Tuesday 20 March 2018

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 212

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 212

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487                                                                                                                               
                            LIST 212

March 20, 2018

Dear collectors,

Here is the second Rohr collection offering. This, and the next few offerings likely, will generally be the smaller specimens that I picked up from Linton’s collection.

List 212 Offerings (click on image to enlarge)
CANYON DIABLO, Arizona: Iron. Coarse octahedrite (IAB), Found 1891.
Here a couple really nicely shaped wire-brushed individuals. These are likely “rim specimens” – pieces of this meteorite that were likely found near the rim of the crater. It seems that specimens that were close to the blast got heat-treated to some degree (enough to remove any etch structure in most of these pieces, as I embarrassingly found out by trying to etch such a piece in front of a geochemistry class years ago). The plus side is that these pieces have neat thin-edges, sculpted shapes, as these two do. The Smaller specimen here comes with a Linton Rohr collection card. I could not locate the one for the larger (if it ever had one), but this piece has a better shape, in my opinion.
60.4 gram brushed individual – 30mm x 20mm x 20mm - $60
85.7 gram brushed individual – 55mm x 28mm x 15mm - $85

DHOFAR (644), Oman: Ordinary chondrite (L6). Found 2001. Tkw = 704 grams.
The info I found on this says it was found January 26, 2001, so the finder made it a point to keep track of that. This is nothing special, to be honest – a pretty typical example of a moderately plus weathered L chondrite from Oman (there seems to be an overabundance of L chondrites in Oman). There are some metal grains still visible in the central part of the piece, so it is less weathered than some Dhofar pieces I have had. The original stone found was not real big – probably less than fist-sized. As this end piece is over 100 grams I suspect that this could be the main mass if this stone was cut up into slices. Or, it could be that few pieces were removed – making only a few pieces available to collectors and, as such, a tough “name” to add to a collection.
    110.0 gram end piece – 95mm x 25mm x 25mm - $110

NWA (unstudied): Carbonaceous chondrite (CV3).
There was no information with these pieces except that they are CV3 (and they clearly look to be precisely that) and had not been studied. This lot consists of 4 obvious individuals with classic rounded meteorite shapes (though the fusion crust has long since been wind-polished off). The largest piece has a nice fairly large (7mm x 5mm) obvious CAI showing on the exterior. Nice pieces from an obviously larger fall. I don’t recognize these as being likely paired to any of the CV3s I am aware of so these are “unknown” at this point (but ARE obviously CV3).
    Lot of 4 individuals totaling 31.7 grams - $90

NWA (2822): Rumuruttiite (R4). Found 2005. Tkw = 1675 grams.
This is obviously a specimen that Linton got from me some years ago back when I actually had a fair amount of R-chondrite stuff available (it is kind of hard to come by these days). This part slice still has my small weight and name sticker on it and the information card I originally sent with it. This piece has one fusion crusted edge (about 1/3 of the edge) with the two other sides (this is triangular shaped) being fractured surfaces. This was one of my more favorite R-chondrites. It has lots of gray and brown chondrules in a mottled light brown (more orange actually) matrix.
    8.1 gram part slice – 35mm x 25mm x 3mm - $100

NWA (5793): Ordinary chondrite (LL3.8). Found 2009. Tkw = 3.5 kilograms.
I highly suspect that this is paired to my NWA (6135) material  (also classified as an LL3.8). This has the same look – lots of chondrules of many colors and sizes in a mottled light to medium brown matrix. This also seems to have the “exotic” clasts that some pieces of mine have (I have a few larger such pieces set aside if anyone is interested). In this particular piece there is an elongate (but fairly small – about 5mm x 2mm) green clast that looks very much like diogenite material type clasts that some of my larger pieces clearly show (as larger inclusions). This particular specimen is a complete slice of a fragment and was picked up by Linton from Geoff Notkin some years ago (for $89 if the price tag on the label is correct). It comes in a 2” x 2” plastic box and has the Aerolite Meteorites card with it. 
    8.9 gram slice – 30mm x 30mm x 4mm - $55

NWA (6704): Ungrouped achondrite. Found 2011. Tkw = 8387 grams.
I can see how this was classified as “ungrouped”. It is indeed a bit different looking. It is a mix of fairly bright green crystals (the bulk of the material) with brown to almost black crystals making up the rest. My first guess would have been a weird type of diogenite based on just visually looking at this. Real research work, obviously, showed that this was not the case. I have two pieces. One is a slice and shows a couple small pieces of metal on the polished side that is showing (both of these are in a 1 ½” x 1 ½” gemstone style display box). The other, larger piece is a natural fragment. Strange stuff.
2.23 grams slice – 25mm x 15mm x 2mm - $80
2.86 gram fragment – 19mm x 13mm x 6mm - $85

WHETSTONE MOUNTAINS, Arizona: Ordinary chondrite (H5). Fell June 23, 2009. Tkw = 2.14 kilograms.
I had a larger piece of this but, not surprisingly, sold it in Tucson (to, not surprisingly, an Arizona collector). This little piece got over looked as it was kind of lost in a bin full of specimens of all kinds, or it probably would have sold as well. Unfortunately, this is a really small piece. However, it is still obviously a piece of a fresh fall. It has a nice edge (its longest edge, thankfully) of fusion crust with the interior being a very light gray color. Not a big specimen, but a good way to add a really hard to get name to your micro-collection.
    3.5mm x 2mm x 1mm crusted fragment in membrane box - $40

Tuesday 6 March 2018

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 211

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 211

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

March 6, 2018

Dear collectors,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wednesday 3 January 2018

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 210 03JAN2018

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 210

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

January 3, 2018
LIST 210

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

TUCSON SHOW INFO: I will be on the road from January 24th until around February 14th. For the show itself, I will be in my usual spot: Ramada Limited (665 N. Freeway, Tucson) room 134. I should be open by mid to late morning Saturday January 27th. I likely will indeed stay through the bitter end – February 10th will be the last day. I open the door most days at 10AM. I will have the door open most evenings until around 9:30pm or so (or later if people are visiting/ still wandering about) but there may be a couple nights I will be out for dinner or such for a couple hours but that should be rare.

Note on photos: I do have “group photos” of each of the lots listed below, so ask if you want me to e-mail one (or a couple) of these group photos. These photos have the exact specimens listed below. I often send the first requesters of a particular size specimen that I have multiple pieces of the largest/ nicest of that size range. You can request that I send you the EXACT one in the photo if you really want this (assuming that I still have it anyway).

GUADALUPE y CALVO, Mexico: Iron. Hexahedrite (IIAB). Found 1971. Tkw = 58.63 kilograms.
This was found in 1971 but was not recognized as a meteorite until 1990. It had a nice deep dish on one side and had done duty as a dog-food bowl for 20 years on a ranch in Mexico until it was recognized as a meteorite. Here is a selection of Schwade Collection pieces. Each will come with a Schwade collection label. As I also had part of this meteorite when it first came out I also have copies of my old labels I sent out with specimens I sold back then (so, like the Gan Gan on the last list, you will get two cards with these specimens). This batch did not lend itself well to breaking down into a catalog where I can list a piece and have back-up “replacement” pieces (for most of these anyway, particularly the smaller specimens). So, once the listed piece is sold, I will try to offer something similar, though it will be somewhat larger or smaller than the listed piece (but it’s appearance won’t differ much from the photographed piece overall).
Part slices: etched to show a very light Neumann line structure:
a) 43.4 grams - SOLD
a.2) (not shown in photo) 54.3 grams - 55mm x 27mm x 6mm - $210 - SOLD
b) 84.9 grams - 70mm x 30mm x 5mm - $320
c) 136.3 grams - 60mm x 50mm x 5mm - $475
d) 163.0 grams - 60mm x 60mm x 5mm - $530
e) 203.1 grams - 75mm x 60mm x 6mm - $600

NWA (8018): Ordinary chondrite. (H4), S2, W1. Found before Aug 2011. Tkw = 392 grams.
A single stone was purchased in Tamara, Morocco. Research work showed it to be an equilibrated (petrographic grade 4) H-chondrite. This study also showed that this is also a low shock, low weathering grade stone. The low shock I believe – the matrix is quite porous. The weathering grade I am not as certain of. This shows a good number of chondrules in a medium orangish brown (with hints of purplish undertones) matrix but very little metal is visible. Anyway, I (obviously) have very little of this available.
Slices:
a) 12.4 grams - 40mm x 34mm x 4mm - $20
b) 23.4 grams - 60mm x 43mm x 4mm - $35 – complete slice.
c) 43.4 grams - 70mm x 52mm x 6mm - $65 – complete slice.
End piece:
a) 36.3 grams - 50mm x 33mm x 12mm - $60

ALLENDE, Mexico: Carbonaceous chondrite (CV3.2). Fell February 8, 1969.
I found a batch of fragments that I had set aside over 15 years ago (probably closer to 20 years actually) in deep, deep storage. I got them in a trade with ASU. Unfortunately, I can’t even remember what it was I traded to them to get these. All I remember is that I got to scoop out a couple kilos of fresh fragments (all which were pretty much crust free and most of which I sold off years ago) from a large wooden crate full of the stuff as part of that trade. Anyway, I cut most of these pieces in half to make these nice cut fragments. As mentioned above, few show any crust but all are very fresh show lots of chondrules, CAIs and the occasional gold colored troilite inclusion.
Cut fragments:
a) 2.6 grams - 20mm x 18mm x 4mm - $35
b) 5.1 grams - 25mm x 20mm x 7mm - $65
c) 10.0 grams - 35mm x 26mm x 5mm - $125
d) 14.3 grams - 35mm x 27mm x 9mm - $175
e) 21.1 grams - 40mm x 25mm x 10mm - $250 May be SOLD
e.2 (not shown in photo) 21.4 grams 42mm x 25mm x 14mm - $250

NWA (11273): Lunar (feldspathic breccia). Found before April 2017. Tkw = around 130kg.
I know, the official report says that only 2.8kg was found of this. However, this is paired with a bunch of other reported NWA numbered pieces that, all together total around 130kg or so. To me, this is the (869) of the lunar world; abundant and beautiful (so many things there is a lot of are ugly, unfortunately). This has a fantastic truly moon-rock looking appearance with angular white to light gray clasts (of all sizes) in a dark gray background. Best of all, its sudden large quantity weight appearance (though the few biggest pieces – totaling something like 100kg are already safely in private collections) has brought the price down to a fantastically cheap level. Larger pieces, I have heard, are now hard to come by and prices on the smaller stuff is rising (at least based on the last stuff I was offered anyway). Here is your chance to get a truly moon-rock looking moon rock at a truly reasonable price. These are all cut fragments that I did my best to maximize polished surface area (and the “thickness”measurement is a measure of the thickest part, not an overall depth/ thickness). I do have some other slices available, but only a few.
1) End pieces/ cut fragments:
a) .90 grams - 15mm x 10mm x 5mm - $100
b) 2.00 grams - 25mm x 10mm x 5mm - $200
c) 3.36 grams - 22mm x 17mm x 5mm - $300 SOLD
c.2) (not shown in photo) 3.45g - 25mm x 17mm x 5mm - $300
d) 5.50 grams - 34mm x 19mm x 6mm - $495
e) 7.09 grams - 32mm x 26mm x 6mm - $635
f) 13.25 grams - 58mm x 24mm x 5mm - $1160
g) 29.07 grams - 60mm x 35mm x 10mm - $2500 SOLD
g.2) (not shown in photo) 27.25g - 60mm x 30mm x 11mm - $2300
h) 90.23 grams - 110mm x 40mm x 13mm - $7200
i) 184.4 grams - 95mm x 70mm x 20mm - $13,800 – a real hand specimen!


SEYMCHAN, Russia: Stony-iron (pallasite). Found 1967.
These pieces were cut from a chunk of Seymachan I picked up at the Denver spring show a few years ago. The piece in its natural state looked to be pretty much nothing but a mass of olivine crystals, many of which were super gemmy, and not much else. I had this professionally, wire-saw cut as I know it would have turned into a pile of crystals (but many of which could be faceted) if I attempted to do the job with my equipment. As expected, these thin slices show very little metal. Most have a vein of metal (that usually has some neat shaped chromite inclusions) that is around 5mm or so wide and only a few small isolated grains otherwise.  Interestingly, a fair number of the crystals are dark and shattered (likely through shock) but yet others immediately adjacent are absolutely glass clear. I sold quite a lot of this material in Tucson at $20 to $25/g but I am offering it a bit cheaper here to my regular customers
Slices:
a) 4.2 grams - 30mm x 25mm x 1.5mm - $65
b) 7.9 grams - 35mm x 35mm x 1.5mm - $120
c) 14.8 grams - 57mm x 40mm x 1.5mm - $200 – complete slice.
End piece:
a) 96.1 grams - 50mm x 40mm x 25mm - $700

LIBYAN DESERT GLASS:
This stuff has gotten hard to come by. The Russians were generally the only ones brave enough to go out to the area where this is found (it is an off-limits military area where they practice dropping bombs, or so I have been told). They are not allowed to go to Egypt these days after one of their airliners was shot down a few years ago. So, he who has some Libyan glass has it, he who doesn’t – tough luck. I stumbled into a person that had some set aside years ago recently. The pieces they had set aside were ones that have bands and zones of darker greenish-brown glass. I am not certain if it has been completely decided yet, but I recall that studies show that this darker glass may contain small amounts of the exploding body that formed this material. All of the pieces here were selected to show this darker glass – either a zones in areas of the piece, but most often as bands running through the specimen. Rare and interesting.
Individual pieces as found, showing darker glass bands and areas:
a) 3.5 grams - 20mm x 15mm x 12mm - $10
b) 7.4 grams - 30mm x 23mm x 12mm - $20 SOLD
b.2 (not shown) 7.7 grams- 26mm x 21mm x 11mm - $20
c) 15.0 grams - 40mm x 18mm x 18mm - $40
d) 24.8 grams - 45mm x 24mm x 20mm - $65
e) 44.2 grams - 55mm x 35mm x 30mm - $110 – only one this size. SOLD

Please note:
Shipping:  For small US orders $3 should still be fine. Larger orders are now $13 (insurance is extra if desired – I’ll look it up if you want it). Overseas prices have gone up A LOT the past couple years. Now small overseas orders are around $13 (I’ll have to custom quote any larger items/ orders). Registration (recommended on more valuable overseas orders) is $15.
I do have a fax machine that seems to work (but I have to answer it and manually turn it on), so overseas people can contact me that way if they must.  However, for overseas orders, it probably is best to go ahead and use my brmeteorites@yahoo.com e-mail.

Tuesday 31 October 2017

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 209

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 209

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

LIST 209
October 31, 2017

Dear collectors,
Happy Halloween!
This will be my only offering until sometime in December (and that one will be a “want to clear it out of inventory” type offering – assuming I come up with such items when I do finally get around to the hideous/ tedious task of doing inventory this year).

SOCORRO, New Mexico Mineral symposium: I will be gone November 8th until November 14th or 15th (weather depending – I have gotten to old or to lazy to try and drive over 11,000 foot high mountains in snow storms these days). I do set up at a show of sorts (Nov 10th and 11th) so contact me if you might want to visit so I can give you the particulars.

COSTA RICA: Yep, I am finally going on a trip that is truly a vacation and not (meteorite anyway) business related. I think my last such vacation was the last time I went to Costa Rica over 9 years ago. I’ll be gone from November 21st or 22nd until December 6th (again, weather dependant). On this trip, I will be completely out of range by phone or e-mail. So please try to contact me about things a few days before I leave or have lots of patience to wait until I get back and have a chance to catch up.

So, here is a list of pretty much all the “new” things that I have turned up since my last basic e-mail offering (which was way back in July). I do have a group photo of these posted in the group photo archives (titled “List 209”) but I can e-mail it to you as well. One specimen, the Ladder Creek, isn’t in it as I just discovered that piece an hour or so ago and added it at the last minute so didn’t have time to have a new photo made up.

BRENHAM, Kansas: Stony-iron (pallasite). Found 1882.
I put this one in the wrong spot in the photo. It should have been first, but I placed it after the Grossnaja. I think this is because
this is where I had it on my handwritten-notes I made as the precursor to typing this actual offering. Anyway, this is a plastic vial labeled “Brenham Olivine”. The contents do contain some olivine crystals and fragments (I didn’t photo those outside of the vial for the same wind problem mentioned in the Grossnaja listing) but the bulk of the lot is a rather nice small part slice (3.7g – 15mm x 10mm x 6mm) that has a good mix of olivine and metal. It has a few (really) small rust spots but is surprisingly nice considering that it has likely been sitting the way it is for many decades (this came with a collection of stuff I got some years ago from a retired researcher).
4.9 grams part slice and olivine crystals - $15

ESTHERVILLE, Iowa: Stony-iron (Mesosiderite). Fell May 10, 1879. Tkw = 318+ kilograms.
This is a nice complete slice of a small fragment. It has a good mix of metal and silicates (perhaps a bit heavier, volume wise, on the metal). I don’t get pieces of this stuff real often but am still surprised at how affordable this historic fall (of a stony-iron meteorite no less) is when available. I am sure this situation won’t last for all that much longer (but I am not going to put this aside and wait for that day to come).
7.9 gram complete slice – 35mm x 12mm x 5mm - $80 SOLD

GROSSNAJA, Russia: Carbonaceous chondrite (CV3.3) ox. Fell June 28, 1861.
This is probably the rarest item I have on this offering (or on several offerings for that matter). I got this “specimen” as part of the old research collection I picked up a couple years ago. This consists of .13 grams of fragments and dust in a small research vial labeled “GROSSNAJA, Me1732”. Well, it is really two “large” fragments that are roughly equal in size (I have these outside of the vial in the group photo) that total over .11g of the weight and then some tiny fragments and crumbs for the remainder (didn’t put those out for the photo – wind would have taken them away). I set this aside trying to decide what to do with it. I don’t recall ever having or seeing pieces (even crumbs) of this meteorite before so I considered making this three lots (2 using each of the larger fragments and one containing the .01 or .02g of dust) and auctioning it (as I am sure there are lots of collectors that don’t have this one in their collections). This might have been the better move but I have decided to simply move this out of inventory and let the next person do the auction thing, if they desire.
.13 grams fragments in research vial - $100 SOLD

JAIPUR, India: Carbonaceous chondrite (CM2). Fell June 6, 2017. Tkw = 3.2 kilograms.
Here are a couple small fragments of a really rare meteorite (in type, total recovered and far rarer in what has been available to collectors) that were left with me this past Denver show (I sold a couple other pieces at the show). These are in a fairly large plastic display box (2 ¼” x 3 ¼”). There is a label containing the basic info (name, type, date, weight) below the specimen on the front side and a more complete Mike Farmer label in the box on the back. These boxes are sealed quite well and I did not attempt to open them so the measurements (mostly the thickness) must be considered a good guess. Anyway, these are great (quasi) affordable specimens of a rare fall to add to your collection.
a) .131 gram fragment – 7mm x 5mm x 2mm - $160
b) .328 gram fragment – 8mm x 6mm x 4mm - $380

LADDER CREEK, Kansas: Ordinary chondrite (L6). Found July 1937. Tkw = 35.1 kilograms.
As already mentioned above, this one didn’t make it in to the group photo as I just “discovered” it less than an hour ago. Anyway, I suspect that this is another specimen from the “retired researcher” collection I got a few years ago. This has the right kind of plastic bottle (a really old pill bottle actually in this case) that has an old yellowed label (that says “Ladder Creek”) that is very similar to many other pieces that were in that collection. Anyway, not sure why this one missed my attention until now. I do have small soft spot for Ladder Creek so I may have placed it aside for this reason. Linda actually paid for the very first collection I ever bought (got it from Robert Haag). Those specimens, except a nice Ladder Creek slice that Linda kept (and still has as far as I am aware) composed my very first ever “what is new” list (this had to be sometime in late 1986 or early 1987). Anyway, this is just a small part slice. It does have a small patch of dark gray fusion crust (6mm x 5mm) on one end. The interior is somewhat weathered but still shows quite a lot of really small metal grains in a mottled tan, orange and brown matrix.
2.3 gram part slice – 18mm x 9mm x 5mm - $15

NWA (8545): Ungrouped achondrite. Purchased 2013. Tkw = 57.8 grams.
An interesting rarity and not a lot of this one out there. I can’t remember exactly how I got these pieces (probably a trade deal of some sort) but I had them sitting around for a few years now and kind of overlooked them (aside from dusting off the bag they were in from time to time). I am finally offering them here (won’t have to dust them anymore – but the shelf they were sitting on will still need it). These are all basically fragments but each piece looks like it might have a small cut or sanded face. I didn’t want to risk crumbling by taking these things out of the display boxes I got them in. As such, the thickness measurements listed below are just a close guess. They are granular and have a mix of (mostly) tan and brown crystals with some spots of green and black. The research data indicates that this is weird stuff; composed of roughly 70% pyroxene and 30% plagioclase. It also has a super high faylite (? – this is a reading of the iron content in olivine. The research results don’t mention olivine but it must be in there in at least trace amounts) of 84.2! Most meteorites have faylite of around 17 (H chondrites) up to around 35 or so (R chondrites). Further notes in the research report say that this is likely paired to the strange (rare and expensive when it was available) NWA (011). I have only these 4 pieces and they will come in the gem-stone box that I got them in (as photographed).
a) .13 grams – 6mm x 5mm x 2mm - $15
b) .23 grams – 9mm x 4mm x 3mm - $25
c) .32 grams – 9mm x 5mm x 4mm - $35
d) .53 grams – 10mm x 6mm x 5mm - $55

PENA BLANCA SPRING, Texas: Enstatite achondrite (Aubrite). Fell August 2, 1946. Tkw = 70.4 kg.
These are all slices/ part slices from the Jim Schwade collection and all come with one of his collection labels. I did have to hand alter the label for the smallest specimen, as it had “found 1984” for the fall/ find info. This was an obvious error, hold over from his preparing labels for the Gan Gan (which was found in 1984) specimens that I offered on my list mailed and e-mailed list. The other cards are all correct from the start. The large piece is a wonderful ¼ slice (two cut edges) that has patches of cream colored fusion crust along much of its natural edge (which, thankfully, is the longest edge). The 4.9 gram piece also has a bit of crust but it is only a tiny patch around 3mm or so across. All have the wonderful breccia texture this meteorite shows so well.
a) 1.8 grams – 15mm x 12mm x 4mm - $145
b) 4.9 grams – 32mm x 10mm x 6mm $390
c) 5.1 grams – 35mm x 15mm x 4mm - $400
d) 103.0 grams – 148mm x 80mm x 3mm - $7000

SERRA PELDA, Brazil: HED achondrite (Eucrite). Fell June 6, 2017. Tkw = about 10 kilograms.
Hmmm. It seems June was a good month for falls this year. I have two things that fell that month on this list. Like the Jaipur above, I only have two pieces of this. Also, like the Jaipur above, these are in the larger plastic display boxes that have a basic label under the specimen on the front side and a more detailed Farmer label in the box on the back side. Also like the Jaipur, these boxes are sealed, so the listed thickness measurements are guesses. The (only slightly) smaller piece has a nice small (8mm x 3mm) patch of shiny black fusion crust. The other slightly larger piece does not seem to have any crust (again the boxes are sealed. I am assuming that if this had crust, that part would have been put acing up).
a) .648 gram fragment – 12mm x 6mm x 5mm - $80
b) .670 gram fragment – 11mm x 9mm x 4mm - $80

Tuesday 3 October 2017

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 208 After Denver

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 208 After Denver

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
……………………………………………………LIST 208
October 4, 2017

Dear collectors,
One note: As I have been trying to get done on these e-mail postings (as well, obviously, for the pretty much identical mailed versions as well but I didn’t have enough room on that to tell those folks about this unfortunately), I did get some group photos of each of these things. So, I can send you a photo of each of the things below if needed. BUT be aware that it will have all of the different size/ style pieces listed in each picture. Also it will necessarily be of the exact pieces listed below. I generally have multiple pieces of most things listed. I generally send the first person requesting a particular piece something pretty much identical (and often slightly bigger), so if you MUST have the one in the picture (assuming it is still available), please let me know.


GAN GAN, Argentina: Fine octahedrite (IVA). Found 1984. Tkw = 83 kilograms.
Now here is a meteorite I have not offered in a long time. The info cards I have from when I originally offered it where typed up on a type-writer. Many people alive today have never had to use one of those (yep, I’ll send along one of those cards with each specimen). These pieces are specimens that were recently released from the Jim Schwade collection (and each comes with one of those labels as well). They are polished on one side (but generally show etch on both). The etch is not real vibrant on this material, being somewhat fainter and grayer than some fine octahedrites but nice none the less.
1) Etched part slices:
a) 14.5 grams - 36mm x 9mm x 5mm - $73
b) 30.7 grams - 29mm x 25mm x 5mm - $145
c) 43.3 grams - 48mm x 19mm x 5mm - $200
d) 88.5grams - 65mm x 36mm x 5mm - $400
e) 119.2 grams - 55mm x 52mm x 5mm - $525
f) 190.5grams - 89mm x 50mm x 5mm - $800
---



HOPE CREEK, Alaska: Ordinary chondrite (LL6). Found 1998. Tkw = 9.83 kilograms.
Here is an item I had on display (and nearly sold) at this past Denver Show. The Meteoritical Bulletin simply says that this was found by Chris Shaw while metal detecting for gold. This was on consignment with another dealer (for just a bit over 2.5 times the original price) and that card says that this is the main mass. The main mass is actually owned by Dirk Ross, Tokyo. Anyway, this is a “bookend” cut block that has 3 cut faces and nice crust covering most of the remainder. For a really good photo of this piece that shows the interesting/ odd interior structure of this meteorite really well – go to the Meteoritcal Bulletin listing for this meteorite and look at the photos published below – the one Anne Black (Impactica) posted is really very nice. If this does not sell intact I will consider cutting it up – so let me know if you might be wanting just a slice of this in the future.
805.5 gram book end – 90mm x 65mm x 60mm - $3800
---

NORTHBRANCH, Kansas: Ordinary chondrite. (H5). Found 1972. Recognized 1997. Tkw = 76kg.
Like the above Gan Gan, this is another meteorite I have not offered in a long time (and also has the old type-writer created labels). I am not certain if I ever really did offer this stuff on a mailed list. I sold most of it as large wholesale end pieces and slices years ago and then taped up the few remaining slices and put them into storage, not wanting to polish them as they were fragile and had pretty bad saw marks. I finally got these polished (on one side anyway) a few weeks ago. To be bluntly honest, this stuff will certainly NOT win any beauty contests. It is probably one of the uglier US meteorites I have ever had (and, frankly, the internal textures show better on the unpolished side). Despite being quite weathered, it does still show some metal in a fairly dark, mottled green and brown matrix. I have surprisingly little of this material remaining, so don’t wait too long if you are interested in having a piece of this US stone in your collection.
1) Slices:
a) 7.6 grams - 20mm x 18mm x 6mm - $15
b) 15.4 grams - 33mm x 23mm x 6mm - $30
c) 34.2 grams - 45mm x 40mm x 6mm - $65
d) 67.3 grams - 70mm x 60mm x 6mm - $125
e) 146.9 grams - 120mm x 67mm x 6mm - $270
f) 343.2 grams - 155mm x 140mm x 6mm - $600 – only one this size.
g) 858.1 grams - 310mm x 160mm x 6mm - $1400 - only one this size.
---


NWA (11299): Carbonaceous chondrite (CK5). Found before February 2017. Tkw = 969.7 grams.
Here is a stone I picked up this past Tucson and got through research quickly. Though cut pieces of this meteorite look pretty normal visually, research work showed that this is not really a typical CK meteorite. This stone has very low FeO compositions in its minerals. As such, this was originally submitted as “CK5 – anom” for its classification. Apparently, it did not get accepted/ published as such by the Nomenclature Committee. Regardless, this is indeed a strange stone. There are only 4 other CK meteorites (among all petrographic grades) known in the world (two of which are published as “anomalous”) with similar low FeO compositions at the time the research and reporting work was done on this meteorite.
1) Slices:
a) 2.7 grams - 16mm x 14mm x 4mm - $35
b) 5.4 grams - 23mm x 19mm x 4mm - $68
c) 10.0 grams - 30mm x 27mm x 4mm - $120
d) 23.1 grams - 45mm x 40mm x 4mm - $270
e) 44.4 grams - 90mm x 42mm x 4mm - $500 – complete slice.
---


NWA (11396): HED achondrite (Eucrite, melt breccia). Found before February 2017. Tkw = 953.0 grams.
This is another item I picked up in Tucson. It had a weird exterior look and XRF analysis hinted that it was a bit different (looked similar to HED but had some significant differences). Analysis after cutting showed it was indeed a bit different, but not the really different I was hoping for. The interior is kind of a mushy mix of lighter eucrite looking clasts in a medium green/gray matrix that shows some melt flow structure in places. The official report shows this to be the 14th eucrite melt breccia known (3 from Antarctica and the rest being NWA). Not real pretty, but rare and interesting.
1) Slices:
a) 3.4 grams - 20mm x 13mm x 4mm - $35
b) 7.1 grams - 27mm x 24mm x 4mm - $70
c) 15.6 grams - 40mm x 30mm x 5mm - $150
d) 28.3 grams - 60mm x 40mm x 5mm - $270
e) 53.5 grams - 90mm x 60mm x 4mm - $500 – nice complete slice.
2) End piece:
199.7 grams - 90mm x 55mm x 30mm - $1400 – Main Mass.
---


SERICHO, Kenya: Stony-iron (pallasite). Found 2016. Tkw = several tons
I am pleased to be able to offer nice pieces of this, the newest known pallasite. Strange large rocks were known for decades, but it took a couple brothers trying to track down some missing camels to recognize they were meteorites. Anyway, I have a nice selection of thin slices as well as one individual and one end piece. The larger slices are thinner and therefore a bit higher priced per gram than the slightly thicker smaller specimens. Both sizes generally will show some light transmittance through some of the crystals, but the larger, thinner pieces show considerably more. Regardless, this is not a super gemmy pallasite like Esquel in either case. Many of the crystals have been shocked to an interesting dark bluish gray color (I have had a few pieces of Seymchan that had a few rare crystals showing this interesting shock effect). Most pieces I am offering have a mix of orangish, green and bluish gray crystals (the orangish ones being the least common in general). ALL of these pieces are from earlier, fresher surface recovery specimens.
1) Slices:
a) 7.1 grams - 26mm x 24mm x 2.5mm - $90
b) 13.5 grams - 42mm x 27mm x 2.5mm - $170
c) 29.3 grams - 73mm x 50mm x 1.5mm - $440
d) 51.0 grams - 110mm x 80mm x 1mm - $750
e) 104.3 grams - 135mm x 95mm x 1mm - $1500 – complete slice.
f) 153.6 grams - 155mm x 90mm x 1.5mm - $2000 – complete slice.
2) 743.9 gram complete individual as found – 70mm x 70mm x 50mm - $2900
3) 1307.2 gram end piece – 140mm x 90mm x 50mm - $5000
---

MONTURAQUI, Chile: Impact, crater glass.
Nope, these are NOT the stuff you’ll find if you do a search on “Monturaqui impact glass” online. That brings up a wide selection of the (relatively) common Impactites from this crater (I still have some of these available for $1/g). THIS material is indeed true impact glass. These are fairly frothy (with much, much smaller air bubbles than the impactites) and they do contain some small rock fragments (again, like impactites) but they are clearly predominantly glass. The impactites are brown to orange, mostly bubbles and rock fragments held together by a bit of black glass. These are a completely different color – having more of a light gray to light pinkish coloration (probably from melting of the rhyolitic lava deposits in the impact site). I have a very small amount of this material. I got it from the finder who recovered a small quantity of these things (with great time and difficulty) in September of 2014.
1) Natural fragments as found:
a) .52 grams - 12mm x 9mm x 6mm - $10
b) .71 grams - 18mm x 9mm x 5mm - $14
c) 1.0 grams - 15mm x 14mm x 5mm - $20
d) 2.0 grams - 20mm x 13mm x 7mm - sold

Please note:
Shipping: For small US orders shipping is still $3. Larger orders are now $6 to $13 (insurance is extra if desired – I’ll look it up if you want it). Overseas prices have gone up A LOT the past couple years. Small Canada orders are now $10 and small overseas orders are $13 (I’ll have to custom quote any larger items/ orders). Thankfully, it seems that the rate for registration (recommended on more valuable overseas orders) has stayed the same - $13.
I do have a new fax machine that seems to work (but I have to answer it and manually turn it on), so overseas people can contact me that way if they must. How ever, for overseas orders, it probably is best to go ahead and use my e-mail brmeteorites@yahoo.com

Monday 4 September 2017

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- Denver Show Info 2017

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- Denver Show Info 2017

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

Dear Collectors,

Here is the info for the Denver Show later this week.

I should have sent out this info awhile ago. I have been very busy with things and traveling a lot. I will be leaving Wednesday morning (the 6th) and should be getting back home around the 17th or 18th (going to visit a couple people, do some things on the way home).

NEW LOCATION:

As many of you know, the hotel I had been set up at for nearly 30 years tossed out the entire show after last fall’s show. So, going to that old venue you will probably find plenty of parking, maybe a sleeping room but there will be no show. Most of the folks that were set up there have now moved to a new larger, nicer venue some 15 miles East – the Crowne Plaza at I-70 and Chambers road (15500 E. 40th Ave.) The main portion of this show has dealers set up in a huge ballroom, meeting room environment (NOT the old motel room converted into a show room thing). I was offered one of these spaces but held back as I REALLY did NOT want to be in a ballroom show environment (where they flicker the lights at closing and tell everybody, dealers included, that you have ten minutes to get out. I have lost some substantial sales at shows like these because of “poor timing” of closing). Originally, there were to be NO motel room sales rooms PERIOD. I managed to find a workable solution. On the other side of the convention center (west- side) was a small meeting room (called “Frisco”) on the venue map. I asked the new show promoter about it and the response was “we don’t have a “Frisco” (admittedly, this room is somewhat hidden behind a bathroom symbol on the venue maps). It wasn’t that the promoter didn’t know about the room, it is just that she had not thought it worth reserving for the show, really thinking everybody would be MUCH happier closing up at 6 and spending the rest of the day hanging out with friends. Not a bad idea actually and does have some attraction to it I admit. However, I like staying open late because I am often one of the guys those folks that close up earlier come hang out with. My insistence for a “private” space that I could stay open later did end up getting me this room. It also turned out that there were a bunch of other dealers that wanted a similar situation (once word spread that we would indeed be moving the show). The promoter ended up reserving ALL of the meeting rooms on the west- side of the convention center for the show. It also turned out that ALL of them got sucked up in a matter of a couple hours (so I think it will be a pretty hopping “after hours” area). In fact, the demand was so great for “private” selling areas (and I think even the entire convention ball room area was completely filled) that the hotel then allowed the entire lower floor to be taken over by selling rooms (and I think they are now even allowing selling rooms on the second floor to help cover the demand for dealer space at this show). Anyway, part of me wishes I waited and got a room but now I have a more convenient selling space that is more open and easier to set out more material than I could before. So, here are the particulars:

I will be in the “Frisco” meeting room. This is on the west-side of the convention center (for the main ballroom it is best to enter on the East side or you’ll be in for a loooong walk). This is near the hotel lobby area. If you come in through the sliding glass doors under the “Convention Center” sign on the west-side of the building, simply turn to your right immediately and you will be looking in my selling space door. You will likely see some large petrified wood slabs on a rack along the back wall as I am sharing a little bit of the space with a friend that sells such things (his main selling space will be a ground floor hotel room). The show officially runs 9am to 6pm from the 8th (Friday) through the 15th (the next Friday). I, however, will certainly be staying open later (I think 9pm or 10pm depending upon if there are still people around). However, as such, I likely will open a bit later in the morning (in the past, I have found it difficult to get open much before 10am at other shows. And, I have generally found there are not a lot of people earlier in the morning). I also will look into seeing if I can stay open Saturday the 16th if people still seem interested in coming by that day (the promoter has us closed that day as she also works the Merchandise Mart show and is hoping that we’ll go visit that and spend some of the money we made at that show on Saturday and Sunday). Also, on the 15th (that final Friday) I think they are having the COMETS auction and dinner. It is out on the West- side of town (old Wadsworth and 57th – 5695 Yukon St. to be exact). Attending that would probably require me to shut down that day at 6pm. However, if there are lots of people still wandering the show (last minute deals and such) I likely will be late or miss the auction completely, unfortunately (they had considered having the auction in the atrium of the hotel just around the corner from my show room but Dave Bunk offered up his office/ show room for the event).

Well, this show will be a whole new experience (and experiment) for me. Hopefully a successful one. Hope to see some of you there.

Blaine

Tuesday 11 July 2017

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 207 July 11, 2017

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 207

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
……………………………………………………LIST 207

July 11, 2017

Dear collectors,

Here is the fourth and final offering pulled together from a batch of material I recently got from a collector who has decided to trim his collection a bit. This is also likely to be my last offering for awhile this summer. My schedule has me out of town 3 to 4 days each week pretty much now until late August (Please be patient as internet connections and replies to requests may take a few days.). So, if I do come up with a few new things to offer, it will likely be towards the end of August.

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale List 207
(click on image to enlarge)

GAO, Burkina Faso: Ordinary chondrite (H5). Fell March 5, 1960.
These are all basically complete individuals, though each (except the smallest) has a broken surface or area of very light secondary crust (I’ll list the sizes of those areas on each below). These are definitely pieces that were picked up sometime after the fall as they all show some areas of orange/brown rust staining (but are mostly black crust otherwise). These all have nice shapes. Nothing exceptional but, perhaps, a better than most I’ve had.
1) Complete individuals as found:
a) 5.5 grams – 17mm x 15mm x 12mm - $10
b) 23.1 grams – 30mm x 22mm x 19mm - $35 (11mm x 15mm broken area).
c) 26.4 grams – 30mm x 20mm x 20mm - $40 (11mm x 10mm broken area).
d) 65.0 grams – 35mm x 30mm x 28mm - $95 (20mm x 5mm broken area)

IMPACTITE, Henbury Craters, Australia.
Now this (unlike the Henbury glass I offered on the last list) IS the typical impactite material I have had from this location in the past (though I have not had pieces very often). This is a foamy, vesicular rock that has a mix of orangish brown to nearly black areas. I considered cutting this in half (kind of neat to see little blebs of iron meteorite in impactites this way) but the highly vesicular nature made me think again. I remember the problems I had with crumbling when I tried to cut some of the pieces of this stuff I had in the past.
9.7gram fragment/ individual as found – 30mm x 25mm x 20mm - $15

INDOCHINITE: Tektite from Thailand.
Here are a few examples of what was definitely THE most commonly available tektite when I started business. These days though Indochinites are not all that common. Chinese tektites are what you see boxes and buckets of now and you find only a few Indochinites here and there. All of these show the typical Indochinite surface features: surface pitting and grooving that is generally far larger and far shallower than Chinese tektites. The two small pieces here are pretty typical shapes. The big one is really quite large for an Indochinite (I have had very few over 100g in all my years) and a neat long tongue-like shape. This one has some surface chipping (the photo was taken with this side facing up, so with careful inspection this should be visible) but is a really cool specimen none the less.
a) 50.5 gram slightly flattened round specimen –40mm x 40mm x 20mm - $10
b) 50.5 gram thin oval specimen – 57mm x 45mm x 12mm - $10
c) 154.9 gram tongue-shaped specimen – 115mm x 40mm x 20mm - $45

MOLDAVITE:
This is actually a really nice piece. It is roughly triangular shaped, has no fresh/ recent broken edges or chips to speak of (investigating with a magnifying glass might reveal some micro chipping I suppose). This also has nice detailed etching covering all surfaces. This is not “Museum grade” (think Besidnice locality pieces here) but better than what I usually have.
7.8 gram nice natural individual – 33mm x 25mm x 6mm - $50

NWA (787): (L6).
I can’t find any records on this one. This is a bookend cut piece that has “NWA 787” written in black sharpie on one of the cut faces. It comes in a bag that has a sticker saying “NWA 787, L6, 46 grams” and then “1160649604 (UCLA?)” written in ink on the bag. This is quite fresh. The interior is mostly light to medium gray (and shows lots of metal) with some minor hints of light brown rust staining. The exterior has thick black crust that shows some light wind polishing. This is a nice meteorite. Too bad it (apparently) never got fully reported.
18.6 gram ½ end piece/ bookend cut – 32mm x 18mm x 16mm - $15

NWA (unstudied): Carbonaceous chondrite (likely CK).
This is a piece that I actually found rattling around my office, not part of the stuff I got from Canada (I actually have no idea how/ why I have it, honestly). I know it is from one of my usual sources as it has his cataloging numbers on it. We (he and I) tried to look it up in his database but did not find anything. Regardless, this is a fairly nice little cut fragment. The interior shows very few dark gray to nearly black chondrules in greenish gray matrix (this is likely a CK5). The backside is all older natural fracture surfaces with black chondrules poking out. A great specimen for someone that wants to own a fairly fresh cheap example of a CK.
9.1 gram cut fragment – 28mm x 25mm x 9mm - $55

ODESSA, Texas: Coarse octahedrite (IAB). Found 1923.
Not quite sure what to make of this one. My first impression (just looking at it) is that It looks like it might be largely oxide /shale, but its weight and strong magnetic attraction says that it is pretty much all iron. Its shape is also a bit different. It has a distinctly rounded edges shape unlike most Odessas I have seen this size. It has some cracking but seems quite solid. As it has been in a humid area for years and shows no visible damage from it, I am pretty certain that this is a stable piece. Odessas (of any variety) are hard to come by these days.
58.8 gram mostly iron individual as found – 34mm x 30mm x 27mm - $75