed Meteorites - List 140, a few new things 21AUG2013
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
…………………………………………………………………LIST 140
August 20, 2013
Dear Collectors,
Here is a short list of some things I picked up recently. I thought about holding them for display for the Denver show in a few weeks but then decided to offer them now.
GAO, Burkina Faso: (H5). Fell March 5, 1960.
Here is probably the largest Gao I have ever had. Now I have had this piece twice. I had it briefly in Tucson one year where it rapidly sold to a collector. Now the collector has sold it back to me. This is a nice complete individual. It does have one edge chipped/ late break area about 50mm x 12mm in size. The remainder of this is nice black fusion crust that shows nice contraction cracks and even some flow lines (very rare for Gao) in areas. This is a blocky piece but the crust is all (aside from the above mentioned break/ edge chip) all primary crust. This does show quite a bit of nice soft thumb-printing as well. A nice display piece and probably the cheapest (per gram anyway) fall available right now.
977 gram complete individual – 125mm x 60mm x 50mm - $1500
GEBEL KAMIL, Egypt. Ni-rich Ataxite. found 2008. Tkw = about 1600 kilograms.
Like the Gao above, this is the biggest piece of this meteorite I have had. And, like above, it came from the same collector (who, obviously, liked big display pieces). This is a shrapnel fragment, as all pieces of this meteorite in collector's hands have been. It certainly looks to have been a surface found piece as it is pretty much all a nice gently wind-polished chocolate brown (buried pieces tended to have a more yellow/ brown rusty color/ texture). An article in a recent Meteoritics & Planetary Sciences on some ancient iron beads (that were made out of meteorite) mentioned this meteorite. It seems that the Egyptians started referencing the sky in their words for iron around 5000 years ago. The Gebel meteorite seems to have fallen right around this time. It even seems that debris from the impact covered an old trade road. So it is highly likely that this fall was witnessed somehow by the people of the area and may have been what clued them in to the idea that iron came from the sky.
2529g natural shrapnel fragment – 150mm x 110mm x 40mm - $1800
KUNASHAK, Russia: (L6). Fell June 11, 1949. Tkw = 200+ kilograms.
I have only a few pieces of this fall available. I may break up the larger slice if need but I am hesitant to do so as it does show some nice breccia texture to it. The 3 small pieces in a bag would be ideal for the somewhat micro collector (or resale to such collectors). The slices are polished on one side. The larger piece, unfortunately, is a bit rough on its back side. It was obviously cut with a saw that was to small (took two tries from different directions to cut it) and is wedged, but still shows nice breccia on that side as well.
a) 1.5 grams 3 fragments/ cut fragments in a bag - $25
b) 7.6 gram slice – 28mm x 22mm x 4mm - $140
c) 48.8 gram slice – 60mm x 60mm x ~4mm - $500
LOS CERRILLOS, Argentina: (H4), S2, W2. Found 2006. Tkw = 1kilogram.
To me, this looks a lot more weathered than a W2 grade, but then I am not looking at it as a thin section. Regardless, with only a kilo known, there is very little of this material available to collectors (I have only these four pieces) so don't hesitate too long if you want to add this new name to your collection. Three of these pieces are slices but I do have one end piece (about 40 grams).
a) 4.7 gram slice – 45mm x 13mm x 3mm - $28
b)8.2 gram slice – 35mm x 20mm x 3mm - $49 SOLD
c) 39.5 gram end piece – 45mm x 35mm x 5mm - $200
d) 42.0 gram complete slice – 60mm x 50mm x 5mm - $230
NWA (5489): (Howardite). Found 2008. Tkw = 288 grams.
This is super fresh and every piece has at least some fresh black crust on the edges. The largest is a wonderful end piece (that I will likely put in my collection if I don't sell it here) that shows contraction cracks and some flow lines/ ridges in the crust (which covers 80% or so of the back side). This has an appearance very similar to Kapoeta and, frankly, is just as fresh. However, this meteorite, being a "lowly NWA" is priced at a small fraction of the price.
a) 3.1 gram slice – 18mm x 13mm x 4mm - $60
b) 7.4 gram slice – 30mm x 30mm x 3mm - $140
c) 12.4 gram slice – 35mm x 35mm x 4mm - $240
d) 25.0 gram cut fragment – 40mm x 33mm x 8mm - $500
e) 91.3 gram end piece/ main mass – 68mm x 50mm x 13mm - $2000
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
…………………………………………………………………LIST 140
August 20, 2013
Dear Collectors,
Here is a short list of some things I picked up recently. I thought about holding them for display for the Denver show in a few weeks but then decided to offer them now.
GAO, Burkina Faso: (H5). Fell March 5, 1960.
Here is probably the largest Gao I have ever had. Now I have had this piece twice. I had it briefly in Tucson one year where it rapidly sold to a collector. Now the collector has sold it back to me. This is a nice complete individual. It does have one edge chipped/ late break area about 50mm x 12mm in size. The remainder of this is nice black fusion crust that shows nice contraction cracks and even some flow lines (very rare for Gao) in areas. This is a blocky piece but the crust is all (aside from the above mentioned break/ edge chip) all primary crust. This does show quite a bit of nice soft thumb-printing as well. A nice display piece and probably the cheapest (per gram anyway) fall available right now.
977 gram complete individual – 125mm x 60mm x 50mm - $1500
GEBEL KAMIL, Egypt. Ni-rich Ataxite. found 2008. Tkw = about 1600 kilograms.
Like the Gao above, this is the biggest piece of this meteorite I have had. And, like above, it came from the same collector (who, obviously, liked big display pieces). This is a shrapnel fragment, as all pieces of this meteorite in collector's hands have been. It certainly looks to have been a surface found piece as it is pretty much all a nice gently wind-polished chocolate brown (buried pieces tended to have a more yellow/ brown rusty color/ texture). An article in a recent Meteoritics & Planetary Sciences on some ancient iron beads (that were made out of meteorite) mentioned this meteorite. It seems that the Egyptians started referencing the sky in their words for iron around 5000 years ago. The Gebel meteorite seems to have fallen right around this time. It even seems that debris from the impact covered an old trade road. So it is highly likely that this fall was witnessed somehow by the people of the area and may have been what clued them in to the idea that iron came from the sky.
2529g natural shrapnel fragment – 150mm x 110mm x 40mm - $1800
KUNASHAK, Russia: (L6). Fell June 11, 1949. Tkw = 200+ kilograms.
I have only a few pieces of this fall available. I may break up the larger slice if need but I am hesitant to do so as it does show some nice breccia texture to it. The 3 small pieces in a bag would be ideal for the somewhat micro collector (or resale to such collectors). The slices are polished on one side. The larger piece, unfortunately, is a bit rough on its back side. It was obviously cut with a saw that was to small (took two tries from different directions to cut it) and is wedged, but still shows nice breccia on that side as well.
a) 1.5 grams 3 fragments/ cut fragments in a bag - $25
b) 7.6 gram slice – 28mm x 22mm x 4mm - $140
c) 48.8 gram slice – 60mm x 60mm x ~4mm - $500
LOS CERRILLOS, Argentina: (H4), S2, W2. Found 2006. Tkw = 1kilogram.
To me, this looks a lot more weathered than a W2 grade, but then I am not looking at it as a thin section. Regardless, with only a kilo known, there is very little of this material available to collectors (I have only these four pieces) so don't hesitate too long if you want to add this new name to your collection. Three of these pieces are slices but I do have one end piece (about 40 grams).
a) 4.7 gram slice – 45mm x 13mm x 3mm - $28
b)
c) 39.5 gram end piece – 45mm x 35mm x 5mm - $200
d) 42.0 gram complete slice – 60mm x 50mm x 5mm - $230
NWA (5489): (Howardite). Found 2008. Tkw = 288 grams.
This is super fresh and every piece has at least some fresh black crust on the edges. The largest is a wonderful end piece (that I will likely put in my collection if I don't sell it here) that shows contraction cracks and some flow lines/ ridges in the crust (which covers 80% or so of the back side). This has an appearance very similar to Kapoeta and, frankly, is just as fresh. However, this meteorite, being a "lowly NWA" is priced at a small fraction of the price.
a) 3.1 gram slice – 18mm x 13mm x 4mm - $60
b) 7.4 gram slice – 30mm x 30mm x 3mm - $140
c) 12.4 gram slice – 35mm x 35mm x 4mm - $240
d) 25.0 gram cut fragment – 40mm x 33mm x 8mm - $500
e) 91.3 gram end piece/ main mass – 68mm x 50mm x 13mm - $2000
Tuesday, 16 July 2013
Blaine Reed Meteorites List 139 - Summer Meteorite Bargains
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
LIST 139
July 16, 2013
Dear Collectors,
Here is a second "summer bargains" list.
DAR al GANI (476), Libya: Martian Shergottite, olivine phyric. Found 1998. Tkw = 2015 grams,
This is a small ½ end piece where most of the back is the natural (mostly caliche covered) exterior. There is one edge that looks to be a fresh break so I think that this was a larger end piece that some one broke in half at some point. The interior is the usual dark olivine clasts in a green matrix.
.73 gram end piece - 12mm x 8mm x 5mm - $350
NWA (2907): Anomalous achondrite. Found 2005. Tkw = 203 grams.
Not sure why the bulletin says that there is 586 grams of this. I suspect that either there is an error or more of it turned up after I submitted it for research (I am still listed as the "main mass" holder though). Regardless, this is strange stuff. I remember Ted Bunch calling this the "bastard diogenite" because it had such strange chemistry/ mineralogy. It is quite different in appearance from anything else that I can think of. It has a fairly fine crystalline texture (kind of a mix of brown and greenish brown) with a few somewhat larger (1mm or so) darker clasts. This nice end piece could easily be cut into numerous slices if one desired.
19.0 gram end piece - 25mm x 17mm x 17mm - $300 SOLD
NWA (5784): Diogenite / DUNITE. Found 2006. Tkw = 2.6 kilograms.
The total known on this is a bit misleading as the bulk of this stone (all but a few hundred grams I think) were donated to a museum in Canada, so very little is available to collectors. I labeled this Diogenite / Dunite as there has been a change in how all of these things (normal diogenites, "olivine diogenites"and dunites) are named in the Meteoritical Bulletin. Now they are all given the classification of Diogenite. You have to look a little deeper for the details. "Normal" diogenites are orthopyroxenites, olivine diogenites are Harzburgite and for those few (and I do mean few, I think there are only 3 or 4 dunites known at this point) that are over 90% olivine the sub type is "dunite". Regardless of how it is labeled, this is a very rare and important meteorite. This particular piece is a cut fragment (may have some very thin secondary crust on the back but I am going to play it safe and call it weathering) -the only one I have I believe. The interior is an interesting mottled mix of colors ranging from very light tan (nearly white) to dark brown.
13.5 gram cut fragment - 40mm x 35mm x 7mm - $700
NWA (7252): carbonaceous (CK5). Found before February 2007. Tkw = 276.1 grams.
Here is a solid piece that could easily be cut up and sold as slices or enjoyed for the nice display piece as it is. This has distinct contraction cracked fusion crust (all be it wind polished) covering probably 65 to 70% of this piece. There is a 44mm x 39mm cut face and the remainder is an old break of thin secondary crust. The interior is a mixed medium gray and tan with only a few indistinct chondrules visible. This lot consists of the 231 gram main mass and a 6.8 gram slice.
231.3 gram main mass - 50mm x 45mm x 40mm - $1700
PERRYTON, Texas: (LL6). Found 1975. Tkw = 2114 grams.
This is a meteorite I turned up out of the field many years ago and have little recollection of it. It was obviously one of the few that I ended up selling off (to raise money for more field work) before it was ever cut or finished with research. Regardless, this is my last piece of this (I think I only had 50 or 60 grams of it to begin with) and priced at less than half what it was priced at.
8.1 gram slice - 42mm x 20mm x 3mm - $95
ORGUEIL, France: carbonaceous (CI1). Fell May 14, 1864. Tkw = 10.5+ kilograms.
This is a fairly solid piece of this really crumbly stuff. It was part of a 1.0 gram piece that broke on shipping to me. This is, by far, my largest piece of this type meteorite (I have plenty of crumbs in capsules and small glass vials).
.70 gram fragment - 12mm x 10mm x 7mm - $650
RICHFIELD, Kansas: (LL3.7). Found 1983. Tkw = 40.8 kilograms.
This is the largest slice out of this large meteorite. This is possibly the largest slice of an LL3 outside of a museum.
1714 gram complete slice - 345mm x 230mm x 7mm - $5000
SEYMCHAN, Russia: (Pallasite). Found 1967.
Here is a piece that, admittedly is not a super bargain as it sits. However, it is what this could become that makes it a deal. It is a highly pallasitic end piece that is loaded with olivine and certainly wouldn't produce anything but purely pallasitic material if cut up. Frankly, I like it just the way it is. It looks and displays nice. This is to big to weigh on any of my really accurate scales. However, I know from the scale that I usually weigh heavier items on that this is something over 6.6 kilograms.
6.6kg pallasitic end piece - 210mm x 135mm x 120mm - $13,000
SIKHOTE-ALIN, Russia: Coarsest octahedrite (IIAB). Fell February 12, 1947.
This is not only a nice, possibly oriented, fusion crusted individual it is also an art piece. This thing developed a fairly long bent tail that twists up from a wide flat base giving this thing the appearance of a scorpion. A really neat and rare piece or the animal shape collector.
307.2 gram scorpion individual - 65mm x 50mm x 55mm - $950
ZAGAMI, Nigeria; Martian (Shergottite). Fell October 3, 1962. Tkw = 18.1 kilograms.
This is a small cut fragment (there is a 5mm x 4mm cut face) in a membrane box. There is no crust so this is a true fragment. This is the thinner grained material and does show a couple thin shock veins.
.178 gram cut fragment - 6mm x 5mm x 4mm - $100
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
LIST 139
July 16, 2013
Dear Collectors,
Here is a second "summer bargains" list.
DAR al GANI (476), Libya: Martian Shergottite, olivine phyric. Found 1998. Tkw = 2015 grams,
This is a small ½ end piece where most of the back is the natural (mostly caliche covered) exterior. There is one edge that looks to be a fresh break so I think that this was a larger end piece that some one broke in half at some point. The interior is the usual dark olivine clasts in a green matrix.
.73 gram end piece - 12mm x 8mm x 5mm - $350
NWA (2907): Anomalous achondrite. Found 2005. Tkw = 203 grams.
Not sure why the bulletin says that there is 586 grams of this. I suspect that either there is an error or more of it turned up after I submitted it for research (I am still listed as the "main mass" holder though). Regardless, this is strange stuff. I remember Ted Bunch calling this the "bastard diogenite" because it had such strange chemistry/ mineralogy. It is quite different in appearance from anything else that I can think of. It has a fairly fine crystalline texture (kind of a mix of brown and greenish brown) with a few somewhat larger (1mm or so) darker clasts. This nice end piece could easily be cut into numerous slices if one desired.
19.0 gram end piece - 25mm x 17mm x 17mm - $300 SOLD
NWA (5784): Diogenite / DUNITE. Found 2006. Tkw = 2.6 kilograms.
The total known on this is a bit misleading as the bulk of this stone (all but a few hundred grams I think) were donated to a museum in Canada, so very little is available to collectors. I labeled this Diogenite / Dunite as there has been a change in how all of these things (normal diogenites, "olivine diogenites"and dunites) are named in the Meteoritical Bulletin. Now they are all given the classification of Diogenite. You have to look a little deeper for the details. "Normal" diogenites are orthopyroxenites, olivine diogenites are Harzburgite and for those few (and I do mean few, I think there are only 3 or 4 dunites known at this point) that are over 90% olivine the sub type is "dunite". Regardless of how it is labeled, this is a very rare and important meteorite. This particular piece is a cut fragment (may have some very thin secondary crust on the back but I am going to play it safe and call it weathering) -the only one I have I believe. The interior is an interesting mottled mix of colors ranging from very light tan (nearly white) to dark brown.
13.5 gram cut fragment - 40mm x 35mm x 7mm - $700
NWA (7252): carbonaceous (CK5). Found before February 2007. Tkw = 276.1 grams.
Here is a solid piece that could easily be cut up and sold as slices or enjoyed for the nice display piece as it is. This has distinct contraction cracked fusion crust (all be it wind polished) covering probably 65 to 70% of this piece. There is a 44mm x 39mm cut face and the remainder is an old break of thin secondary crust. The interior is a mixed medium gray and tan with only a few indistinct chondrules visible. This lot consists of the 231 gram main mass and a 6.8 gram slice.
231.3 gram main mass - 50mm x 45mm x 40mm - $1700
PERRYTON, Texas: (LL6). Found 1975. Tkw = 2114 grams.
This is a meteorite I turned up out of the field many years ago and have little recollection of it. It was obviously one of the few that I ended up selling off (to raise money for more field work) before it was ever cut or finished with research. Regardless, this is my last piece of this (I think I only had 50 or 60 grams of it to begin with) and priced at less than half what it was priced at.
8.1 gram slice - 42mm x 20mm x 3mm - $95
ORGUEIL, France: carbonaceous (CI1). Fell May 14, 1864. Tkw = 10.5+ kilograms.
This is a fairly solid piece of this really crumbly stuff. It was part of a 1.0 gram piece that broke on shipping to me. This is, by far, my largest piece of this type meteorite (I have plenty of crumbs in capsules and small glass vials).
.70 gram fragment - 12mm x 10mm x 7mm - $650
RICHFIELD, Kansas: (LL3.7). Found 1983. Tkw = 40.8 kilograms.
This is the largest slice out of this large meteorite. This is possibly the largest slice of an LL3 outside of a museum.
1714 gram complete slice - 345mm x 230mm x 7mm - $5000
SEYMCHAN, Russia: (Pallasite). Found 1967.
Here is a piece that, admittedly is not a super bargain as it sits. However, it is what this could become that makes it a deal. It is a highly pallasitic end piece that is loaded with olivine and certainly wouldn't produce anything but purely pallasitic material if cut up. Frankly, I like it just the way it is. It looks and displays nice. This is to big to weigh on any of my really accurate scales. However, I know from the scale that I usually weigh heavier items on that this is something over 6.6 kilograms.
6.6kg pallasitic end piece - 210mm x 135mm x 120mm - $13,000
SIKHOTE-ALIN, Russia: Coarsest octahedrite (IIAB). Fell February 12, 1947.
This is not only a nice, possibly oriented, fusion crusted individual it is also an art piece. This thing developed a fairly long bent tail that twists up from a wide flat base giving this thing the appearance of a scorpion. A really neat and rare piece or the animal shape collector.
307.2 gram scorpion individual - 65mm x 50mm x 55mm - $950
ZAGAMI, Nigeria; Martian (Shergottite). Fell October 3, 1962. Tkw = 18.1 kilograms.
This is a small cut fragment (there is a 5mm x 4mm cut face) in a membrane box. There is no crust so this is a true fragment. This is the thinner grained material and does show a couple thin shock veins.
.178 gram cut fragment - 6mm x 5mm x 4mm - $100
Friday, 12 July 2013
Blaine Reed Meteorites - List 138 - first summer sale list
Blaine Reed Meteorites - List 138 - first summer sale list
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
…………………………………………………………………LIST 138
July 12, 2013
Dear Collectors,
Here is my first "summer bargains" list. I am sorry it is going out at such a weird time, this was the soonest I could pull something together. I do realize that, in general, these are larger/ more expensive pieces than a usual list. But then the point of this sale is to raise at least a reasonable sum to pay bills and a lawyer or two.
BEDIASITE: Texas tektite.
This is a large specimen, unfortunately, has a large chip (about 25mm x 25mm) on the bottom. But then, with it sitting on a shelf (wood not glass anyway) or a table, you cannot see it. The remainder of this is fairly plain with very shallow etching that still seems to show a good amount of flow/ stretching lines. I think that this is my only Bediasite specimen remaining.
32.9 gram chipped individual – 37mm x 31mm x 18mm - $175
CASILDA, Argentina: (H5). Found 1937. Tkw = 18.35 kilograms.
Here is a beautiful complete slice from the 13 kilogram piece I bought a few years ago (that had been sitting in a Denver basement for 10 years before I bought it). This is dark but quite fresh showing lots of metal in a mottled dark greenish gray/ almost bluish gray matrix. I think this is the only complete slice I have of this and certainly the only piece I'll sell at this price (this usually brings around $4/g).
452.9 gram complete slice – 165mm x 40mm x 6mm - $900
DHOFAR (026), Oman: Lunar anorthositic melt breccia. Found 2000. Tkw = 148 grams.
This is one moon rock that, frankly does not look like one. This has just the occasional small (really small) bright white fragment in a brown matrix. Not exiting but not real common either.
.39 gram part slice – 15mm x 9mm x under 1mm - $400
NWA (2824): diogenite, anomalous. Found 2005. Tkw = 485 grams.
Here was a really weird rock that really did not look like a meteorite when I got it. Luckily, it was and a rare one no less. It, mineralogicaly is a diogenite but its oxygen isotopes show that it is not from Vesta. It seems to be from the same parent body as the famous Ibitera eucrite. Like Ibitira, this meteorite also contianed vesicles. However, unlike Ibitira, these are very small and few and far between.
a) .9 grams – 15mm x 11mm x 2mm - $90
b) 5.8 gram slice – 45mm x 28mm x 2mm - $500
NWA (2871): (Lodranite). Found 2005. Tkw = 2467 grams.
Here is a nice solid natural fragment that could easily be cut into slices (I thought about cutting into a couple nice end pieces and may yet do that). This was originally classified as an acapulcoite but later work showed that its fairly large crystal size showed it was really a lodranite.
50.3 gram natural fragment – 40mm x 35mm x 20mm - $1000
NWA (2968): achondrite ungrouped (Dunite). Found 2004. Tkw = 268 grams.
This was among the largest of the blocky fragments that made up this weird meteorite. I made the mistake of trying to cut a few pieces of this but it simply crumbled into little cubic and rectangular pieces. It later turned out that this meteorite was pretty much nothing but shocked olivine. As such, I think it was the first or second dunite known (a dunite is a "rock" that is pretty much all olivine). This is my only piece and the others sold out (quite rapidly) at around $200/g.
9.65 gram fragment – 18mm x 17mm x 14mm - $800
NWA (4857): Martian (Shergottite). Found 2007. Tkw = about 1 kilogram.
This is a really nice piece of the "new" Mars rock that was available 5 years ago. This was the first time that collectors could get a nice basically complete Mars rock individual. This is a particularly nice complete piece for this material. It has a nice rounded (oriented maybe) shape and wind polished fusion crust covering probably 85 to 90% of its surface.
1.72 gram complete individual – 11mm x 10mm x 8mm - $650
NWA (5745): (Ureilite). Found 2006. Tkw = 9kilograms.
For some reason this is listed as "provisional". Tony Irving did the work on this and confirmed that it was indeed a) a ureilite and b) the same as NWA (2218). None of this was a surprise as the Moroccan that had the original 9kg piece broke it apart at the Tucson show. David Gregory got the bulk of it – about 6kg
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
…………………………………………………………………LIST 138
July 12, 2013
Dear Collectors,
Here is my first "summer bargains" list. I am sorry it is going out at such a weird time, this was the soonest I could pull something together. I do realize that, in general, these are larger/ more expensive pieces than a usual list. But then the point of this sale is to raise at least a reasonable sum to pay bills and a lawyer or two.
BEDIASITE: Texas tektite.
This is a large specimen, unfortunately, has a large chip (about 25mm x 25mm) on the bottom. But then, with it sitting on a shelf (wood not glass anyway) or a table, you cannot see it. The remainder of this is fairly plain with very shallow etching that still seems to show a good amount of flow/ stretching lines. I think that this is my only Bediasite specimen remaining.
32.9 gram chipped individual – 37mm x 31mm x 18mm - $175
CASILDA, Argentina: (H5). Found 1937. Tkw = 18.35 kilograms.
Here is a beautiful complete slice from the 13 kilogram piece I bought a few years ago (that had been sitting in a Denver basement for 10 years before I bought it). This is dark but quite fresh showing lots of metal in a mottled dark greenish gray/ almost bluish gray matrix. I think this is the only complete slice I have of this and certainly the only piece I'll sell at this price (this usually brings around $4/g).
452.9 gram complete slice – 165mm x 40mm x 6mm - $900
DHOFAR (026), Oman: Lunar anorthositic melt breccia. Found 2000. Tkw = 148 grams.
This is one moon rock that, frankly does not look like one. This has just the occasional small (really small) bright white fragment in a brown matrix. Not exiting but not real common either.
.39 gram part slice – 15mm x 9mm x under 1mm - $400
NWA (2824): diogenite, anomalous. Found 2005. Tkw = 485 grams.
Here was a really weird rock that really did not look like a meteorite when I got it. Luckily, it was and a rare one no less. It, mineralogicaly is a diogenite but its oxygen isotopes show that it is not from Vesta. It seems to be from the same parent body as the famous Ibitera eucrite. Like Ibitira, this meteorite also contianed vesicles. However, unlike Ibitira, these are very small and few and far between.
a) .9 grams – 15mm x 11mm x 2mm - $90
b) 5.8 gram slice – 45mm x 28mm x 2mm - $500
NWA (2871): (Lodranite). Found 2005. Tkw = 2467 grams.
Here is a nice solid natural fragment that could easily be cut into slices (I thought about cutting into a couple nice end pieces and may yet do that). This was originally classified as an acapulcoite but later work showed that its fairly large crystal size showed it was really a lodranite.
50.3 gram natural fragment – 40mm x 35mm x 20mm - $1000
NWA (2968): achondrite ungrouped (Dunite). Found 2004. Tkw = 268 grams.
This was among the largest of the blocky fragments that made up this weird meteorite. I made the mistake of trying to cut a few pieces of this but it simply crumbled into little cubic and rectangular pieces. It later turned out that this meteorite was pretty much nothing but shocked olivine. As such, I think it was the first or second dunite known (a dunite is a "rock" that is pretty much all olivine). This is my only piece and the others sold out (quite rapidly) at around $200/g.
9.65 gram fragment – 18mm x 17mm x 14mm - $800
NWA (4857): Martian (Shergottite). Found 2007. Tkw = about 1 kilogram.
This is a really nice piece of the "new" Mars rock that was available 5 years ago. This was the first time that collectors could get a nice basically complete Mars rock individual. This is a particularly nice complete piece for this material. It has a nice rounded (oriented maybe) shape and wind polished fusion crust covering probably 85 to 90% of its surface.
1.72 gram complete individual – 11mm x 10mm x 8mm - $650
NWA (5745): (Ureilite). Found 2006. Tkw = 9kilograms.
For some reason this is listed as "provisional". Tony Irving did the work on this and confirmed that it was indeed a) a ureilite and b) the same as NWA (2218). None of this was a surprise as the Moroccan that had the original 9kg piece broke it apart at the Tucson show. David Gregory got the bulk of it – about 6kg
(NWA (2218)) Mike Martinez and I got about 1.5kg (NWA (5745). Anyway, this nice end piece seems to be my last specimen of this stuff. This was really hard to cut (thankfully that was Mike's problem). The research showed that this was a bit unusual in that was very low in pyroxene and is composed mostly of olivine with graphite and micro-diamonds (hence the hard cutting). This piece sits nice to display naturally.
71.3 gram end piece/ cut fragment – 55mm x 40mm x 22mm - $1000
ODESSA, Texas: Coarse octahedrite (IAB). Found 1922.
Here is a not so beautiful but interesting piece of this hard to come by now meteorite. It is a fairly plain flat specimen that that has only minor thumb-printing on one side. It has a rather large split in it that nearly breaks the thing in two. Thinking this was simply a weathering crack (even though the rest of the specimen is nice and solid) I had thought of possibly finishing the job and making two end pieces out of this. I began "work" on this thing by wire brushing it a bit (only moderately, I left the pockets natural). Some quasi-shiny chinks of material fell out of the "weathering crack". It turns out that this is NOT really just a weathering crack (where the meteorite splits apart along the Widmanstatten structure) but a cohenite inclusion! I figured this out by running the XRF on a chunk of the material that fell out – high Fe, a bit of Ni and only a little bit of S or P (ruling out troilite and schreibersite). So, I decided to leave the thing as it is (some cohenite is still indeed visible in the narrow end of the crack). This specimen will come with the 6.3 grams of cohenite I recovered while brushing this iron.
1270 gram individual – 125mm x 70mm x 35mm - $700
SEYMCHAN, Russia: (Pallasite). Found 1967.
Here is a super thin etched complete slice that is roughly 40% pallasite so it shows nice etch structure in the metal zone but still has nice pallasitc zones. This was cut using a wire saw (an expensive endeavor as this meteorite is generally hard to cut) and is polished on one side (the "back" still shows some wire saw marks) but etched on both sides. There is some minor rust spotting on the back unpolished side (this spent some time in humid climate while uncoated0 but this is minor and has not spread what so ever in the years I have had this set aside (4 or 5 maybe).
74.5 gram super thin complete slice (40% pallasitic) – 155mm x 80mm x under 1mm - $375
SEYMCHAN, Russia: (Pallasite). Found 1967.
Here is my personal collection biggest and best slice that was cut from a 5kg or so block I got years ago. The crystals in this are really gemmy and this is nearly as pretty as Esquel or Imilac. I thought I had this sold (for higher than the price here) so I was not worried about the $ and lawyers issue. However, the buyer changed their mind and decided that they could, after all, live without the piece (in all fairness, they already have several pieces that are as nice as this, just not quite as large. I know – they got those from me and they were cut from this same block). I could have sold this in Tucson for over $10k (to someone that had seen it the previous year) but I did not bring it as I was told there would be a bunch of really nice large slices for really cheap at the show. It turned out that these slices were nice but really large (2kg or so I think), had a lot more metal in them and were priced at $10/g anyway! (and supposedly sold out no less). Oops!
990 gram gemmy complete slice – 270mm x 200mm x 3mm - $7500
ODESSA, Texas: Coarse octahedrite (IAB). Found 1922.
Here is a not so beautiful but interesting piece of this hard to come by now meteorite. It is a fairly plain flat specimen that that has only minor thumb-printing on one side. It has a rather large split in it that nearly breaks the thing in two. Thinking this was simply a weathering crack (even though the rest of the specimen is nice and solid) I had thought of possibly finishing the job and making two end pieces out of this. I began "work" on this thing by wire brushing it a bit (only moderately, I left the pockets natural). Some quasi-shiny chinks of material fell out of the "weathering crack". It turns out that this is NOT really just a weathering crack (where the meteorite splits apart along the Widmanstatten structure) but a cohenite inclusion! I figured this out by running the XRF on a chunk of the material that fell out – high Fe, a bit of Ni and only a little bit of S or P (ruling out troilite and schreibersite). So, I decided to leave the thing as it is (some cohenite is still indeed visible in the narrow end of the crack). This specimen will come with the 6.3 grams of cohenite I recovered while brushing this iron.
1270 gram individual – 125mm x 70mm x 35mm - $700
SEYMCHAN, Russia: (Pallasite). Found 1967.
Here is a super thin etched complete slice that is roughly 40% pallasite so it shows nice etch structure in the metal zone but still has nice pallasitc zones. This was cut using a wire saw (an expensive endeavor as this meteorite is generally hard to cut) and is polished on one side (the "back" still shows some wire saw marks) but etched on both sides. There is some minor rust spotting on the back unpolished side (this spent some time in humid climate while uncoated0 but this is minor and has not spread what so ever in the years I have had this set aside (4 or 5 maybe).
74.5 gram super thin complete slice (40% pallasitic) – 155mm x 80mm x under 1mm - $375
SEYMCHAN, Russia: (Pallasite). Found 1967.
Here is my personal collection biggest and best slice that was cut from a 5kg or so block I got years ago. The crystals in this are really gemmy and this is nearly as pretty as Esquel or Imilac. I thought I had this sold (for higher than the price here) so I was not worried about the $ and lawyers issue. However, the buyer changed their mind and decided that they could, after all, live without the piece (in all fairness, they already have several pieces that are as nice as this, just not quite as large. I know – they got those from me and they were cut from this same block). I could have sold this in Tucson for over $10k (to someone that had seen it the previous year) but I did not bring it as I was told there would be a bunch of really nice large slices for really cheap at the show. It turned out that these slices were nice but really large (2kg or so I think), had a lot more metal in them and were priced at $10/g anyway! (and supposedly sold out no less). Oops!
990 gram gemmy complete slice – 270mm x 200mm x 3mm - $7500
Tuesday, 25 June 2013
Blaine Reed Meteorites- List 138 - WE WON! (this round)
Blaine Reed Meteorites- List 138 - WE WON! (this round)
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
(970) 874-1487
…………………………………………LIST 138
June 25, 2013
Dear Collectors,
I almost had to title this " the even higher cost of justice?" or "selling things to raise bail money".
I have not done much business wise since April (aside from the Colorado Springs Show) as I have been somewhat tied up with an ugly issue that has now, thankfully, been resolved (for now anyway).
You see, I (as well as Blake and Linda) received my/ our very first lawsuit in early May. It was Mr. Curry of Montrose retaliating for our participation in the criminal summons/ trial for his selling fake "plessitic" iron material in Grand Junction. That trial was back last October and he was found guilty on three counts. I am due something around $765 in restitution as part of his sentence from that conviction. About the time we expected that this money should be coming in (he had 6 months to complete his sentence) rather than a check, we received a huge pile of papers from him (delivered by our local sheriff's office) that constituted a "Civil and Criminal Lawsuit". This "complaint" was 55 pages long, was accompanied by another 80 pages or so of "evidence" and demanded our arrests for all kinds of crimes from fraud, criminal impersonation, using a credit instrument while committing a felony (Linda using her credit card to buy the fake rock from the store that was selling them. Not sure how Curry thinks that that constitutes a crime other than the fact he doesn't like what I did with the specimen after the purchase), conspiracy, terrorism, treason and on and on. He demanded $300million in compensation, saying that this was the "lost value" on the specimens of his I have personally analyzed and said are fake. He also demanded that some 55 criminal charges be filed against us by the Montrose District Attorney's office.
Needless to say, this shook us up quite a bit. I really thought that his already being found guilty of the crime of selling fake material in criminal court would have protected me from this kind of thing in civil court. I guess not. It seems that you can file anything you want, saying any made up things you want and the court system (at least in Montrose) will accept and process it as a valid lawsuit. Most of this "complaint" was about the criminal trial in Grand Junction and the events that led up to it. However, this "complaint" had the added spice of supposed conspiracy amongst all of us meteorite people (for "not letting him sell his material") and "terrorism" for having ever bought, owned or sold an NWA meteorite (Curry got his hands on some ridiculous "paper" stating that ALL NWA meteorites are from Algeria and ALL money spent on them goes directly into the hands of anti-American terrorists. I think the people that wrote this little piece of trash have already been sued, successfully, for authoring it).
Not having a clue what to do, I spent 30 some hours typing a "response" to this nightmare for the court. I assumed that this would make the problem go away once all of this was reviewed by a judge. Unfortunately, the court clerk informed me when I turned it in that it might be some time (and many troubles) before a judge lays a hand on any of it.
Luckily, I soon accidentally bumped into a retired civil court lawyer. Actually, I called him up to chew him out and ask why he would talk with a "journalist" that obviously had an axe to grind against meteorite the meteorite dealer and collector community. You see, one of Curry's pieces of "evidence" being used against me (along with the above mentioned NWA paper) was an article by a woman online journalist that pretty much took the same view we saw in a recent New York article (where the claim was made that we are supposedly all smugglers and thieves and the researchers loose valuable info and material because of us). The person I called was Eric Twelker (The Meteorite Market) in Juneau, Alaska. He said he remembered talking with this "author", and answering her questions. He did say however that he had no clue of her real agenda or angle she was taking with her story at the time (I generally will not talk to members of the media unless I know just what their angle is as it seems fairly rare that journalists are really simply trying to get to the truth of a situation and not trying to dig up supporting data for an already decided side of it. Not sure what the overall truth is but this has been my experience over the years anyway, unfortunately). Anyway, I explained my situation and he said he would have a look at the paperwork we were hit with. Despite our consternation over the situation, Eric was quite certain that he could make it all go away in fairly short order.
Over the years I have seen Eric at the various Tucson and Denver shows. He would pop into my room for a few minutes, look around (and maybe buy the occasional specimen) and then leave never to return during that show. He was a man of very few words. However, I learned that those few words say a LOT. I found that he was able to say in a few small sentences the exact things I would probably take 3 pages to cover (he could probably shorten this whole post to one 4 or 5 sentence paragraph and still get the whole points across. Simply amazing).
Anyway, we worked together to put in a "Motion to dismiss or change venue to Grand Junction" (where the bulk of this lawsuit's complaints derived from). This should have forced a judge to get on this quickly (can't dismiss something until they have looked it all over). I relaxed a bit at that point assuming that it was now simply a matter of sitting and waiting.
Unfortunately, this is NOT entirely how things worked out. While I was in Colorado Springs, we got "served" with more papers, very dangerous papers. This was a subpoena demanding I deliver to the court and Curry at noon on June 25th (today): certified education records (showing I do have a geology degree and such), my passport, ALL international travel records since 1994, ALL communications and records whether electronic (phone or e-mail) or personal contacts since January 1, 2010 with (and then goes on to list pretty much every researcher, institution, dealer and many collectors in the field of meteorites as well as pretty much all law enforcement agencies I have ever worked with and more), All of my customer and dealer contacts including their addresses, phone numbers and e-mails, My income tax returns back 7 years, ALL records of sales, purchases or trades involving NWA meteorites and more!!!
Blake had e-mailed a copy of this up to Eric. Eric quickly said that this was an illegal action on several levels when I called him from Colorado Springs and said not to worry about it. This is easier said than done though and I was left with a less than fully pleasant mood for the show that weekend, unfortunately.
Once I got back home, I called the Montrose court clerk early the next morning. The person I reached was cold and harsh. They supposedly looked up this subpoena and said that it was a legal court clerk issued subpoena and that I will comply or be held in contempt of court. Commenting that we suspected that this was illegal just angered this person. I then commented that there was no way I could pull all of this data together (nor would I. There is no way I was going to give that delusional lunartic all of my customer's information so he could endlessly harass them for having committed the "crime" of ever buying or owning an NWA meteorite) in the time allowed. I was told I could request an extension but the court would not have to allow it. So, while I was contemplating my options, all of which were either dangerous or distasteful (show up and only give a few papers that might actually apply to a civil suit, not show up at all both risking going to jail for contempt or give Curry and the court as much of what they asked for as I could gather) Eric was putting together more motions for me to review and file with the court. One was to remove this blatantly illegal subpoena and the other was for an immediate review of the entire lawsuit for either dismissal or venue change, as we had to have one or the other before the "subpoenaed document deadline" today.
Luckily, these worked like a charm. I filed these on June 12th. On Monday (the 17th) we got a letter from a judge! These motions did indeed finally get one fully involved. It said that they were NOT going to allow the motion for a quick review/ decision on dismissal or venue change (but promised they would look into the case quickly none the less). However, it said that they would indeed throw out the illegal subpoena! (even the judge made comment that it was illegal and should never have been issued). It also had the stipulation that any future subpoenas from Curry would have to go in front of a judge for approval before they would be processed (ouch, that's quite a reprimand/ setback. I wonder what kind of butt chewing the clerk that helped him on that first one is getting now).
That left things hanging a bit and, consequently, a fair amount of concern as to what I/ we might yet ultimately face from Curry's filing of this garbage. Might a judge decide that if there is THAT much smoke there must be some fire somewhere and hit us with some kind of charges for good measure? Might I really have to pay a bunch of money because I called some river cobbles and scrap iron for what they were?
Anyway, we got our answer on the 20th (I have been out of town since, I JUST got home minutes ago). It seems the poor judge that had to deal with all of this (reading over 100 pages of Curry's stuff and a further 30 or so of my response) was completely honest when he said he would review it all soon in the note that eliminated the documents subpoena. This new note basically says that Curry's 55 pages of complaint does not legally show Curry is entitled to any relief (money) at all, among other dings against his outlandish claims. The net result: motion to dismiss is GRANTED. This whole ugly thing goes in the wastebasket of history.
Unfortunately, it does not eliminate the possibility that nutcase will simply file more "complaints" against me. Heck, he has tried to file over 32 fraud complaints against me with the Montrose Sheriff's office, a half dozen or so with the Delta Sheriff's office and an unknown number with the Delta city police – all of which were simply tossed out. Hopefully, any future "complaints" can be dealt with as easily (and less stressfully) as this one. A huge ($300 million) thanks to Eric Twelker!
Now on to a few items for sale:
ALBIN (imilac?), Wyoming. (Pallasite). Found 1915. Tkw = about 126 pounds.
I labeled this as possible Imilac as that is what Matt thinks it could be. Frankly, I do have to agree with him on first glance. Texturally, this does look a lot like a piece of Imilac. It does have angular crystals but nothing as angular as those that the 43 pound piece of Albin I had years ago showed. However, there is good evidence that this is indeed a piece of Albin. First, it has a pretty good pedigree. It came from Ann Black to Patrick Herman to Matt. Secondly, a conversation recently with someone that has seen slices from the pieces of Albin that Bud Eisler turned up with a few years after I got my piece clearly mentioned that they had a texture much more like Imilac BUT their crystals were much darker than Imilac (which these indeed are). I had never seen any cut pieces of Bud's stones so I had no idea of this textural difference (my piece did have the darker crystals matching the color of this piece but it had a lot more olivine in a greater size range). I can tell this piece was likely cut early in the days of wire saws as it is a bit wavy (not perfectly flat). I was told that this also tends to support the idea that this is an Eisler Albin (again, I have never seen a slice of one of his pieces, but I have talked with someone that has on this). Regardless, this is a nice COMPLETE slice of pallasite that we are pricing at (or even a bit cheaper than) what it would be for an Imilac, though I do indeed believe it is an Albin.
59.8 gram complete slice – 70mm x 50mm x 4mm - $900
CANYON DIABLO, Arizona: Coarse octahedrite (IAB).
This is a nice sculpted thin "rim specimen" that came with the David New material I had a few months ago. Unfortunately, this one did not have a label for some reason. None the less, it is a nice well brushed individual of this famous and now hard to buy meteorite.
230.5 gram brushed individual – 85mm x 40mm x 20mm - $160
CHERGACH, Mali: (H5). Fell July 2007. Tkw = about 100 kilograms.
This is a nice ½ individual. Most of this is covered by a fairly thin (typical for this fall) primary crust. This, interestingly, shows obvious bright shiny metal blebs scattered throughout the dark slate gray crust. There are some areas showing contraction cracks as well. The "break" on this is actually a slickenside surface that likely broke late in the fall.
42.6 gram ½ individual – 30mm x 30mm x 20mm - $170
DAVY (a), Texas: (L4). Found 1940. Tkw = 50.6 kilograms.
Here are a couple pieces that come with TCU Monig labels. One is a complete slice and the other is an end piece. Interestingly, these are both fairly large and surprisingly solid pieces for this meteorite and are about the same weight.
a) 94.4 gram end piece – 85mm x 42mm x 18mm - $140
b) 96.1 gram complete slice – 90mm x 65mm x 5mm - $145
GIBEON, Namibia. Fine octahedrite (IVA). Found 1836.
This is a nice moderately brushed complete individual. It has some soft sculpting (it has a large indent on one side) but is not an art piece. However, it does stand up to display nicely on its own. It has been brushed but only to the point where some of the original brown still shows. A nice but not exceptional fill your hand display piece.
1657 gram complete individual – 120mm x 85mm x 40mm - $1000
HOLBROOK, Arizona: (L/LL6). Fell July 19,1912.
Here are a few nice little complete individuals. I think that these are relatively recent recoveries as they do show some weathering effects. Though they do have some minor rust spotting they all show lots of nice black crust. These are in "as found" condition and still have some of the local soil I deeper recesses.
a) .30 gram individual – 8mm x 6mm x 3mm - $10
b) .40 gram individual – 7mm x 6mm x 5mm - $13
c) .72 gram individual – 12mm x 7mm x 5mm - $20
d) 1.0 gram individual – 15mm x 8mm x 5mm - $25
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
(970) 874-1487
…………………………………………LIST 138
June 25, 2013
Dear Collectors,
I almost had to title this " the even higher cost of justice?" or "selling things to raise bail money".
I have not done much business wise since April (aside from the Colorado Springs Show) as I have been somewhat tied up with an ugly issue that has now, thankfully, been resolved (for now anyway).
You see, I (as well as Blake and Linda) received my/ our very first lawsuit in early May. It was Mr. Curry of Montrose retaliating for our participation in the criminal summons/ trial for his selling fake "plessitic" iron material in Grand Junction. That trial was back last October and he was found guilty on three counts. I am due something around $765 in restitution as part of his sentence from that conviction. About the time we expected that this money should be coming in (he had 6 months to complete his sentence) rather than a check, we received a huge pile of papers from him (delivered by our local sheriff's office) that constituted a "Civil and Criminal Lawsuit". This "complaint" was 55 pages long, was accompanied by another 80 pages or so of "evidence" and demanded our arrests for all kinds of crimes from fraud, criminal impersonation, using a credit instrument while committing a felony (Linda using her credit card to buy the fake rock from the store that was selling them. Not sure how Curry thinks that that constitutes a crime other than the fact he doesn't like what I did with the specimen after the purchase), conspiracy, terrorism, treason and on and on. He demanded $300million in compensation, saying that this was the "lost value" on the specimens of his I have personally analyzed and said are fake. He also demanded that some 55 criminal charges be filed against us by the Montrose District Attorney's office.
Needless to say, this shook us up quite a bit. I really thought that his already being found guilty of the crime of selling fake material in criminal court would have protected me from this kind of thing in civil court. I guess not. It seems that you can file anything you want, saying any made up things you want and the court system (at least in Montrose) will accept and process it as a valid lawsuit. Most of this "complaint" was about the criminal trial in Grand Junction and the events that led up to it. However, this "complaint" had the added spice of supposed conspiracy amongst all of us meteorite people (for "not letting him sell his material") and "terrorism" for having ever bought, owned or sold an NWA meteorite (Curry got his hands on some ridiculous "paper" stating that ALL NWA meteorites are from Algeria and ALL money spent on them goes directly into the hands of anti-American terrorists. I think the people that wrote this little piece of trash have already been sued, successfully, for authoring it).
Not having a clue what to do, I spent 30 some hours typing a "response" to this nightmare for the court. I assumed that this would make the problem go away once all of this was reviewed by a judge. Unfortunately, the court clerk informed me when I turned it in that it might be some time (and many troubles) before a judge lays a hand on any of it.
Luckily, I soon accidentally bumped into a retired civil court lawyer. Actually, I called him up to chew him out and ask why he would talk with a "journalist" that obviously had an axe to grind against meteorite the meteorite dealer and collector community. You see, one of Curry's pieces of "evidence" being used against me (along with the above mentioned NWA paper) was an article by a woman online journalist that pretty much took the same view we saw in a recent New York article (where the claim was made that we are supposedly all smugglers and thieves and the researchers loose valuable info and material because of us). The person I called was Eric Twelker (The Meteorite Market) in Juneau, Alaska. He said he remembered talking with this "author", and answering her questions. He did say however that he had no clue of her real agenda or angle she was taking with her story at the time (I generally will not talk to members of the media unless I know just what their angle is as it seems fairly rare that journalists are really simply trying to get to the truth of a situation and not trying to dig up supporting data for an already decided side of it. Not sure what the overall truth is but this has been my experience over the years anyway, unfortunately). Anyway, I explained my situation and he said he would have a look at the paperwork we were hit with. Despite our consternation over the situation, Eric was quite certain that he could make it all go away in fairly short order.
Over the years I have seen Eric at the various Tucson and Denver shows. He would pop into my room for a few minutes, look around (and maybe buy the occasional specimen) and then leave never to return during that show. He was a man of very few words. However, I learned that those few words say a LOT. I found that he was able to say in a few small sentences the exact things I would probably take 3 pages to cover (he could probably shorten this whole post to one 4 or 5 sentence paragraph and still get the whole points across. Simply amazing).
Anyway, we worked together to put in a "Motion to dismiss or change venue to Grand Junction" (where the bulk of this lawsuit's complaints derived from). This should have forced a judge to get on this quickly (can't dismiss something until they have looked it all over). I relaxed a bit at that point assuming that it was now simply a matter of sitting and waiting.
Unfortunately, this is NOT entirely how things worked out. While I was in Colorado Springs, we got "served" with more papers, very dangerous papers. This was a subpoena demanding I deliver to the court and Curry at noon on June 25th (today): certified education records (showing I do have a geology degree and such), my passport, ALL international travel records since 1994, ALL communications and records whether electronic (phone or e-mail) or personal contacts since January 1, 2010 with (and then goes on to list pretty much every researcher, institution, dealer and many collectors in the field of meteorites as well as pretty much all law enforcement agencies I have ever worked with and more), All of my customer and dealer contacts including their addresses, phone numbers and e-mails, My income tax returns back 7 years, ALL records of sales, purchases or trades involving NWA meteorites and more!!!
Blake had e-mailed a copy of this up to Eric. Eric quickly said that this was an illegal action on several levels when I called him from Colorado Springs and said not to worry about it. This is easier said than done though and I was left with a less than fully pleasant mood for the show that weekend, unfortunately.
Once I got back home, I called the Montrose court clerk early the next morning. The person I reached was cold and harsh. They supposedly looked up this subpoena and said that it was a legal court clerk issued subpoena and that I will comply or be held in contempt of court. Commenting that we suspected that this was illegal just angered this person. I then commented that there was no way I could pull all of this data together (nor would I. There is no way I was going to give that delusional lunartic all of my customer's information so he could endlessly harass them for having committed the "crime" of ever buying or owning an NWA meteorite) in the time allowed. I was told I could request an extension but the court would not have to allow it. So, while I was contemplating my options, all of which were either dangerous or distasteful (show up and only give a few papers that might actually apply to a civil suit, not show up at all both risking going to jail for contempt or give Curry and the court as much of what they asked for as I could gather) Eric was putting together more motions for me to review and file with the court. One was to remove this blatantly illegal subpoena and the other was for an immediate review of the entire lawsuit for either dismissal or venue change, as we had to have one or the other before the "subpoenaed document deadline" today.
Luckily, these worked like a charm. I filed these on June 12th. On Monday (the 17th) we got a letter from a judge! These motions did indeed finally get one fully involved. It said that they were NOT going to allow the motion for a quick review/ decision on dismissal or venue change (but promised they would look into the case quickly none the less). However, it said that they would indeed throw out the illegal subpoena! (even the judge made comment that it was illegal and should never have been issued). It also had the stipulation that any future subpoenas from Curry would have to go in front of a judge for approval before they would be processed (ouch, that's quite a reprimand/ setback. I wonder what kind of butt chewing the clerk that helped him on that first one is getting now).
That left things hanging a bit and, consequently, a fair amount of concern as to what I/ we might yet ultimately face from Curry's filing of this garbage. Might a judge decide that if there is THAT much smoke there must be some fire somewhere and hit us with some kind of charges for good measure? Might I really have to pay a bunch of money because I called some river cobbles and scrap iron for what they were?
Anyway, we got our answer on the 20th (I have been out of town since, I JUST got home minutes ago). It seems the poor judge that had to deal with all of this (reading over 100 pages of Curry's stuff and a further 30 or so of my response) was completely honest when he said he would review it all soon in the note that eliminated the documents subpoena. This new note basically says that Curry's 55 pages of complaint does not legally show Curry is entitled to any relief (money) at all, among other dings against his outlandish claims. The net result: motion to dismiss is GRANTED. This whole ugly thing goes in the wastebasket of history.
Unfortunately, it does not eliminate the possibility that nutcase will simply file more "complaints" against me. Heck, he has tried to file over 32 fraud complaints against me with the Montrose Sheriff's office, a half dozen or so with the Delta Sheriff's office and an unknown number with the Delta city police – all of which were simply tossed out. Hopefully, any future "complaints" can be dealt with as easily (and less stressfully) as this one. A huge ($300 million) thanks to Eric Twelker!
Now on to a few items for sale:
ALBIN (imilac?), Wyoming. (Pallasite). Found 1915. Tkw = about 126 pounds.
I labeled this as possible Imilac as that is what Matt thinks it could be. Frankly, I do have to agree with him on first glance. Texturally, this does look a lot like a piece of Imilac. It does have angular crystals but nothing as angular as those that the 43 pound piece of Albin I had years ago showed. However, there is good evidence that this is indeed a piece of Albin. First, it has a pretty good pedigree. It came from Ann Black to Patrick Herman to Matt. Secondly, a conversation recently with someone that has seen slices from the pieces of Albin that Bud Eisler turned up with a few years after I got my piece clearly mentioned that they had a texture much more like Imilac BUT their crystals were much darker than Imilac (which these indeed are). I had never seen any cut pieces of Bud's stones so I had no idea of this textural difference (my piece did have the darker crystals matching the color of this piece but it had a lot more olivine in a greater size range). I can tell this piece was likely cut early in the days of wire saws as it is a bit wavy (not perfectly flat). I was told that this also tends to support the idea that this is an Eisler Albin (again, I have never seen a slice of one of his pieces, but I have talked with someone that has on this). Regardless, this is a nice COMPLETE slice of pallasite that we are pricing at (or even a bit cheaper than) what it would be for an Imilac, though I do indeed believe it is an Albin.
59.8 gram complete slice – 70mm x 50mm x 4mm - $900
CANYON DIABLO, Arizona: Coarse octahedrite (IAB).
This is a nice sculpted thin "rim specimen" that came with the David New material I had a few months ago. Unfortunately, this one did not have a label for some reason. None the less, it is a nice well brushed individual of this famous and now hard to buy meteorite.
230.5 gram brushed individual – 85mm x 40mm x 20mm - $160
CHERGACH, Mali: (H5). Fell July 2007. Tkw = about 100 kilograms.
This is a nice ½ individual. Most of this is covered by a fairly thin (typical for this fall) primary crust. This, interestingly, shows obvious bright shiny metal blebs scattered throughout the dark slate gray crust. There are some areas showing contraction cracks as well. The "break" on this is actually a slickenside surface that likely broke late in the fall.
42.6 gram ½ individual – 30mm x 30mm x 20mm - $170
DAVY (a), Texas: (L4). Found 1940. Tkw = 50.6 kilograms.
Here are a couple pieces that come with TCU Monig labels. One is a complete slice and the other is an end piece. Interestingly, these are both fairly large and surprisingly solid pieces for this meteorite and are about the same weight.
a) 94.4 gram end piece – 85mm x 42mm x 18mm - $140
b) 96.1 gram complete slice – 90mm x 65mm x 5mm - $145
GIBEON, Namibia. Fine octahedrite (IVA). Found 1836.
This is a nice moderately brushed complete individual. It has some soft sculpting (it has a large indent on one side) but is not an art piece. However, it does stand up to display nicely on its own. It has been brushed but only to the point where some of the original brown still shows. A nice but not exceptional fill your hand display piece.
1657 gram complete individual – 120mm x 85mm x 40mm - $1000
HOLBROOK, Arizona: (L/LL6). Fell July 19,1912.
Here are a few nice little complete individuals. I think that these are relatively recent recoveries as they do show some weathering effects. Though they do have some minor rust spotting they all show lots of nice black crust. These are in "as found" condition and still have some of the local soil I deeper recesses.
a) .30 gram individual – 8mm x 6mm x 3mm - $10
b) .40 gram individual – 7mm x 6mm x 5mm - $13
c) .72 gram individual – 12mm x 7mm x 5mm - $20
d) 1.0 gram individual – 15mm x 8mm x 5mm - $25
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