Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 274 - meteorites from Denver show and more 14OCT2024

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 274 - meteorites from Denver show and more 14OCT2024

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

LIST 273 - October 14, 2024


Dear Collectors

Here is an offering of some things I have picked up over time by buying a couple smallish collections. I had a few of these in Denver for the show, but they were in a corner of a display case that was not really in “center view”.  Also, I had few actual collectors visit the show this year, so people that would likely be interested in these kind of things simply did not show up in any real numbers. I had thought about holding these back for Tucson. Many of these would be ideal for my tall glass display case in Tucson (right next to the door). Some of these may yet end up there if they don’t sell before the show.

I do have more travels to do. Right now I am thinking one of those longer trips will be kind of near the end of this month. I am trying to pull together meeting with multiple people and, at times, that feels a bit like herding cats. So, until I have them all corralled (or as many as I am going to be able to) I will not know the exact dates (but it shouldn’t interfere with this offering).

There also is a pretty good chance that I will be gone all morning and part of the afternoon on Wednesday (the 16th) this week.

Click on image to enlarge.

ALLENDE, Mexico; Carbonaceous chondrite (CV3). Fell February 8, 1969.
This is a nice little, interesting end piece that some may consider to be somewhat “historic” (in addition to its actually being a piece of a historic fall). Just looking at the cut surface (in its little 2” x 2” display box) you can see that it is mostly the classic Allende texture. There is one obvious (but not terribly large) CAI in this. Using the filtered UV LED light I have I can see that this does fluoresce a bit (pinkish purple). However, the more interesting feature is the fine-grained inclusion at the top of the piece. It has a texture (though not the same really black color) of a CM2 meteorite. I have seen these things in Allendes over the years, but these inclusions are not terribly common. This comes with a meteoritelabels.com metal label. However, it is the other label/ “info” that comes with this that will likely make it interesting to many collectors. First, this comes with an ACTUAL original Robert Haag Allende label. This is NOT one of my rip-off copies that I have made and given away for nearly 40 years now (yes, Robert gave me permission to use some of his labels. Off hand, I can only think of Canyon Diablo as another one he gave me permission to copy). What is more interesting is that this comes the original Robert Haag sales invoice (showing the buyer paid $25 dollars for this piece back in January of 2004. Heck I think I was buying this from Robert for closer to $.35/g – but that WAS 40 plus years ago.
4.6 gram end piece – 28mm x 19mm x 8mm - $110

CANYON DIABLO, Arizona. Coarse octahedrite (IAB). Found 1891.
This is a piece I picked up in Denver, like the Sikhote below, this came out of an old collection. Actually, I got several Canyon Diablos out of that collection but THIS is the winner. The other two were, putting it nicely, “genuine”. They were what they were but they were pretty un impressive in their size, shape and condition (they both required considerable work to get them in sellable condition and once there, I simply dropped them in my Canyon Diablo bucket). This is super nice specimen. Actually, one of the nicest I have seen in its size range. It has a great sculpted shape and is really solid (not rust scaling like the two it came with). This was purchased years ago from Alan Lang and comes with an Lang’s Fossils, R.A. Langhienrich Meteorites business card and one of his smaller Canyon Diablo paper labels.
438.4gram sculpted individual – 60mm x 60mm x 20mm - $825

MILLBILLILLIE, Australia. HED achondrite (eucrite). Fell October 1960. Tkw = about 330kg.
When this material first came out, it was the first true eucrite I had ever seen (well, one I could actually own anyway). There was quite a lot of it around. Now it is quite scarce. The only pieces I have seen recently are some larger individuals that Mike Martinez had to sell (and may still have some) in Tucson. I have had very little lately. This is a nice small end piece. It is the classic “salt and pepper” color texture that most Millbillillies were. There were some brecciated textured ones that we all got excited about when we first saw them but this texture is still my preferred one. The back side of this has great thick, heavily flow-lined fusion crust. Unfortunately, as with the vast majority of Millbillillies, that crust has been stained orange from the dirt it sat decades in before being picked up (I did learn a way to chemically remove this BUT that process left a white/ light gray film coating the crust that I never found a solvent or method to remove so I left all of my Millbillillies alone after that). This comes with a meteoritelabels.com metal label. I also have a printout of the page this collector originally chose this from (it seems he paid a touch over $107for it back in January of 2003).
5.3 gram end piece – 26mm x 18mm x 7mm - $120

PARK FOREST, Illinois: (L5). Fell March 26, 2003. Tkw = about 18kg.
Gads, has it really been that long since this fell? It seems like yesterday (well, maybe the day before) when everyone was so stirred up about this fall. I never have had many pieces of it (probably could count all I have handled on my fingers and toes and maybe have a few fingers and toes left over). This is a wonderful little oriented individual that, according to the hand written card the original owner made for it, was found by Steve Arnold’s daughter (in the S.E. part of the strewn field). This was found some time after the fall itself (there is a small brown oxidation spot on it – likely with a metal bleb right underneath). The owner’s notes say he “won it on E-Bay in May of 2003” so it this wasn’t out in nature for terribly long. This is a great little strongly oriented individual. The front dome has nice smooth almost shiny black crust. There is a nice ridge of bubbly/ frothy crust around the entire edge of the back side (surprisingly thick in some areas).Wish this could be blown up to hundreds of grams/ a kilo size, it would be a real show stopper. This comes with the above mentioned original owner’s written note and a Meteoritelables.com metal label.
.86g oriented individual – 10mm x 8mm x 5mm - $100 -- SOLD

SIKHOTE–ALIN, Russia. Coarsest octahedrite (IIAB). Fell February 12, 1947.
This is a piece I picked up while in Denver. It is a wonderful highly thumb-printed fusion crusted individual. It is mostly covered in nice, original fusion crust. There are some areas where minor rusting has damaged the surface a bit but the rest of it is perfectly original. This piece had not been messed with (dipped in acid, wire-brushed, gun blued…..) as oh so many crusted Sikhote-Alins have been. In Denver, I saw the Russians (the original sources of this material) were asking $6/g for their pieces. These pieces were just average size (10g to 50g or so) and average shape (mostly roundish). This is a great piece that was quite clearly not picked up long after the fall and came out of an old collection.
164.1g beautiful crusted individual – 60mm x 30mm x 15mm - $820 -- SOLD

TATAHOUINE, Tunisia: HED achondrite (diogenite). Fell June 27, 1931.
This one kind of makes me think of Star Wars. I head the name ‘Tatahouine” there (the name of a planet in the movie – the dry dusty one I believe, similar in nature to where I live) looong before I ever heard of it as a meteorite. I have always thought this to be a weird/ interesting meteorite. IF I were to see a hunk of something like this on its own, I certainly wouldn’t think “meteorite” upon looking at it (I probably shouldn’t have said that publicly. Now every greedy crack pot that has stubbed his toe on a weird looking rock will take that to mean their river cobble/ slag, coal furnace clinker COULD be a meteorite). Strange blocky bright green crystals with dark veins through it does not look meteorite (though the dark veins do give it away a bit – as they are shock veins). I have not had many “large” pieces of this meteorite. By that, I mean pieces that are larger than a couple grams. This thing really blew itself apart (low in the atmosphere – low enough that only small traces of fusion crust can be found on any of this. One has to look really carefully to find this. This piece does have quite a few small (really small) fusion crust patches scattered about its surfaces. However one (pointed) end has a pretty nice patch of small fusion crust lines overlapping each other. These ARE rare in this kind of size (and once commanded well over $100/g because of that rarity). This comes with a meteoritelabels.com metal label as well as an ELKK Meteorites business card and label..
6.10 grams – 20mm x 15mm x 11mm - $250

ZAGAMI, Nigeria: Martian (Shergottite). Fell October 3, 1962. Tkw = 18kg.
I remember when Robert Haag was able to get his hands on a chunk (a big chunk) of this. Prior to that, owning a piece of Mars was an expensive proposition. I had a tiny crumb of Chassigny in a capsule that cost me $100 (1985 time frame maybe) and I was thrilled to have it. Robert brought out the Zagami at $100/g and we all bought (and bought, and bought) it. I upgraded to a bigger piece every chance I got (then, many years later, stupidly sold the piece. I think it might have helped me buy a piece of land or such so it wasn’t sold just to “turn into dollars”). This is a nice little rectangular slice that shows one clear thin shock vein. This came from Eric Twelker/ Meteorite Market (so you know you have no reason to doubt its authenticity). It comes with one of his (weight recorded) info card and a meteorite labels.com metal label.
.28gram part slice – 11mm x 5mm x 1.5mm - $300

--------------------------------------------
Shipping:

US Shipping: It does seem that I can, generally, send small orders (jewelry box in a padded envelope kind) for around $5 still This is by what they are now calling “Ground Advantage”. Though it is claimed to be going by trucks (and supposedly a couple days longer) I have found that things are getting to where they need to be pretty much the same time as the old “first class” used to. For things people prefer to send “Priority”, the costs are $10 for fairly small things (whatever can fit in a small flat-rate box) and around $17 for large things.

Overseas shipping: it does look like the “First Class” option still exists (thankfully, because most overseas small flat-rate costs are bumping up against $50 these days). Though I have not sent much this way, what research I have done seems to indicate that those small orders (jewelry box in padded envelope) are still around $15 or $16 to send. Obviously, I’ll have to custom quote shipping on larger items (as usual).

Blaine Reed Meteorites for Sale- List 273 19SEP2024

Blaine Reed Meteorites
P.O. Box 1141, Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
brmeteorites@yahoo.com
LIST 273 - September 2024

Dear Collectors
I am back from the shortened (for me) Denver show. It was, not surprisingly, fairly slow as far as people visiting was concerned. It was also relatively slow as far as sales went, but not horribly so (certainly not as bad as I feared it might be). The folks that did show up seemed willing to spend money once they had made the, difficult at times, trek down I-25 through the heart of Denver to see us. Sales down, yes BUT I was only set up for 5 days (half the normal length of the show). Would I have sold as much as a “normal” show if we were able to stay set up - ? no idea. Just know that I am happy to have sold as well as I did (but I still was better at spending than selling – as usual). I did get a number of calls from people that did not get the message that we had moved. A number of people called me from the now weed-filled parking lot of the Crowne Plaza wondering where I was. Unfortunately, I got those calls after I had already packed up and left town (one guy wanted to “come see me”. He wanted to simply hop in his car and come visit me at home. Once I let him know that I was a 6 hour drive away (12 hours for someone coming from Denver and then going back to catch a flight) he decided to see me in Tucson).

I already have info on next year’s show timing and location. We will be at the Delta Hotel by Marriott Denver Northglenn (10 E. 120th Ave). We will be able to have our normal length show (though having a 5 day show this year was kind of nice. Some of these events are getting waaaay to long). We are scheduled to be open from September 5th through the 13th. I was NOT able to get a semi-private meeting room like I had at the Crowne Plaza (and at this year’s show) as one really didn’t exist in the layout of the new venue. I was able to get a ground floor room though. I plan to have the furniture emptied out, hoping to recreate the open feel (that seems to invite people to hang around more) that those meeting rooms had the best I can.

I do have a couple large trips I need to do this fall. These are not set in stone at this point. I am thinking the bigger of the two will be towards the later part of October (certainly after sales and responses to the offering have died down). So, if possible, let me know if there is something you are interested in on this list (even if you just need it “set aside” to buy from me later) before the middle of October.


A note concerning the photos in this offering:
I want everyone receiving this post with imbedded group photos of the items on this list to know that the item pictured MAY NOT be the identical item you receive (except for cases where I have clearly labeled an item as “the only one this size” or similar). I usually have (and sell) multiple pieces of each size of the items listed (sometimes MANY of them – far to many to put all in a photograph for people to pick from). What I normally do is send the first person that asks for a particular item the largest piece available in whatever size range it is that the specimen they are buying belongs to (when I send a piece that is not in the photo, you generally get a very similar but slightly larger piece). This came about as MOST of my sales from these periodic larger catalogs come from the paper mailed version of this offering where no photos exist so customers don’t know exactly what the piece they ordered looks like (and are usually quite happy to receive a slightly larger specimen instead). So, you can certainly request the exact item in the group photo and I am happy to send it if someone else hasn’t already requested it. Please let me know if you would likely ONLY be happy with receiving that actual pictured piece(s) and I will NOT do any substitution(s) in your order.



TOLUCA, Mexico: Iron. Coarse octahedrite (IA). Found 1776.
This is one of the classic “historic” meteorites. It was first recognized in 1776. Prior to that though, people had been finding and forging pieces of this meteorite into agricultural equipment for many, many years. This stuff used to be readily available. I haven’t seen much of it at all in recent years and even less as cut and etched pieces. Though this is a “coarse” octahedrite it has a much more “medium” octahedrite etch look to it. Nice uniform bands in a nice uniform texture (many “coarse” octahedrites have kind of a mess going for their etch structure). I got these in Tucson this year. I don’t have much of it and have no idea when/ where I might be able to get more.
1) Etched part slices:
a) 10.4 grams - 9mm x 18mm x 4mm - $35
b) 18.7 grams - 35mm x 23mm x 3mm - $62
c) 35.1 grams - 40mm x 31mm x 3mm - $110
d) 55.9 grams - 59mm x 48mm x 3mm - $170




COFFEYVILLE, Kansas: Ordinary chondrite. (H5). Found2006. Tkw = 35.9kg.
A single stone was found by a racecar driver driving (presumably racing) on his property. He and his wife were nearly tossed off/out of the vehicle they were riding when they hit an odd looking large rock. They realized it was very different from the usual light colored weathered limestones of the area. It did not take them long to realize they might have found a meteorite. However, it did take 3 years before they finally had it looked at, confirmed and classified. There is, to be honest, nothing really exciting about this stone (it is just a typical fairly weathered H5 that shows plenty of light colored chondrules in a medium brown matrix) other than it is a really affordable example of a named (and US no less) meteorite. I don’t get many named meteorites (and few US ones) these days and few are remotely affordable.
1) Slices:
a) 10.2 grams - 35mm x 22mm x 5mm - $25
b) 20.5 grams - 40mm x 40mm x 5mm - $50
c) 33.1 grams - 58mm x 45mm x 5mm - $75
d) 72.7 grams - 70mm x 60mm x 6mm - $150
e) 144.0 grams - 110mm x 85mm x 5mm - $275



NWA (7181): Ordinary chondrite. (L3.5). Found 2011. Tkw = 543 grams.
This was a single stone that Matt Morgan picked up 10 years ago at the Denver show. He got it studied and then it sat in a drawer for nearly 10 years until I picked it up from him during the 2021 Denver Spring show. This has lots of gray chondrules hiding in a darker gray matrix. There are some lighter, more brown colored breccia fragments visible in some of the larger pieces. Not super exciting to look at BUT in preparing this meteorite for sale, I found L3.5s are surprisingly rare. As of July 2021, only 12 are known from outside of Antarctica! There is only ONE named stone (Ioka, Utah being the largest ever recorded at 31.5kg). Two from Oman (totaling 3656 grams) and 9 NWA finds (totaling 3509 grams INCLUDING this stone!). So, a surprisingly rarer item than I would have ever thought or expected.Slices: a) 2.5 grams - 25mm x 10mm x 3mm - $15
b) 5.4 grams - 30mm x 18mm x 4mm - $30
c) 9.4 grams - 40mm x 28mm x 3mm - $50
d) 20.2 grams - 47mm x 35mm x 4mm - $100
e) 44.6 grams - 70mm x 54mm x 4mm - $210 – complete slice.
2) 84.9 gram end piece/ Main Mass – 70mm x 45mm x 12mm - $380.00 - possible sale pending




NWA (16087): HED achondrite. (Howardite). Found 2023. Tkw 7450 grams.
Here is a howardite that could pass (or get mistaken for) Kapoeta if one were not careful. This is super fresh internally. It has lots of nice clasts of various colors and sizes in a really light gray matrix. These clasts are Diogenite (14%), Cumulate eucrite (28%) and Basaltic eucrite (57%) along with minor amounts of chromite, ilmenite and magnetite. A really “classic” howardite example and at a reasonable price.
1) Slices:
a) 2.0 grams - 15mm x 14mm x 4mm - $22
b) 3.9 grams - 34mm x 15mm x 4mm - $40
c) 7.8 grams - 45mm x 17mm x 4mm - $80
d) 16.3 grams - 55mm x 45mm x 3mm - $160
e) 30.9 grams - 75mm x 60mm x 3mm - $295
f) 55.4 grams - 110mm x 75mm x 3mm - $500 – possible sale pending




NWA (4576): Stony-iron (Mesosiderite). Found Jan. 2005. Tkw = 30kg.
Here are some slices of a really nice mesosiderite I picked up while in Tucson this year. These were all largish square/ rectangular pieces. I cut a number of these down (hated to – they were really nice as larger pieces) to pieces affordable for most collectors. There really isn’t any info on this meteorite out there, so I don’t really have any “interesting info” on this. Regardless, this is a really wonderful, classic mesosiderite example. It has LOTS of metal, nice rounded (cm or so sized) lithic clasts and the occasional round metal-rich nodule. I can say that mesosiderites (particularly nice ones) are quite a bit harder to come by then pallasites in the collecting world.
1) Part slices:
a) 4.0 grams - 20mm x 13mm x 3mm - $50
b) 8.0 grams - 23mm x 22mm x 3mm - $90
c) 14.8 grams - 32mm x 27mm x 4mm - $150
d) 25.7 grams - 42mm x 26mm x 5mm - $250
e) 53.2 grams - 54mm x 47mm x 5mm - $500
f) 108.2 grams - 88mm x 58mm x 5mm - $1000




BHUTAN: 3-D space themed stamps.
I hesitated to offer these as I have so few of them. But then, never offering them means, they will simply sit here getting older. I got them when it turned out that there was a stamp convention next door to the watch convention I was attending. I stumbled onto these by pure accident. I thought they were kind of neat. They have that ridged plastic coating that gives them a 3-D effect (quite well, actually). As a kid I liked the football and baseball cards that were this form (those, for me anyway, were quite scarce). These, actually, are every bit as old, or older, than those cards I desired back then (early 1970s). This quite surprised me. When I got these (7 or 8 years ago maybe). I thought that these were basically really modern. What little research I have done on them shows that they are actually from around 1967 to around 1970. These are an assortment of “types” (some space craft, some astronauts in space, on the moon and some clearly Apollo) but all are space themed (and, I believe, were part of a “Man’s Conquest of Space” series). Not particularly rare or valuable, but interesting and fun (wish I could have gotten more).

a) Astronauts in space: 4 piece set - $20.00 (I have only 3 sets available).
b) Apollo on way to Moon (command module/ Lander connected). 2 piece set - $10.00 (I have only 3 sets).
c) Astronauts on the Moon. 3 piece set - $15.00(I have only 2 of these).
d) 1970 assortment of 4 space scenes (galaxy, “earth rise” from moon, etc.) - $20.00 (only 1 available)\
e) 1970 5 older space craft (V2, Mercury capsule, Verne’s, etc) - $25.00 (only 1 set available)
f) Apollo launch (2) and capsule recovery after splashdown (1) - $15.00 (only 1 set available).


Shipping: For small US orders (things that fit in a jewelry box in a padded envelope) - $5 is still OK (for now).
Larger things will be around $10 (small priority flat rate box, smallish "private" type box) to around $18 (medium flat-rate box). Insurance is extra if desired (I’ll look it up for you if think you want this cost ahead of shipping the item(s)).

Overseas prices have gone up A LOT the past couple years. Now small overseas orders are around $18 (Canada seems to be right around $15) for a small jewelry box in a padded envelope. Most overseas small flat-rare prices are in the $45 range (!!!!). I’ll have to custom quote any larger items/ orders. These rates change rapidly (I think we have already had two increases this year) so I'll have to custom quote things that are larger/heavier. Registration (recommended on more valuable overseas orders) is $18 more with insurance being extra (though there are fairly low limits of insurance allowed to many destinations).

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- Denver, Colorado Show - September 5th-9th, 2024

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- Denver, Colorado Show - September 5th-9th, 2024

2024 Denver Show Info
Yes, I know. This should have been sent out a couple weeks (or more) ago. I have been tied up with so many other things this summer (and have had pretty much no new things to offer/ out on an e-mail offering) that I completely dropped the ball on letting people know about this year’s Denver show. I know it is far too late for people planning on coming to the show to change their travel dates/ plans. Hopefully, it is not too late for them to change a little part of their schedule while in Denver to come see me (and all the other folks that have had this change thrust upon them). Anyway, here is the info:

Location:
We will be set up at the Denver Marriott Tech Center: (4900 S. Syracuse St.). I do not have my specific location at the show. I won’t know until I get there. However, I do know that I will be set up on the convention center level (which is one level below the hotel rooms – where more dealers will be setting up). I will have something of a “private” (own walls/ door) meeting room on that level. It seems that I indeed will be right next to the elevators pretty much in the middle of the show floor. It will be a meeting room called "Spruce 1".

Dates/ Times:
This too is quite a bit different from what would have been considered “normal” (the original plan was to be open Sept 6th through the 14th). We are NOT able to have this new location for any part of the mid/ late second week. We need to be packed up and out by noon Tuesday the 10th. As such, the “official” show dates are September 5th through the 9th. The times are 10am to 6pm (though I will try to open closer to 9am most morning and stay open later ( so those of you who are stuck behind tables or locked in rooms doing your show have a chance to come visit) IF I am allowed to do so at all (it seems that the halls, any and all “open” areas of the floor I am on may be more dealer selling booths. IF that is the case, I suspect (for the security of those dealer’s material) I will NOT be allowed to stay open any longer than the “official” closing (another thing I will not know until I get there). So, IF AT ALL POSSIBLE, try to schedule a bit of time to see me during regular show hours. As for Monday the 9th, the official closing is at 5pm. Again, depending upon how the space outside my door is used (walking areas or dealer set-up) I may NOT be able to have people visit as I pack up (I usually do) this show.

Our mailing address is:

Blaine Reed Meteorites
PO Box 1141

Delta, CO 81416-1141

Message Machine ONLY!  Please NOTE- This MAY get checked only once a day in the evenings.

Ph/fax (970) 874-1487

Blaine Reed Meteorites for Sale- List 272 Large Sikhote-Alin Shrapnel 14JUN2024

Blaine Reed Meteorites for  Sale- List 272  Large Sikhote-Alin Shrapnel  14JUN2024

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

LIST 272 - June 14, 2024

Dear Collectors

  I have been tied up with all kinds of different issues, projects and planned travels.
So, what am I selling here: nicer LARGE Sikhote-Alin shrapnel pieces (wire-brushed):

Click on image to enlarge.

SIKHOTE – ALIN, Russia. Coarsest Octahedrite (IIAB). Fell February 12, 1947.
1) Wire brushed shrapnel fragments:
a) 282.0 grams – 60mm x 60mm x 25mm - $375 - PENDING- BUT ASK
b) 335.8 grams – 80mm x 50mm x 40mm - $435 - SOLD
c) 493.0 grams – 110mm x 40mm x 30mm - $650 (one 30mm x 20mm end fusion crusted) SOLD
d) 660.7 grams – 90mm x 70mm x 40mm - $825

e) 896.0 grams – 100mm x 60mm x 40mm - $1100 PENDING- BUT ASK

  These are pieces that I put into deep storage many, many years ago (like 30-plus years ago).

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shipping:

US Shipping: It does seem that I can, generally, send small orders (jewelry box in a padded envelope kind) for around $5 still This is by what they are now calling “Ground Advantage”. Though it is claimed to be going by trucks (and supposedly a couple days longer) I have found that things are getting to where they need to be pretty much the same time as the old “first class” used to. For things people prefer to send “Priority”, the costs are $10 for fairly small things (whatever can fit in a small flat-rate box) and around $17 for large things.

Overseas shipping: it does look like the “First Class” option still exists (thankfully, because most overseas small flat-rate costs are bumping up against $50 these days). Though I have not sent much this way, what research I have done seems to indicate that those small orders (jewelry box in padded envelope) are still around $15 or $16 to send. Obviously, I’ll have to custom quote shipping on larger items (as usual).

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale List 271 - important Denver show info, a few "new" items

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

LIST 271 - April 21, 2024

Dear Collectors,
Once again, I had kind of thought about skipping this “Spring offering” this year. I have had a LOT of travel and yet quite a bit more to go. Also, I have been busy with all kinds of general things, enough so that I am quite behind on my cutting and polishing work. However, something quite big has come up that pretty much determined that I need to send out an offering to give me a chance to let as many people as I can, know about some “news” concerning the Denver fall show this year.

That “news” is that this year’s Denver Fall show will NOT be as things have been. It seems that the city of Aurora is buying the Crowne Plaza hotel and convention center and turning it into a “Homeless shelter”. We had contracts to have our show there supposedly through the September 2026 show. Unfortunately, when a city is involved, the city can simply tear-up any and all contracts and simply toss them in the trash (Denver did this to the Clarion folks a mere month before they were to have their September show last year – the reason those folks ended up in our parking lot. Lots of neat new things to look at/ buy but did crimp parking for us quite a bit).

I have gotten a little more information on this while I visited the Denver Spring show a couple days ago. That show WILL be the last mineral show to happen at the Crowne Plaza. The new venue appears to be at a Marriott way down south in the Denver Tec Center. Nicer area, but certainly NOT convenient for reaching the other shows. The address of this new show venue is: 4900 S. Syracuse St, Denver, CO.

As I alluded to in the mailed version of this list (which was produced, stuffed and mailed before I had this new information) the show will be shorter than it has in the past. Basically, because this new venue has already been rented for what would be the last weekend of our originally scheduled show we will arrive early and close up early. Our new scheduled open days will be Sept. 5th-9th.

I have been able to get a little info on where I’ll be in this new setup. It seems that I should end up with a smallish (but bigger than what I had at Crowne Plaza) meeting room that is pretty much right in the middle of the “main” ballrooms/ show floor area. I suspect that, as such, I likely WILL NOT be able to stay open much after official closing time here (as there will be many, many tables and displays set up on the open floor areas surrounding this meeting room. Pretty sure “security” issues are not going to let me have people hanging around my room while all those displays around me are unattended and protected only by table covers). We shall see.

Regardless of all the stresses and difficulties that this change will bring about for all of us, this particular situation will be ONLY for this year. It seems that while our show promoter was negotiating, preparing to sign contracts for multiple years for this new place, someone else came in and “offered more money” for the venue for the times we needed for all future years past this year. SO, we will be playing this “find a new, functional venue” game again next year (for the spring show, that venue will now be the Western show complex (think the fall “Coliseum” show here).



SEYMCHAN, Russia. Stony-iron (Pallasite). Found 1967.
Well, these are actually all etched iron portion of this meteorite. I got these in Tucson. I got them from someone who had just gotten them in a trade. They didn’t really fit my usual “specimen” style but they were bright and pretty (and sold well while I did have them on display at the show). The best part is that I got these in such a way that I can sell them cheaper than the sources for this stuff would charge (and cheaper than what I now need to get on my usual “specimen” slices of Seymchan). These are mostly kind of slices but some are also of a bit odd shape ( kind of end pieces and some are like triangles or pyramids). Regardless, all of these are really eye-catching bright silvery metallic. These have a really interesting deep etch but have somehow been processed to leave them with a super shiny bright look to them (usually, longer dips in etching acid makes the etch kind of dark and dingy). Not really “specimens” as far as a collector might generally think but really pretty and eye catching.
1) Cut end etched (all sides) pieces of various shapes:
a) 16.8 gram slice - 35mm x 10mm x 6mm - $50
b) 33.7 gram slice - 34mm x 22mm x 8mm - $100
c) 49.5 gram slice - 38mm x 18mm x 11mm - $140
d) 79.4 gram end piece - 32mm x 32mm x 16mm - $220




GOLD BASIN, Arizona: Ordinary chondrite (L4). Found November 1995. Tkw = about 127kg.
I got a call from a “retired” metal-detector guy literally the night before I was to leave for Tucson. He had lived in Arizona some 20/25 years earlier and had spent a LOT of time metal-detecting for gold (he and his wife, actually). It turns out, they were working the Gold Basin gold site before anyone really understood that many of the “hot rocks” they were digging up were
meteorites. Obviously, once he found out he and his wife made it a point to keep all of these “hot rocks” they found after that. Boy did they find “hot rocks” (and, apparently a fair amount of gold nuggets). They worked the area until about 20 years ago and left to live in Wyoming, taking their substantial bucket of Gold Basin “hot rocks” with them. Well, about 10 years ago, his wife fell into ill health (I am sorry to say) making it important to move out of Wyoming (I love Wyoming but it is a pretty harsh place at times. Hard on even fully healthy people). His wife is still alive (thankfully) but in poor enough health that he felt the need to sell off his Gold Basin “hot rocks” to help fund her care (he had already parted with the gold they’d found. Yep, I did ask). What I am offering here are whole pieces as found (well, I cleaned the dirt off of them). Most are basically complete individuals, though many have chipped edges and secondary crust areas. This material has been on the ground for nearly 25,000 years so don’t expect super fresh looking stones here. I do plan to cut some of these things open (part of the “lapidary work” I am behind on) and offer end pieces of this meteorite in the future (even though it is a really old fall, it still looks very nice inside).
1) Individuals as found:
a) 11.2 grams - 22mm x 20mm x 13mm - $12
b) 20.5 grams - 30mm x 20mm x 12mm - $21
c) 42.0 grams - 34mm x 25mm x 20mm - $40
d) 86.8 grams - 45mm x 40mm x 20mm - $80
e) 180.8 grams - 50mm x 40mm x 30mm - $160
f) 385.6 grams - 75mm x 62mm x 40mm - $325




DARWIN GLASS, Impact glass from 700ky old Mt Darwin, Tasmania crater.
Here are some really interesting pieces of this crater glass that usually only comes in clunky dark angular chunks. I traded for a pretty good bag of this material in Tucson. Yep, most of it was the usual blocky chunks. However, I found some really interesting obviously stretched, ropy pieces. You can almost see the action of this stuff forming while flying and twisting through the air in these pieces. ALL of these have that obvious stretching, taffy pull look to them and, better yet, each and every one of these has a natural hole or bridge (often several in a single piece). I didn’t find much of this type material in my lot so I don’t have a lot of these pieces (why I am putting them on this list – these spring offerings tend to be a bit less responded to and I would most likely run out of these things quickly on a Fall or January offering).
1) Natural, taffy-pull look pieces as found:
a) 1.7 grams - 20mm x 11mm x 8mm - $8
b) 3.5 grams - 17mm x 15mm x 13mm - $15
c) 6.8 grams - 35mm x 18mm x 12mm - $25
d) 9.7 grams - 33mm x 20mm x 15mm - $33 - not piece in group photo.



MOON / MARS NECKLACES:
Steve Arnold (of ‘Meteorite Men” not Chicago) left some of these with me in Tucson right before he left town for home. I immediately sold one but I still have enough to offer them here. Each of these is a metal disk (coin, basically) that is actually a “Map” (front and back) of each respective body (are textured and toned to match, somewhat, the actual textures and tones of the real parent body. Each piece has a couple mm or so slice of the actual parent body material epoxied to it. The Moon coins are 25mm diameter and are struck in .999 fine silver. The Mars ones are just over 30mm in diameter and are struck in copper (so their natural color matches the natural color of Mars quite nicely). Each of these comes with an 18” silver plate chain and are in a plastic gemstone display container. Each, of course, comes with a signed Steve Arnold C.O.A.
1) Moon rock slice on 25mm .999 silver coin - $90
2) Mars rock slice on 30mm copper coin - $90
3) One of each - $160

Shipping: Shipping rates, right now, have gone up yet again. They seem to have added a "holiday time surcharge". Now it seems that the cheapest I can send a small padded envelope order for is close to $6 at the moment. Regardless, I'll keep the shipping on these (they are small and light weight) at a simple $5 for now for US shipping.

Small overseas orders are around $16 (Canada seems to be right around $15).

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- List 270 - January 8, 2024

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

LIST 270 - January 8, 2024

Dear Collectors
  Happy New Year!

As usual, I’ll be in Tucson this year and at my usual spot (assuming no further plagues, disasters or such). I’ll be leaving home around January 22nd or 23rd . Timing of this is weather dependent (bad weather may force me to leave early). I likely won’t be back home until February 13th or 14th (again, weather dependent).

I’ll be in my usual room: Days Inn (665 N. Freeway, room 134). This is basically St. Mary’s and the interstate. I used to say “next door to Denney’s”. However, it seems that that restaurant burned to the ground this past summer so this “landmark”, is just a burnt hole in the ground. I may have my door open sometime late Thursday afternoon (Jan 25th) if things go smoothly. I certainly want to be open by Friday afternoon the 26th at the latest. I plan to stay to the end (February 10th is the last scheduled show day) though last year got so slow the last few days that I began to question my sanity for staying (for some reason, I didn’t have the coming to Tucson for the “Main Show” people I have had in other years).



SIKHOTE-ALIN, Russia: Iron. Coarsest octahedrite (IIB). Fell February 12, 1947.
Here (like many of the other things on this list) are some pieces I put aside decades ago. When this material first came out, it was all “natural” as found (and it was $10/gram!). Not long later, they all started getting wire-brushed. I have not seen a natural piece of this in a long time. I got these at some point not all that long after Sikhote first came available. I remember that I got these from Alan Lang but cannot remember exactly what the deal was (a trade of some sort I believe) that landed these in my hands. I kind of thought about holding these for yet more time as no more of this material is being found and sources are running low on material they had set back (price has been going up on these). Well, I like having some sort of iron on these offerings and I simply did not have anything else (nor could I scrounge up anything affordable from my various sources) I could put on this New Year offering. Again, these are in the as found, uncleaned (mostly light to medium brown color) condition. I do have some highly wire-brushed pieces available (around 50g to 130g) if that is what you prefer (and they are a little bit cheaper, actually).
1) Shrapnel fragments. Natural as found:
a) 36.1 grams - 40mm x 21mm x 13mm - $55
b) 72.6 grams - 38mm x 30mm x 17mm - $110
c) 132.0 grams - 60mm x 40mm x 25mm - $200
d) 271.1 grams - 70mm x 57mm x 25mm - $400
e) 373.8 grams - 98mm x 48mm x 23mm - $550 – only one this big.

DALGETY DOWNS, Australia: Ordinary chondrite (L4). Found 1941. Tkw = 473kg.
Here is a meteorite I have had for decades. This was on my 6 page “catalog” I’d mail out to people that would request one from a magazine ad (or two) I used to run. I have dropped those ads as they were somewhat expensive, brought me very few new “customers” (anyone who ended up buying a meteorite), fewer longer term collectors (very few) and LOTS of hand-holding (people that were really not at all certain that they really wanted a meteorite, trusted that what they got WAS really a meteorite and such). So, I decided to stick more with “advertising” methods that keep me (for the most part) dealing with people that already know and understand meteorites (I dropped the “catalog” thing) The info card for this meteorite is one I made pre word processor days (hand done on a typewriter). For the most part, this is a pretty meteorite. It has a good amount of fresh metal in a mottled light tan, brown to almost bluish in spots matrix. I don’t really see much in the way of Australian stone meteorites these days.
1) Slices:
a) 8.0 grams - 25mm x 23mm x 5mm - $28
b) 14.6 grams - 30mm x 28mm x 5mm - $50
c) 24.4 grams - 40mm x 32mm x 5mm - $80
d) 37.7 grams - 58mm x 42mm x 5mm - $120
2) End pieces/ cut fragments:
a) 25.7 grams - 38mm x 24mm x 16mm - $80
b) 47.2 grams - 55mm x 40mm x 11mm - $140
c) 87.8 grams - 40mm x 32mm x 32mm - $250




SHISR (033), Oman: Carbonaceous chondrite (CR). Found October 2002. Tkw = 1097.7 grams.
This is another item I had planned on holding for longer (and another item that I have had for around 20 years now). This has a couple interesting things going for it. First, it is one of only 14 meteorites worldwide classified as “CR” (not CR2, CR3….). All of those add up to only about 2244 grams. So, there is only a little more than 2.2kg of this meteorite type in the entire world! The other thing really special about this is that it has small clasts of C1 material scattered all through it. I was kind of thinking
that maybe I should hold onto it until research work is done on the Astreoid Bennau samples that returned a few months ago. IF some of that material matches up to these kind of inclusions, I suspect that there will be a substantial increase in people wanting that kind of material. Well, I guess I have Orguiel crumbs to satisfy that demand IF it comes to be. This material has the classic chondrule-rich texture and the yellow brown coloration of most of the CR2 meteorites I have been able to offer. It does have some fresh metal grains in it (but not a lot) and lacks the metal surrounding many chondrules in the CR2 type. Interesting and really rare material.
1) Slices:
a) .67 grams - 15mm x 7mm x 3mm - $35
b) 1.5 grams - 17mm x 13mm x 3mm - $75
c) 3.2 grams - 28mm x 14mm x 3mm - $160
d) 6.6 grams - 30mm x 27mm x 3mm - $325
e) 13.8 grams - 60mm x 40mm x 2mm - $650
f) 23.8 grams - 75mm x 48mm x 3mm - $1000




NWA (14188): Lunar meteorite. Baslatic breccia. Found 2021. Tkw = 260 grams.
Well, a good portion of the side of the moon that faces us is basalt rocks (the MARE, dark gray areas) but very few of those rocks seem to make it into our collections. I have had only a couple basaltic type lunar meteorites over the years: the really special (and expensive) NWA (032) and some gabbro (sub-surface crystalized basalt) that was a lot cheaper but pretty unimpressive visually (I think I still have a piece or two of that material around here somewhere). I did something of an internet search on this and found that A) there ain’t much of it available and B) what is available is quite pricey – like around $1800/g pricy! (and these were multi-gram sized pieces like 5g to 9g). In all fairness though, some of these past light through some of their areas (not a common thing for any meteorites except pallasites). Anyway, here is a chance for you to get a piece of actual lunar basalt. I don’t argue that this is expensive in comparison to some lunars (anorthositic) these days but still less than ½ the price of the pieces of this material I found in my search a few days ago. These will all be in a labeled plastic display box (not in the photo) when they are sent to you.
1) Slices:
a) .152 grams - 7mm x 6mm x 2mm - $135
b) .305 grams - 9mm x 6mm x 2mm - $265
c) .543 grams - 14mm x 10mm x 2mm - $465
d) .852 grams - 17mm x 9mm x 2mm - $700
e) 1.50 grams - 23mm x 16mm x 2mm - $1200



DARWIN GLASS: Tazmania, Australia.
These are another item that I have had set aside for a long time. Like the Sikhote-Alin above, I also got these pieces from Alan Lang. I was going to hold onto these for longer but, also like the Sikhote above, I simply did not have something Tektite or other different but meteorite related item to offer. These are the usual odd shaped, generally foggy light to dark green glass fragments available from this site over the years (though not so often seen these days). It is believed that this glass was formed when the nearby 1km diameter Mt. Darwin crater was formed around 700,000 years ago. Initially, it was believed to be a tektite and was listed as such at one time. I don’t have a whole lot of this material remaining, unfortunately. A year or so ago, I had someone tell me they would sell me a “bunch” of this at a “great price” Turned out, they didn’t really have much (couple hundred grams maybe) and their “great price” was only great for them (they wanted something like $3/g from me for it).
1) Natural fragments as found:
a) 1.8 grams - 13mm x 11mm x 10mm - $7
b) 3.5 grams - 25mm x 14mm x 8mm - $12
c) 6.2 grams - 37mm x 13mm x 9mm - $20
d) 8.8 grams - 25mm x 20mm x 18mm - $28
e) 11.2 grams - 30mm x 18mm x 15mm - $35

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shipping:
US Shipping: It does seem that I can, generally, send small orders (jewelry box in a padded envelope kind) for around $5 still. This is by what they are now calling “Ground Advantage”. Though it is claimed to be going by trucks (and supposedly a couple days longer) I have found that things are getting to where they need to be pretty much the same time as the old “first class” used to. For things people prefer to send “Priority”, the costs are $10 for fairly small things (whatever can fit in a small flat-rate box) and around $17 for large things (things that need a medium flat-rate box).

For overseas shipping, it does look like the “First Class” option still exists (thankfully, because most overseas small flat-rate costs are bumping up against $50 these days). Though I have not sent much this way, what research I have done seems to indicate that those small orders (jewelry box in padded envelope) are still around $15 or $16 to send. Obviously, I’ll have to custom quote shipping on larger items (as usual).

Blaine Reed Meteorites For Sale- LIST 269 06DEC2023

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

LIST 269 - December 6, 2023

Dear Collectors,

This will likely be my last offering of the year. I got done doing the tedious job of “Inventory” – where I open every box/ bag on every shelf and corner and weigh and catalog all the stuff I have around here. As usual, I found a few things that I forgot I had and a few things where I only had one piece left. IF I can sell those, then I don’t have to have an extra line in my inventory records (no inventory of a particular meteorite present = no need to have that name in my records any more). I did find a couple items I picked up in Denver as well that I kind of forgot I had. Overall, I am pricing all of these well below what I was normally asking on them (and below what I thought I might ask on the “new” things). Again, sell them now then I don’t have to record them and keep them on the inventory list at the end of the year.

NOTE: It seems that every day I get a problem dropped in my lap from out of nowhere. One I did nothing to create (other than existing I suppose) but I still need to deal with it. Yesterday’s was a small 4” by 5” post card. I almost tossed it out as junk mail. Glad I didn’t. It was my internet provider with a ‘Reminder” that I needed to IMMEDIATELY contact them and find a different way to have internet service. Odd that it was a “further reminder” as I had, up until that moment, received NO notification that there was a problem what so ever (including on or with the bill I received not that long ago). It seems that much of the equipment they use to provide internet service to lots of people is no longer being supported by the manufacturer of said equipment. As such, once anything breaks in that system, it cannot be fixed. I WILL lose my internet. I tried to play their game and see “what are your options” but could not get them on the phone (it seems that they have already. Somehow, disabled the web account we had set up just for such things). So, onto looking for new service. Thankfully, an internet service associated with our electric service had brought fiber optic onto my property back in April. I am now in the process of changing over to that. However, I have been informed that many hundreds pf people in my area are signing up (for the same reasons I presume) and it might a considerable amount of time before I can get hooked up on the new service. I am making this all public as IF a part breaks in part of the old service before I am connected to the new service, I will be “off line” pretty much completely (aside from the occasional sit in a restaurant parking lot WIFI connection or such but I REALLY hate doing ANYTHING even remotely private (like signing into my e-mail account) on such systems. So, IF you e-mail me with something important (an order/ question, etc. Sending a link to an interesting video sometimes don’t get responded to anyway) and don’t get any response from me – CONSIDER CALLING, my e-mail might be completely gone (the phone though, for the time being anyway, is a land line and should continue working regardless of my internet situation).



CALDWELL, Kansas: Ordinary chondrite (L impact melt breccia). Found 1961. Tkw = 12.9kg.
L-impact melts used to be one of the most desired meteorites. I think the first was the strange slag looking Cat Mountain, Tucson AZ meteorite that Robert Haag had. That stuff sold for well over $100/g. Then there was (some pieces, much of the stone was truly “ordinary” chondrite) of Chico, New Mexico. Steve Arnold (of Meteorite Men, not Chicago) worked for years trying to get a piece of this stone from the person that had it. Years of “No” eventually turned into “yes” and we bought (finally) some of it. Unfortunately is was not particularly cheap and (more unfortunately for us) plenty of really nice impact melt meteorites had come out of NWA (I still have pieces of a number of really nice different ones of those). This is my VERY LAST piece of this named L impact melt. Frankly, this is not a particularly pretty meteorite BUT this is your last chance to get a piece of this from me (and I don’t think there is a lot of this material floating around out there either). I priced it at (or even slightly below) what one of my NWA impact melts normally sell for.
41.2 gram part slice – 80mm x 60mm x3mm - $150 SOLD

GUADALUPE y CALVO, Mexico: Iron. Hexahedrite (IIAB). Found 1971. Tkw = 58.63kg.
I had a fair amount of this stuff pass through my hands the past few years. It has proven to be popular material. This is the meteorite that was used for years as a dog-food bowl on a ranch in Mexico before it found its way to Tucson and then onto a group of collectors and dealers. I sold all of the pieces I got back when we bought it together years (decades?) ago. I got these pieces from the collector that ended up with the biggest piece of this meteorite once we cut it up. I am now down to my last piece. Jim has no more to sell either (whatever he has remaining of this meteorite, he is keeping). I originally had this piece priced at $1100 (and have come close to selling it at a show once or twice). Now I am pricing it (temporarily) as a “year-end special”. If I don’t sell it from this offering and do end up having to carry it over into next year’s inventory records, then I’ll probably put it back up in the $1100 range. This does come with a(more recent copy) card I made up when I sold my pieces years ago as well as a Jim Schwade collection label.
349.1 gram part slice – 120mm x 70mm x 5mm - $750  SOLD

HAJMAH (C), Oman: Ordinary chondrite (L5/6). Found 1958. Tkw = 1132 grams.
Can’t say that I have ever seen a piece of this meteorite before. We have LOTS of meteorites from Oman but the Meteorites A to Z book shows that there are (were anyway) only 6 actual named meteorites back before 2008 (when the book was published). The British Museum “Catalog of Meteorites” says that 2 pieces were found (one 1065g and the other 67 grams) during oil prospecting in the area in 1958. This (like the Libyan Glass below) is from a collector who bought it at an auction long ago. It looks like he may have paid $583 for the piece. That is $10/g! These days it is easy to find fairly nice stone meteorite slices for a dollar or two a gram (I still have nice slices of Ghubara available for around $2/g). However, back 20 plus years ago, this was not the case. As, at the time, there few to no Oman meteorites on the market, I can see someone paying pretty good money to add this country to their collection. That along with the fact that so little of this was found certainly could explain a $10/g valuation. This looks to be a piece that likely came from the British Museum (they had all but 55g of it according to the Catalog). It certainly has the old-style museum cut - really thick. It seems that most museums prefere(d?) to have thick slices. We collectors came along and decided we want thin. Thin gives you more surface area texture for less weight (and cost). As such, if one were inclined, this piece could easily be split into 3 (or even 4) thinner equal sized slices (you’d have to use a wire saw to get 4 though). The auction tag has this at 58.3 grams and that is indeed spot on for the whole specimen. However, it looks like someone was starting another cut on one corner of this piece (looks like they tries a couple times to get a cut started there. One of the cuts did get around 1cm into the piece. The resulting thinner piece (1cm x 15mm, 1.0g) has broken off, but still remains with the specimen.
57.3 gram slice – 42mm x 37mm x 12mm - $200  SOLD

LIBYAN DESERT GLASS:
This is a piece that I picked up in Denver. It came to me as part of a collection from a collector that picked it up at an auction decades ago. It looks like he may have paid $330 for the piece (this comes with the auction ID slip). However, that has the weight of this wrong. The dimensions match just fine but they had the weight as 55grams. It is really 28.8 grams. So, it looks like this might have cost the buyer a bit over $10/g. Actually, at the time (this was bought not long after the first pieces of this stuff in recent history started coming out – sometime around 1988 maybe) this would have been a fair price. This is a nice higher quality piece that is really quite clean and clear. It does have a “fresh” (but still possibly hundreds of years old) chip (about 15mm x 6mm) on the bottom but is, otherwise all natural wind sculpted surfaces. The auction tag indicates that this is from the Walter Zitschell collection. That makes perfect sense as, I seem to recall, he was the one who first obtained marketable quantities of Libyan Glass (most of the pieces were really big. Hundreds of grams plus. Big enough such that I could not afford one as the starting price was $10/g. I probably would have gotten a piece this size myself when it first came out, had one been offered to me).
28.8 gram natural fragment – 65mm x 25mm x 15mm - $70  SOLD




NWA (4502): Carbonaceous chondrite (CV3). Found 2008. Tkw about 35kg.
This is actually not a piece that I’d normally put on a “get off of inventory” list at the end of the year. Actually, I pulled this out from some pretty deep storage as I had a museum ask me for “pass around” specimens. One of the things they wanted was a carbonaceous chondrite. Well, I don’t really have too many of those big (or solid) enough for that purpose. Deep digging back then brought this end piece to light. After months and months of waiting for their decisions on what specimens they wanted (I had multiple options of some of the other type meteorites they were looking for) they finally (like a few weeks ago) admitted that the deal was NOT going to happen. Rather than go through the effort of putting this back in deep storage (which I could have done had I remembered I had it pulled out and set aside elsewhere when doing inventory) I decided, since its been a long time since I have offered any of this meteorite, to offer it here and now (if it sells, I won’t have to pull things apart to put it where it belongs). This is a nice solid end piece. The back, natural side, has a 6mm x 4mm CAI that fluoresces pinkish purple under the right UV light.
63.1 gram end piece – 65mm x 42mm x 10mm - $250  SOLD

SALAICES, Mexico: Ordinary chondrite (H4). Found 1971. Tkw = 24.5kg.
I kind of picked this one up because I have a customer who runs a store in Mexico. He, generally, has an eye out for any Mexican meteorites that have not been easily available recently (and isn’t stupidly priced). This one certainly meets that criteria. I usually see him at the major shows (Tucson and Denver). I thought I’d see him in Denver this year (where he would probably buy this piece) but he did not show (but, to be honest, a lot of people I thought I’d see didn’t come this year). Not wanting to carry this over in inventory until Tucson (the next chance I have to see him) I decided to offer it here. This is set up in a Riker and has a Michael Casper Meteorites label with it.
21.5 gram part slice – 36mm x 23mm x 6mm - $90  SOLD

THUATHE, Lesotho: Ordinary chondrite (H4/5). Fell July 21, 2002. Tkw = about 30kg.
It has been awhile since I have any of this one. This came to me in Denver. It belonged to Fred Olsen and was put into a COMETS auction during one of the Denver shows years ago. It is a nice piece. Nicer than many of the pieces I have had of this fall. It has really good crust coverage (only one 5mm x 5mm chip). The crust is really fresh and shows evidence of several breakage and crusting levels (as well as some minor “roll over rims”). A superior specimen of this meteorite fall! This comes with the COMETS auction tag (green paper), one of Fred’s Mineral & Fossil Supply business cards (that has auction notes for this piece on the back) as well as one of the cards I made up for this meteorite when I had pieces of it.
39.9 gram complete individual – 31mm x 30mm x 20mm - $250  SOLD

Shipping:
USA- It does seem that I can, generally, send small orders (jewelry box in a padded envelope kind) for around $5 still This is by what they are now calling “Ground Advantage”. Though it is claimed to be going by trucks (and supposedly a couple days longer) I have found that things are getting to where they need to be pretty much the same time as the old “first class” used to. For things people prefer to send “Priority”, the costs are $10 for fairly small things (whatever can fit in a small flat-rate box) and around $17 for large things.

For overseas shipping, it does look like the “First Class” option still exists (thankfully, because most overseas small flat-rate costs are bumping up against $50 these days). Though I have not sent much this way, what research I have done seems to indicate that those small orders (jewelry box in padded envelope) are still around $15 or $16 to send. Obviously, I’ll have to custom quote shipping on larger items (as usual).