Blaine Reed Meteorites - List 247 07OCT2021

Blaine ReedP.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487 October, 2021

Dear collectors,

Here is something of an “after Denver” list I. The show itself was really quite busy (one of my best, actually), despite lower amounts of foot traffic than the old “usual” (those that showed up showed up were obviously serious to buy). Unfortunately, I didn’t pick up much in the way of really new material – mostly just replacements for things I have sold. Even those things are getting hard to come by at prices I can use (inflation is a real thing in meteorites right now).

As always, you can see some of my older offerings (and associated photos) at- 

https://blaine-reed-meteorites.blogspot.com  Be aware though that some (many in the case of the past couple offerings) that some of those listed items have been sold since the blogspot postings were made. Don’t be afraid to ask though, I often have items remaining (or very similar replacements) from such posts.


TURGUT, Turkey. Iron. Ungrouped. (finest octahedrite). Found April 1999. Tkw = 152 kilograms.
I was excited to get my hands on this. In all my years of business, I have only ever handled a few pieces of any finest octahedrite. Most of this was Tazwell, over 30 years ago that I think I sold for over $30/g back then (I am making available a 15.0 gram part slice of that meteorite that has been in my collection since then for $500). This meteorite was found in a farm field and then sat in a garden for 10 years until a meteorite collector recognized it as a meteorite. I have been told that, once it was identified and pieces were offered for sale, the vast majority of this meteorite went to Taiwan to be made into jewelry. I guess that makes some sense as even a small (1cm) piece of this will show a nice complete etch texture. These are all part slices, relatively thin and are etched on both sides.
1) Part slices, etched on both sides:
a) 4.3 grams 14mm x 13mm x 2.5mm $45.00
b) 9.3 grams 19mm x 18mm x 3mm $95.00
c) 16.2 grams 37mm x 18mm x 3mm $145.00
d) 33.6 grams 36mm x 32mm x 3.5mm $285.00
e) 72.5 grams 60mm x 50mm x 3mm $580.00
f) 126.0 grams 100mm x 50mm x 3mm $890.00


EL HAMMAMI, Mauritania. (H5). Found 1997, likely fell August 10, 1997. Tkw = about 240kg.
Here is some material that I put into deep storage over 20 years ago. I finally got that stored fragment (and another flat one – the source of the end piece below) cut up. This was particularly nice and fresh material for this meteorite (though the end piece has a bit of rust staining in one corner) and, thankfully, remained as such during its long storage. The slices are all really fresh and nice showing lots of fresh metal and some (but few) light gray chondrules in a light gray (nearly white) matrix that has only a little minor browning. Some of these slices also show metal veining but this is a bit hard to see in any but the largest slices. By far, this is the freshest H-chondrite I have and priced quite cheap for it likely being a fall. Unfortunately, only the big end piece has anything in the way of (very fresh) fusion crust (though none of the slices have cut edges).
1) Slices:
a) 5.7 grams 26mm x 18mm x 4mm $12.00
b) 11.0 grams 29mm x 26mm x 5mm $22.00
c) 20.3 grams 38mm x 33mm x 5mm $40.00
d) 42.0 grams 52mm x 50mm x 5mm $80.00
e) 80.7 grams 85mm x 55mm x 5mm $150.00
f) 164.4 grams 105mm x 100mm x 4mm $300.00
2) End piece, cut fragment: Has nice crust on part of the edge, stands up nicely on its own.
a) 1882.0 grams 165mm x 115mm x 50mm $2500.00


NWA (10858). Ordinary chondrite. (L3). Found before November 2005. Tkw = 12.3 kilograms.
Well, this stone has had a bit of traveling between owners and more. It was picked up at the Munich, Germany show in 2005. It was later acquired by the Hollis collection who then later put in an auction where I bought it in May of 2019. Paul Sipiera (of Planetary Studies Foundation) arranged to get the thing studied (where it was determined to be an L3) before it went up for sale. Once I got this cut up, I realized quickly that this is VERY LIKELY a piece of NWA (869) that was not recognized as such before work was done on it (but in all fairness, it really didn’t look that much like an (869) when it was whole). Regardless, as this HAS been studied and REPORTED officially as its own “new” meteorite, I am going to sell it such.
HOWEVER, as I got a really good deal on this thing, I am selling it for LESS than I’d normally need to get on similar NWA (869) slices! (I generally get over $1/g on those these days).
1) Slices:
a) 23.4 grams 55mm x 35mm x 5mm $17.00
b) 41.1 grams 55mm x 45mm x 5mm $28.00
c) 79.8 grams 110mm x 55mm x 5mm $52.00
d) 159.7 grams 130mm x 80mm x 5mm $100.00
e) 304.8 grams 200mm x 140mm x 4mm $180.00 – complete slice.
f) 459.2 grams 215mm x 148mm x 4.5mm $250.00 – complete slice.


NWA (13961): Ordinary chondrite (H5). Found before February 2005. Tkw = 410.0 grams.
Here is a single stone I picked up years ago – in Tucson in 2005. I set it aside, thinking it looked like it was more interesting than normal. Cutting it got me more excited. This has the look of a slightly weathered NWA (725) winonaite. This is somewhat porous, generally crystalline and even has the few and far between dark spot (chondrule?). The research work though showed me that this as just an H5!. This has lots of fine-grained metal, looking almost e-chondrite like in reflected light, those sparse chondrules in a medium brown matrix. Not bad, but nothing as special as I had hoped.
1) Slices:
a) 4.9 grams 32mm x 26mm x 1.5mm $10.00
b) 9.6 grams 35mm x 35mm x 2mm $19.00
c) 16.5 grams 75mm x 24mm x 3mm $30.00 – complete slice.
d) 24.0 grams 77mm x 35mm x 3mm $42.00 – complete slice.
2) 60.3 gram end piece/ main mass – 72mm 23mm x 20mm - sold


NWA (13974): Lunar meteorite. Found 2021. Tkw = 7.94 kilograms.
I picked up a couple small stones of this interesting meteorite at the just past Denver Show. This meteorite is a complex breccia consisting of several different lunar rock types; anorthosites, norite and troctolites. It also has mostly anorthite and zoned olivine mineral grains in a melt matrix. These clasts and inclusions are quite small so cut pieces of this are not super exciting visually but are certainly interesting scientifically (and affordable). I do have a few small end pieces available at $65/g – 1.90g, 2.80g, 5.50g.
1) Slices:
a) .48 grams 12mm x 8mm x 2mm $40.00
b) .93 grams 13mm x 12mm x 2mm $75.00 – complete slice.
c) 1.50 grams 17mm x 15mm x 2mm $120.00 – complete slice.


CARBONADO: DIAMOND, Central African Republic
I offered pieces of these supremely interesting diamonds from the Brazil locality around 7 years ago. I sold out of those but was recently able to pick up some samples of their African brothers. The formation origin of these strange diamonds remains something of a mystery but more recent studies strongly suggest that these diamonds are not only extraterrestrial but from outside of our solar system!!! For a really interesting article concerning these, go to gia.edu/gems-gemology/summer-2017-carbonado-diamond. These look to have formed in low a pressure hydrogen-rich, oxygen poor environment by vapor deposition processes. It is now looking ever more likely that these formed in a near-by super nova event and fell to earth when Africa and South America were connected. Truly interesting and special material. These are guaranteed authentic (unlike the vast majority of offerings claiming to be this material I have seen on Etsy and E-Bay). I will put most of these in a small plastic display box with a label but the larger specimens may not fit.
1) Natural fragments as found:
a) 1.57 carat (.314 grams) 7mm x 5mm x 4mm sold
b) 3.09 carat (.618 grams) 10mm x 8mm x 3mm sold
c) 6.50 carat (1.30 grams) 11mm x 8mm x 7mm $325.00
d) 10.63 carat (2.126 grams) 13mm x 10mm x 9mm $530.00
e) 14.05 carat (2.81 grams) 14mm x 11mm x 9mm $750.00
f) 31.84 carat (6.37 grams) 20mm x 13mm x 11mm sold

Please note:
Shipping: For small US orders $5 is needed now. Rates have gone up yet more this tyar and now the very cheapest I can send anything is right at $4. Add $ for the padded envelope or box, jewelry boxes, etc and, in most cases, I am still loosing a little even at $5. Larger orders are now $8 to $15 (insurance is extra if desired – I’ll look it up if you want it). Overseas prices have gone up A LOT the past couple years. Now small overseas orders are around $15. I’ll have to custom quote any larger items/ orders (both local and overseas). Registration (recommended on more valuable overseas orders) is $18.
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 when possible.

Blaine Reed Meteorites for Sale- List 246 Denver Show 24AUG2021

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

LIST 246 - August 24, 2021

Dear Collectors
Here is an offering that consists (mostly) of material I got as part of a small collection a collector in California decided to sell. As with material he has sent earlier (like the beautiful larger Henbury pieces I offered awhile back), the pieces on this list that came from him are also really nice. I am doing the Canyon Diablo pieces in their own group photo as there is so many (largish) pieces in that lot.



A NOTE ON THE COMING DENVER SHOW

Above, is the info postcard on the soon to arrive Denver show. Below are my comments/particulars for this show.

This year, the show currently looks to be “back to normal” for the most part. There will indeed be many overseas dealers missing (but many others are scheduled to be there as well) and the dates are back to the normal length. This year we are scheduled to be open September 10th through the 18th (Friday through the Saturday a week later). The hours are scheduled to be 10am to 6pm. However, I will try to be open a bit earlier (maybe even as early as 9am) as I seem to have good traffic at that time of day for some reason. I also will try to stay open later (as long as people are wandering around/ wanting to visit) though this has become a problem the past year or two. It seems the security is locking doors (you can get around that by going in through the Hotel lobby and around the corner) but also closing (but not locking) secondary doors and turning off the lights early (making the trek down the long hallway if you use the front desk option harder). Regardless, I’ll certainly stay open later than scheduled hours, it just may not all that late (probably won’t be too many 10 or 11pm nights, unfortunately).

I am in my usual spot – Crowne Plaza DIA at Chambers road and I-70 (15500 E. 40th Ave, Denver, CO 80239 ). I am (supposedly) still in the small meeting room on the very west side of the convention/ ballroom center called ‘Frisco”. If you park near the Hotel entrance and go through the sliding glass doors next to the “Convention Center” sign on the side of the building while looking east and turn to your right immediately after going through the sliding doors, you will be looking in my show space door (I’ll try to remember to bring my sandwich board sign that helps point things out as well).

Hope to see many people there this year!


CANYON DIABLO, Arizona: Coarse octahedrite. Found 1891.
This is an assortment of specimens that I have picked up from several different sources over the past few months (well, the etched slices are actually things I have had for quite a while but misplaced them for many months). I have (as just mentioned) a couple part slices that are etched on both sides, a couple pieces of cut graphite nodule (both show some metal veining but that probably won’t show well in the photo) and then two larger natural individuals (those proved to be very popular when I offered some at the beginning of the year. I sold everything I had bigger than about 8 grams very quickly). I have only two of each style specimen so I decided that a summer e-mail offering is probably the best way to deal with them (though I will certainly have any leftovers at the show).
1) Part slices. Etched on both sides:
a) 35.1 grams – 55mm x 30mm x 4mm - $55
b) 47.0 grams – 40mm x 40mm x 4mm - $73
2) Graphite nodule – cut:
a) 26.7 grams – 30mm x 20mm x 20mm - $55
b) 29.4 grams – 40mm x 28mm x 10mm - $60
3) Natural individuals as found:
a) 313.6 grams – 70mm x 60mm x 25mm - $320
b) 738.6 grams – 110mm x 55mm x 25mm - $750


CHELYABINSK, Russia: Ordinary chondrite (LL5). Fell February 13, 2013.
Here are a couple really nice fresh individuals that were clearly picked up quite soon after the fall. They both have really nice complete, fresh and (mostly) thick crust (the smaller has a couple mm sized spots of secondary crust or where a small bit of the primary crust popped off late in the fall). I know that there is still a fairly good amount of this meteorite floating around the collecting world but not too many are as fresh as these pieces. Most of the early recovered pieces have already found a home and the stuff that is being found these days certainly shows some weathering effects.
1) Complete individuals:
a) 25.6 grams – 30mm x 25mm x 25mm - $300
b) 40.3 grams – 35mm x 25mm x 25mm - $470

GEBEL KAMIL, Egypt: Ungrouped Ni-rich ataxite. Discovered 2008.
The crater of this fall was discovered though Google Earth satellite photos in 2008. An expedition didn’t get out to the area to prove that this WAS indeed a meteorite impact site until 2010. A 150 foot diameter crater was found, surrounded by many pieces of shrapnelized iron meteorites (I think one fairly large sculpted fusion crusted piece was found as well). This is a fairly young crater, likely being less than 5000 years old. This fall was also very likely observed at some level, as the crater itself covered up some already existing trade routes in the area. These pieces, to be honest, are not anything exceptional. They are just nice typical examples of the meteorites that came out of the area. I have not seen much of this available lately and I might be pricing these a bit cheap for similar pieces these days (how they sell will tell me).
1) Natural shrapnel fragments as found:
a) 182.5 grams – 70mm x 37mm x 20mm - $230
b) 213.8 grams – 70mm x 35mm x 30mm - $265

MUNDRABILLA, Australia: medium octahedrite with sulfide and silicate inclusions. Found 1911.
Now these, unlike the Gebels above, ARE quite exceptional, particularly for their size. I don’t recall ever having a Mundrabilla this size range that had any kind of character even close to these pieces. These clearly show a knobby shape and each has at least one deep hole where a silicate or sulfide burned out. As far as I am aware, these will be the only two Mundrabillas I will ever get from this source.
1) Nice sculpted natural individuals as found:
a) 147.2 grams – 55mm x 30mm x 30mm - $220
b) 161.5 grams – 50mm x 35mm x 30mm - $240

SIKHOTE –ALIN, Russia: Coarsest octahedrite. Fell February 12, 1947.
This is a nice fusion crusted individual that has LOTS of fine thumb-printed texture all the way around. This came to me with an oriented specimen (that I have already found a home for) and even this came rally close to selling at the Creede show when I set it out there a few weeks ago. That is a small show and, normally, you don’t really expect to sell specimens priced more than $100 or so but this piece got lots of notice from the visitors to that show and very nearly sold a couple times (it was usually the spouse saying that the $ were needed somewhere else that did in the deal). Anyway, when I see these really sculpted pieces these days, they usually bring a pretty good premium.
93.6gram finely sculpted individual – 55mm x 25mm x 20mm - $325

Shipping: For small US orders $5 is needed now. Rates have gone up yet more this year and now the cheapest I can send anything is right at $4. Add $ for the padded envelope or box, jewelry boxes, etc and, in most cases, I am still loosing a little even at $5. Larger orders are now $8 to $15 (insurance is extra if desired – I’ll look it up if you want it).

Overseas prices have gone up A LOT the past couple years. Now small overseas orders are around $15 (Canada seems to be right around $11). I’ll have to custom quote any larger items/ orders (both local and overseas). Registration (recommended on more valuable overseas orders) is $16.

I do have a fax machine that seems to work (but I have to answer it and manually turn it on), so overseas people can contact me that way if they must. However, for overseas orders, it probably is best to go ahead and use my brmeteorites@yahoo.com e-mail when possible.

Blaine Reed Meteorites- List 245 26JUL2021

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

LIST 245 - July 26, 2021

Dear Collectors

First, an announcement on an upcoming show:
Theoretically, I will be attending the Creede Mineral show early next month (though the highway closure between Montrose and Gunnison is going to make it quite a challenge to get there). The show dates are August 6th, 7th, 8th. The hours are from 10am to 5pm each day. I have checked my hotel reservation and it seems that it is there! It has been two years now, so that was a pleasant surprise (one year recently, they had only the first two nights reserved for me. I came close to having to pack up and head home at the end of the first show day. Luckily, they were able to scrape up a place or me to stay the last two nights (NOT an easy thing to do in this area this time of year).

Here is a single meteorite (multiple specimens) offering. I got this material on consignment just a few days ago. I have had a couple pieces of a CK3 in the past, but they were all quite small and generally sold quite quickly. I know that these are indeed all larger slices BUT I will be allowed to break up a piece (or two) that don’t sell intact after a week or so, so PLEASE let me know if you want a smaller piece and roughly what size piece you would like (the price on those should be in the $30/g range).


NWA (13381): Carbonaceous chondrite, (CK3). Found 2020. Tkw = 1335grams.
As mentioned above, I recently received these slices as a consignment. I was happy to get these as I have very seldom been able to offer a CK3. I know I have had a few pieces in the past, but they were all small (a gram or three) and sold quickly (often to researchers needing some of this type material for research work). These, at this point, are all complete slices of the single 1335 gram stone of this meteorite that was recovered (as mentioned above, I will likely break a piece or two down for folks wanting smaller specimens later). I know, it LOOKS like there will be more than enough of this available for the market but looks are somewhat deceiving in this case. Only 10 slices were cut from this meteorite and only 8 will be released to collectors. The owner of this meteorite is keeping the 840 gram main mass. One slice is going to be donated to the Monig/ TCU collection and the other is being turned into thin-sections. So, overall, this leaves right about 356grams of this rare meteorite for the collecting world (after saw looses, research reserve specimens and such). A fair amount, but not a lot to go around for the many (most?) of us needing a CK3 type in our collection. To be honest, this material looks very, very much like a (CV3) meteorite (and there are some that believe they are indeed related somehow. Frankly, these pieces tend to make me think so. At least, they had very similar formation processes) but the detailed chemistry say this is not. These slices do have CAIs (calcium aluminum inclusions) in them and, in some of these pieces, some of those fluoresce (purple and pink) when using a high-power, filtered LED UV light (my current one is a Torcia 365). All of these come in a Riker box with a label.
1)Complete slices:
a) 20.68 grams – 80mm x 32mm x 3mm - $600
b) 27.06 grams – 85mm x 35mm x 3mm - $750
c) 35.74 grams – 95mm x 55mm x 3mm - $950 – shows fluorescence.
d) 46.27 grams – 103mm x 57mm x 3.5mm - $1100 – shows fluorescence.
e) 52.67 grams – 100mm x 55mm x 4mm - $1300 – shows fluorescence.
f) 66.84 grams – 102mm x 55mm x 5mm - $1400

Blaine Reed Meteorites for Sale- List 244

Blaine Reed
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487

July 12, 2021 LIST 244

Dear Collectors:

Here is another offering of an assortment of things that I have managed to (mostly) pick up recently (aside from the Tazwell, which I have had in my collection for well over 30 years). Most of these are larger more special items than I usually have on these kinds of offerings. Many of these I had planned on making their debut at the Denver show this fall (September 10th through the 18th this year). However, I decided to go ahead and offer these neat pieces now. I know, the summer months are generally kind of slow for sales of “collectibles” by e-mail/ mail order (most people are thinking of “family vacation” rather than “add to collection” these months) but things do still sell and I think it good to let people know I am still alive and kicking.
Enjoy!



BRAHIN, Belarus: Stony-iron. (Pallasite). Found 1810.
This was kind of a surprise. I got it along with the Esquel and Gibeon pieces below. Like those, this spent considerable time (like a couple decades or so) in Florida. It did have a fair amount of surface rust, but far, far less than I would have expected being in Florida so long (contrary to popular opinion, there are indeed some pieces of Brahin that are quite stable). It didn’t take me long at all (a few minutes maybe) to polish this back up and re-coat it. I can’t guarantee the long term stability of this piece here on but I can say that it has already been pretty well battle tested.
26.8 gram part slice with one long natural edge – 65mm x 25mm x 4mm - $50

CHELYABINSK, Russia: Ordinary chondrite (LL5). Fell February 15, 2013.
Here is a nice complete (only usual edge chipping present) larger stone of this super famous fall. The shock wave of the fall of this stone injured something like 1500 people (mostly from windows being blown out by the blast). Thankfully, no one died in the event (surprising, considering the severe damage that some of the buildings under the blast zone experienced). This stone does show some minor rusting, so it is clear that this was not picked up immediately after the fall but it is much fresher than many of the pieces of this meteorite I have seen in more recent times. I think this is the second largest piece of this meteorite I have handled.
254.1 gram complete individual – 60mm x 50mm x 40mm - $2500

ESQUEL, Argentina: Stony-iron. (Pallasite). Found 1951. Tkw = about 1500 pounds (680kg).
It has been quite awhile since I have had any of this to offer. These were obtained by a collector in Florida from Robert Haag looong ago (about 30 years ago, or so I was told). One piece (the heavier one) has the classic Esquel appearance – nice large, quite clear crystals and roughly half (a little less in this case) bright fresh metal. The “smaller” piece (this is smaller by weight but larger by surface area) was obviously cut from one of the large almost all olivine zones that existed in the Esquel meteorite. This “smaller” piece is pretty much all olivine with only a few small blebs of fresh metal. Both of these pass light through most of the crystals and both come in a membrane display box (though those are not in the photo).
1) Part slices. Each has one natural edge:
a) 17.1 gram mostly olivine slice – 48mm x 40mm x 3mm - $750
b) 28.0 gram classic Esquel textured slice – 40mm x 30mm x 4mm - $950

GIBEON, Namibia: Iron. (IVA) fine-octahedrite. Found before 1836.
This is a nice complete slice that is etched on both sides. This piece came from the same person as the Esquel and Brahin pieces above. Like the Esquel, this piece was acquired from Robert Haag several decades ago. As the time since its purchase, it was in Florida, this piece does show some minor rusting (but surprisingly little) in a couple spots. I put the “worst” side up in the photo. The other side has far less (like a small ¼ inch or so area) that is on the same side as the “large” spot on the right side of the slice as it sits in the photo.
99.9 gram complete slice, etched on both sides – 130mm x 55mm x 2mm - $200

JIBLET WINSELWAN, Morocco: Carbonaceous chondrite (CM2). Found May 24, 2013. Tkw = about 6 kilograms.
This is a natural fragment I sold to a customer years ago. I think he picked up a larger CM2 specimen recently and decided to let this one go (that probably cost a lot more than this – this is the cheapest per gram of any CM2 meteorite that I am aware of). This shows mostly older natural fractured surfaces but does have a 20mm x 15mm patch of nice fusion crust. This is priced a little higher than what I sold it for years ago when this was readily available but it is still drastically cheaper than any other CM2 available that I am aware of ($100/g plus for Aguas Zarcas, $500/g or so for Murchison, around $1000/g for Sutter’s Mill).
19.35 gram natural fragment with fusion crust – 35mm x 25mm x 20mm - $950

MUNDRABILLA, Australia: Iron. (IIICD). Medium octahedrite. Found 1911.
Here is an assortment of pieces that I got as part of a somewhat large pile of beer-flats full of mostly small specimens. The individuals are pretty typical, though quite a bit smaller than I’ve had in the past and a couple have been wire-brushed (which I have never done to specimens I have had of this meteorite in the past). All of the individuals come with a label. All but the largest piece have Michael Farmer labels and the largest has one I have never seem before: Gold’n Gem, Australia label. I was surprised to find the really neat super thin (like .1 or .2mm thick) complete etched slice in the batch. I have seen very few pieces of this meteorite etched (Blake got an etched end piece that he still loves at one of Alan Lang’s early attempts at auctions in Tucson years ago). The other thing is I cannot figure how the heck this was prepared. As thin as it is, the only possibility I can see is a larger end piece had its face polished and etched and then the super thin slice was taken off with a wire saw leaving a new face to be polished and etched and cut off. Regardless, it was very likely an expensive, difficult process.
1) Individuals (labels not in photograph):
a) 6.7 grams brushed – 20mm x 10mm x 7mm - $7 - M. Farmer label.
b) 14.4 grams natural – 28mm x 14mm x 9mm - $15 - M. Farmer label.
c) 15.7 grams brushed – 24mm x 12mm x 10mm - $16 - M. Farmer label.
d) 16.9 grams natural – 20mm x 20mm x 12mm - $17 - Gold’n Gem Australia label.
2) Super thin etched on one side complete slice in membrane box:
33mm x 23mm x .2mm - $45

TAZWELL, Tennessee: Iron. (IAB). Finest octahedrite. Found 1853. Tkw = 27.2 kilograms.
Here is a rectangular part slice (with one natural edge) that I have had in my collection for well over 30 years. This was my first (and only) finest octahedrite. I sold a few pieces of this waaaaay back in the early days and it, being a very rare finest octahedrite as well as a fairly early/ historic US iron, sold rapidly at several tens of dollars per gram. I recently picked up a more recent not nearly as rare/ historic finest octahedrite specimen for my collection (my “micro” collection is about type, not rarity of the name). So, I decided to offer this special piece as I am sure a collector of historic specimens will want to have this rarity in their collection. I am surprised how rare this type of meteorite is overall. In all my 35 years of business, I don’t think I have handled more than a few (as in single digits) pieces of finest octahedrite.
15.0 gram part slice, one natural edge – 20mm x 16mm x 5mm - $750

Blaine Reed Meteorites for Sale- LIST 243

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

June 7 , 2021
LIST 243

Dear Collectors:
It has been a looong time since I sent out an offering by mail or e-mail. I decided to skip my usual spring mailed list this year. Part of this was because I delayed my beginning of the year list until February. I thought it might be a bit much to send out one offering and then yet another a mere month and a half later. Also, I have been surprisingly busy with many things since Tucson so I really have not had a lot of time to prep up a bunch of things for a new mailed offering. It would have been easily into mid to late May before I could have gotten something pulled together. However at that point I was out of town house sitting for a friend and attending the rescheduled Denver Spring show. I also had planned on being on a week long trip with friends at the end of the month but that get set aside more or less at the last minute (for Linda and I anyway). So, it would been probably middle of June before I actually would have been able to get something in collector’s hands. Nope. I made that mistake once years ago. Once mid May or so comes along, collectors are thinking much more along the lines of using $ for “family vacation” (though that got screwed up last year for sure) NOT “adding to the collection”. So, an after Denver fall list will be my next mailed (and e-mailed) bigger offering. I will try to pull together a few small offerings over the summer but, to be honest, I have had some difficulty in picking up new miscellaneous things for those lately. With most folks staying home, I have had VERY few things come to me at the few shows I have had over the past year (very few collectors have come to any of them – mostly larger wholesale buyers only at these shows). I did pick up a few (larger) interesting things to offer here. Some of this I got in Tucson in April and some I got a couple weeks ago in Denver. One of these things (Tamarugal, Chile) is something that I don’t believe I have ever seen a piece of before (and thought about keeping it as such). The other things are all material I have had before but particularly nice (or “affordable” as I have been told not to say “cheap”) examples of those. These items were large enough that I had to break the usual list group photo into two photos this time.



TAMARUGAL, Chile: Iron. (IIIAB) medium octahedrite. Found 1903, Tkw = 320 kilograms.
A single mass of this meteorite was recovered. It has since been cut up with the bulk of the pieces residing in museum or research collections. As mentioned above, I don’t recall ever seeing a piece of this meteorite before. I showed it to a collector (actually two) that specialize in iron meteorites shortly after I got it in Tucson and their opinion was that this should sell for $50/ gram or more (they already had a slightly larger piece or they would have taken this one). They commented on how rarely a piece of this meteorite is available. This is a rectangular etched piece that could certainly use re-etching. I thought about trying that but then, realizing that I frankly suck at etching, I decided to leave it as it is.
22.6 gram etched part slice – 2mm x 20mm x 6mm – $950


LA LANDE, New Mexico: Ordinary chondrite (L5), S4. Found 1933, Tkw = about 30 kilograms.
This is a complete slice (that shows an old repair if you look closely) that I picked up in Tucson along with the Tamarugal. It has been a long time since I have had a slice of this meteorite and I am pretty certain that this is the first complete (all be it repaired) slice I have ever had of it. When this meteorite was first found, it was believed (and reported) to be another piece of the already known Melrose (a) meteorite that was found 26 east of this material (that would have made for a really large Melrose strewn field). Later work showed that this material was a separate meteorite from Melrose and that the 4 stones that were recovered represented TWO new meteorites! One was the La Lande and the other is Taiban. This slice looks to be an old Nininger specimen, at least it is the typical thick cut that Nininger often used. I can’t see any evidence that this slice ever had a Nininger number on it. It might not have. But then it may have and been later removed. I know it sounds absolutely horrific now, but back when I first started selling meteorites (about 35 years ago), many people asked me to remove these numbers (mostly Huss numbers at that point) or tell them how to do it as they didn’t want those distractions on their specimens! (then there was the guy that dumped a whole bucket full of thumb-sized Nininger labeled Canyon Diablos in a rock tumbler because he wanted to catch in of the tumbled Odessa craze that Robert Haag was making a killing on. Really, really dumb. We did our best to talk him out of it but he did it anyway and then learned that he couldn’t get the $1/g the Odessas were bringing because his pieces were much, much larger (closer to 80 or 100g each) and now they no longer had the Nininger provenance.
156.7 gram complete slice – 130mm x 48mm x 8mm - $450


NWA (12269): Martian, shergottite. Found 2018. Tkw = 2+ kilograms.
I picked up a really nice complete slice of this along with some other pieces to break down for sales of smaller specimens (I completely sold out of this material in Tucson in April). I decided to see if anyone out there might be interested in a larger complete slice (I had a good number of 3g to 4g complete slices earlier) at a price well below anything I normally charge for this stuff. I usually sell this for around $150/g - $200g depending upon size and style and sold all I had at the show for a price not much below that. This is a really nice, solid 28g plus slice that comes in a membrane box (which is not in the picture as it is fairly large). This is thin enough to get a great surface area for the weight but thick (and solid) enough to handle freely (but don’t drop it on a cement floor).
28.86 gram complete slice – 85mm x 50mm x 2mm - $2500


TOUAT (005), Algeria. Lunar, feldspathic breccia. Found 2020. Tkw = 3.71 kilograms.
This is a slice I picked up in Tucson and had planned on breaking it apart into smaller specimens (and that may yet happen). Even though this does show signs of a repair if you look closely (about 1/3 of the slice looks like it did or tried to break off at one point) I thought that this looked interesting enough to offer intact first. This has the classic lunar breccia texture similar to the popular NWA (11273) though it is a bit “muddy” in comparison. However, this has a number of interesting clasts that have the look of eucrites and howardites (no, this really is a lunar slice – I ran the XRF on it). I remember thinking that NWA (5000) wasn’t really Lunar when I first saw it as it has many of the same type clasts (and NWA (5000) is clearly fully Lunar, unlike the various self pairings Mr. Curry tried to make to that meteorite with various volcanic rhyolite breccia fragments and cobbles he found in the Montrose area years ago. Now it seems that he is peddling hunks/ chunks/ iron stained river cobbles of quartz as Lunar meteorites on Etsy these days. He even seems to be offering common tree branch sticks as “lunar magic wands” for hundreds of dollars claiming that the bark (which is falling off as the sticks dry out) is really “lunar fusion crust from a lunar meteorite that fell near this special tree” (no way to describe THAT as anything but make believe crazy). This, like the NWA (12269) above comes in a membrane box (the same size and shape too) that is not in the photo. If someone had the desire and the $, these two together would make a really nice matched Lunar/ Martian display set and I’d drop the price a little more on the set..
22.2 gram complete slice – 90mm x 58mm x 2mm - $1500


NWA (1932), Stony-iron. (Mesosiderite). Found 2005. Tkw = 15+ kilograms.
I remember back when I had a lot of this stuff and was selling it (quickly) quite cheap ($4/g range I think). Kind of wish I hung onto some of this. It was and is one of the best mesosiderites I have ever had. It has a really nice mix of metal and silicates and, occasionally, has neat round metal rich inclusions (this piece has a small example of that). This material is also very stable. I don’t recall ever having a piece of this rust, even if it was not coated. I rarely see a piece of this meteorite anymore and Mesosiderites tend to be fairly expensive these days when they do come along. That is not to surprising as Mesosiderites seem to be far rarer (at least in the collecting world) then Pallasites. This piece is in a riker display box.
41.7 gram end piece – 38mm x 28mm x 18mm - $300



SERICHO, Kenya: Stony-iron (Pallasite). Found 2016. Tkw = Lots.
I completely sold out of all of this meteorite I took to Tucson back in April. I sold out all of the smaller pieces that I had in my entire inventory as part of that. So, I had to go on a shopping hunt to find replacement material (well, a couple friends did the hunting part for me). I ended up getting a bit more than I really needed (certainly for that late in the show) but had no choice to get the price where I could use it. I can certainly just set this aside for the Denver fall show in September but decided to see if any collectors might like a nice smaller complete slice of this meteorite (pretty much all my smaller pieces from earlier were square and rectangular pieces) at a price that I usually get when wholesaling it at shows. These piece are very pretty to look at but they don’t pass light through the crystals (Sericho is really hard to get pieces that do that much, even when cut really thin). These have also been specially prepared. They were put through a stabilization process so, aside from doing something stupid like putting it on a shelf in your shower (yes, I actually had someone do that years ago with a Brenham slice and then demand a refund when the thing (obviously) fell apart) I fully believe that we’ll be enjoying these pieces years from now. I had some similarly prepared material from this same person for over 4 years and never had a problem with any of it.
Complete slices:
a) 19.0 grams – 55mm x 40mm x 2.5mm - $80
b) 30.2 grams – 60mm x 50mm x 3mm - $120
c) 51.1 grams – 90mm x 50mm x 3mm - $200

MOLDAVITE:
Yep, I have a few (very few) pieces of this right now. I (easily) sold all I had in Tucson at $20/g (I used to ask $6/g and take as low as $4/g on volume) before I even got my room open. That more than paid what would be the motel bill for the show and I was proud/ happy for that. I was soon told that I had made a big mistake. It seems that everyone else was asking $35 to $50/g for Moldavite in Tucson (and very few people had any). There is a real shortage of Moldavite right now. It seems that many (most?) of the mines have been shut down (so much so that one person told me that as little as a couple kilos or so of “new” moldavites are likely to be dug up and sold this year!). This along with some kind of hype on Tic-Tok (whatever the heck that is) has everyone scrambling for what little moldavite is yet to be had. I ran into one of the miners that has closed operations at the Denver spring show a couple weeks ago. He didn’t have much left (less than 800g to start with I think) but they were really nice (but generally big) pieces. I worked with a friend (who has a mineral shop he needs to keep supplied) and we made a deal to buy whatever was left at the end of the show (it was not much). I got 9 really nice pieces of which I only have 4 left. I am offering the two neatest pieces here. These are certainly NOT cheap by old standards but likely quite a deal compared to what you will find on similar pieces elsewhere. The “smaller” (lighter weight) piece has a really neat thin shape with a sharp bend on one end shape. The heavier piece has a nice more typical shape and is completely covered in fine sculpting (I think this is close to the largest moldavite I have ever had). These each come in a membrane type display box that is not in the picture.
a) 13.7 grams – 50mm x 40mm x 5mm - $450
b) 24.4 grams – 50mm x 25mm x 14mm - $700

Blaine Reed= Tucson Show April 2021 Information

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

I should be in my usual spot – Room 134, Day’s Inn, 665 N Freeway. I say “should” only because I think there may be a chance that so few people show up along that back row (I am on the west side of the building) that it could be a potential security issue if it turns up that I am pretty much the only one on that side (almost all of the other sellers on my side are from overseas and I think most or all of them will not be able to come). IF this ends up being the case, I can see maybe needing to move to a room on the much more populated east side for this year (we have had armed robberies on my side in the past, even with fairly full attendance). IF this needs to be done, I’d certainly hang a sign on my usual room door to let people know where I am for this particular show. I’d certainly be back in my usual spot next year.
The motel has scheduled the show for April 9th through April 24th. Well, I probably won’t make those dates fully.

For those of you wanting to reach me at home, plan on me being gone from the 7th through as late as 28th.

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 242

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

LIST 242 - March, 4, 2021

Dear Collectors,
I am going to do this offering a bit different than usual as I have more pieces of one particular meteorite than usual. I would have normally held these back and put them on one of my three times a year larger catalogs but I had fusion crusted Sikhote-Alins on one of those not all the long ago (and sold most of them fairly quickly as they were oriented specimens). I got these pieces as part of a large collection (9 beer-flats full) of mostly small specimens (most to small to mess with listing here. They will most likely end up in a big “bargain tub” at the various shows when we are able to have those again). I had several different qualities of material and a good number of pieces in each quality level. So, I decided here to break the specimens apart into different quality levels, list a price per gram for the specimens in that batch and then simply list the weights (from left to right in the photos). This way I was able to put many more specimens in the photos and offer a wider selection of pieces that everyone could see (and I still have some nice “duplicates” to some of the pieces I did photo). So here are the break-downs of groups:

GROUP “a” are ones that were likely quite late recoveries (things that were found much more recently than many would care to admit) that have also possibly been harshly cleaned because of this (some of the recent finds were starting to look pretty rough). These still have some fusion crust and have the sculpted shape for the most part. I have priced these for about the same as I would price similar sized shrapnel fragments at shows these days.

GROUP “b” are ones that have quite a lot of fusion crust and good sculpting but they (in my opinion) have been over cleaned at some point in the past. Not terribly so, but their crust does tend to be thinner and shinier (from brushing and oiling). These are the kind of things I come across most commonly at shows (so, not atypical for the usual fusion crusted Sikhote-Alins offered).

GROUP “c” are better pieces. These have better crust (not harshly cleaned though some have had some cleaning work and oiling done to them) and better shapes. These are the pieces that likely were fairly early finds (or trades out of museums) and generally (on the larger pieces in particular) show some really nice flow-lines (though I don’t know if those will turn up worth a darn in a photo the size that is allowed for me to send out through this new system). A number of these piece also show orientation to one degree or another (some quite clearly). I have priced these at what I would normally ask on typical Sikhote-Alin specimens at a show (which is also about the same as what the folks that are/ were the sources for these ask for them).

GROUP “d” is a one specimen. This one is probably the most interesting Sikhote-Alin specimen I’ve had in years. It looks to be a nice oriented specimen but it also has had some kind of inclusion (shriebersite/ cohenite) burned out of it – forming a nice long tunnel through a large length of the piece. A really cool piece that I suspect I’ll soon find that I under priced it.

Now, on to the offering:

A note on the photos below: I know these are a bit cluttered and they likely came though on your e-mail as quite small. I do have the somewhat larger original pictures that were used to create this offering. If you are interested enough to want and see larger photos of these pieces I'll email you them directly, just ask.

SIKHOTE-ALIN, Russia: Coarsest octahedrite (IIAB). Fell February 12, 1947.
These are all “fusion crusted” individuals that I got as part of a large collection I purchased fairly recently. They are broken down into quality groups. Each group has a price per gram for specimens in that particular quality level. The weights of the specimens are in order the same as in the photo from left to right (smallest/ lightest specimen on the left, largest on the right).

a): Specimens that were later finds, had more original rust and have been quite heavily cleaned:

Price = $1.25/g
Weights of specimens in photos: 16.7g, 20.3g, 22.7g, 34.1g, 52.4g, 63.5g, 99.9g

b): Specimens that have good crust coverage but have had some cleaning work that my have diminished some features:
Price = $2.25/g
Weights of specimens in photos: 4.8g, 9.9g, 11.4g, 17.5g, 26.4g, 37.8g, 44.8g

c): Specimens that have good crust with good features (flow lines, better sculpting, some orientation, etc).
Price = $3.00/g

d): A wonderful crusted/ oriented specimen that has a long natural hole burned through it:
62.3g – 40mm x 20mm x 18mm - $600

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Shipping: For small US orders $5 is needed now. Rates have gone up yet more this year and now the cheapest I can send anything is right at $4. Add $ for the padded envelope or box, jewelry boxes, etc and, in most cases, I am still loosing a little even at $5. Larger orders are now $8 to $15 (insurance is extra if desired – I’ll look it up if you want it).

Overseas prices have gone up A LOT the past couple years. Now small overseas orders are around $15 (Canada seems to be right around $11). I’ll have to custom quote any larger items/ orders (both local and overseas). Registration (recommended on more valuable overseas orders) is $16.

I do have a fax machine that seems to work (but I have to answer it and manually turn it on), so overseas people can contact me that way if they must. However, for overseas orders, it probably is best to go ahead and use my brmeteorites@yahoo.com e-mail when possible.