OF TIME AND SPACE --Watches and Meteorites

Blaine Reed Meteorites - Tucson Show 2012

2012-01-23T12:14:00.000-08:00

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

Dear Collectors,

Show info: I will be gone from home from about January 25th until about February 15th. I will be at my usual show location: Ramada Limited, room 134. This is at St Marys and the interstate (next to Denny's) - just 1/4 mile or so due West of Inn Suites (Now called Hotel Tucson City Center - where many of the other meteorite dealers are). My room is about mid-way down the length of the motel (right next to the walk through actually) on the west- side of the building (on the parking lot side - and there is often parking available right in front of my room). I should be open the afternoon of January 28th through the afternoon of February 11th. I will be open every day in between - generally from 10AM until - ? (usually at least 7pm if I am going out to eat and often until 10pm or so other nights). Hope to see you there. Bring lots of cash and buy. Thanks!

Blaine

Blaine Reed Meteorites - List 116

2012-01-07T12:47:00.000-08:00

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
…………………………………………………………LIST 116

January 2012

Dear Collectors,
Happy New Year! Here is the e-mail version of my "what's new" mailed list. Do make note of the "gone" dates below and try to contact me before January 20th if you want anything here (this will allow for packing/ shipping time and such).

Show info: I will be gone from home from about January 25th until about February 15th. I will be at my usual show location: Ramada Limited, room 134. This is at St Marys and the interstate (next to Denny's) - just 1/4 mile or so due West of Inn Suites (Now called Hotel Tucson City Center - where many of the other meteorite dealers are). My room is about mid-way down the length of the motel (right next to the walk through actually) on the west- side of the building (on the parking lot side - and there is often parking available right in front of my room). I should be open the afternoon of January 28th through the afternoon of February 11th. I will be open every day in between - generally from 10AM until - ? (usually at least 7pm if I am going out to eat and often until 10pm or so other nights).

APACHE JUNCTION, Arizona: Medium octahedrite (IIIAB). Found before 2005. Tkw = 25 kilograms.
I just got a few (5) pieces of this really nice new meteorite. It was purchased by Dr.Carelton Moore from a seller who claimed to have found it near the intersection of McKellips Rd and Ironwood Dr in the city of Apache Junction years earlier. Dr Moore ended up purchasing this iron, despite having the fear that it might really be a "transported" Canyon Diablo. Later cutting and etching revealed a vibrant medium octahedrite structure and quickly removed all doubt concerning its new find status. The main mass is bound for the ASU collection at this point and only 2 more pieces are available to me beyond these listed (so don't wait if you want a piece of this).
1) Etched slices:
a) 19.3 grams - 33mm x 18mm x 4mm - $135
b) 53.5 grams - 65mm x 22mm x 4mm - $360
c) 102.7 grams - 100mm x 64mm x 3mm - $650 – complete slice with 10mm+ natural hole.
d) 208.9 grams - 120mm x 80mm x 4mm - $1200 – complete slice.

GOLD BASIN, Arizona: (L4). Found November 1995. Tkw = 127+ kilograms.
This is the famous material that was often (in the early days) found perched next to shallow holes where a gold prospector left it as a "hot rock" in disappointment that it was not a gold nugget. These pieces came from a rare large piece of this meteorite. I only learned after I cut it up that this was quite unusual for its size. I guess this means though, that now collectors have the chance to own an unusually large slice of this famous meteorite. These pieces are quite fresh and show a good number of sometimes large chondrules in a light tan to brown matrix (I sent off a piece for a quick micro-probe check to be sure that this was not Arizona's first LL5, as this does look quite similar to Tuxtuac in many respects).
1) Slices:
a) 6.1 grams - 30mm x 15mm x 4mm - $10
b) 11.8 grams - 35mm x 30mm x 4mm - $18
c) 25.8 grams - 40mm x 40mm x 4mm - $39
d) 54.7 grams - 70mm x 67mm x 4mm - $80
e) 126.0 grams - 100mm x 70mm x 5mm - $190 - nice complete slice.
2) End piece:
a) 260.4 grams - 100mm x 60mm x 16mm - $325

NWA (6579): L, melt rock. Found before July 2005. Tkw = 95 grams.
This is a really nice little slaggy looking rock I bought years ago. I sent some off to Cascadia Meteorite lab, as they were doing work on melt rocks of all sorts at the time and then completely forgot I (or they) had the thing. They kindly let me know recently that the thing was more than done and was fully reported. This has the classic melt rock look – rounded metal grains (many with dendritic inter growths of troilite) in a jade green matrix. This is quite fresh, weathering grade of W2. Obviously, I have VERY little of this material available (60grams perhaps).
1) Slices:
a) .47 grams - 9mm x 8mm x 2mm - $9
b) .80 grams - 12mm x 10mm x 3mm - $14
c) 1.2 grams - 15mm x 10mm x 2.5mm - $21
d) 2.5 grams - 19mm x 10mm x 3mm - $45
e) 5.5 grams - 30mm x 25mm x 2mm - $95
2) End pieces:
a) 11.3 grams - 30mm x 21mm x 8mm - $175
b) 16.3 grams - 30mm x 25mm x 11mm - $250 – main mass.

NWA (7044): Ordinary chondrite (H6). Found before September 2011. Tkw = 1443.4 grams.
This had a small broken corner that showed a very crystalline texture to it (reminding me of a "primitive achondrite"). This was not cheap, but the chance that this something interesting tied with the fact that is pretty much perfectly oriented led me to buying the piece. When I shaved off a slice, it showed a fair amount of really fine metal grains and looked virtually identical to a small piece of a weathered EL6 I had (Yilmia, Australia). I rushed the sample off to get it looked at and the initial reaction was that this was indeed an EL chondrite. Unfortunately, the full work-up showed it to be an H. Thankfully I did not start cutting this up (slices of a W2 enstatite chondrite would be very good for me right now). Anyway, this has been left as a nice shield-shaped oriented individual.
1411.5 gram oriented individual – 125mm x 100mm x 55mm - $1500.00

NWA (7015): Ordinary chondrite (LL4). Found before September 2011. Tkw = 888 grams.
This is a meteorite that I found as two crusted pieces that fit together (to form one large meteorite) in a box of NWA (869). Thanks to Matt, I was able to get this looked at in record time! This, despite its outward appearance (and very low magnetic attraction) of a howardite, turned out to be "just" an LL4. These are actually a bit rarer than LL3s! This is quite fresh, by far the freshest LL4 I have had. The smaller pieces are very light gray in color (nearly white) and the 2 large slices/ end pieces have around 50% or so of the face showing very light orange coloring.
1) Slices:
a) 3.7 grams - 22mm x 12mm x 4mm - $26
b) 5.6 grams - 25mm x 20mm x 4mm - $39
c) 12.3 grams - 40mm x 26mm x 5mm - $85
d) 23.2 grams - 55mm x 53mm x 3mm - $150
e) 59.3 grams - 60mm x 55mm x 3mm - $350 – complete slice.
2) End pieces:
a) 96.8 grams - 60mm x 45mm x 20mm - $530 – around 25% light orange.
b) 138.9 grams - 57mm x 55mm x 20mm - $700 – main mass, nice crust covering back.

MOAPA VALLEY, Nevada: Carbonaceous chondrite (CM1). Found September 2004, Tkw = 698.8 grams.
This may be the rarest, by type, meteorite I have ever offered. There is only around 850 grams of CM1 material currently known in the world (and of that, only one other from outside of Antarctica – the 19gram NWA (4765)). This is like the more famous CM2 material (Murchison probably being the most famous example), but had MUCH more water flow through it on its parent body. This looks pretty much like dark (nearly black) carbon (charcoal brickette like) on fresh cut or broken surfaces. All of the minerals in this have been altered to secondary phases and there are no chondrules present (just some rounded serpentine and sulfur rich inclusions). I have only 7 grams of this and there are no remaining pieces available to me. If the 4g I had offered on an e-mail offering a couple years ago is any guide, this won't last long, so contact me quickly if you want some of this stuff.
1) Fragments/ cut fragments: all in membrane boxes.
a) .072 grams - 5mm x 3mm x 2mm - $70
b) .132 grams - 7mm x 5mm x 3mm - $125
c) .226 grams - 6mm x 5mm x 4mm - $210 – cut fragment.
d) .410 grams – 13mm x 9mm x 3mm - $370
e) .81 grams - 10mm x 8mm x 6mm - $700
f) 1.21 grams - 15mm x 12mm x 5mm - $1030 – small area of crust.
g) 1.72 grams - 16mm x 11mm x 7mm - $1450 – end piece, nice crust on one edge.

BLUE SALT, Carlsbad, New Mexico.
I picked up some samples of this while at the Socorro Mineral Symposium and though that some collectors might like a piece as similar blue salt crystals have been found in some H-chondrites (Zag and Monahans (1998)). These crystals that were found in these meteorites show that water flowed through parts of even the H parent body (where as it was considered to be that water was likely present on only a few carbonaceous parent bodies). Like the Halite (sodium chloride – NaCl) in the meteorites, this halite has turned violet/blue from radiation damage. Radiation causes crystal lattice distortions and the release of sodium metal in the structure. This causes all but the blue and violet wavelengths of light to be absorbed (turning the salt violet and blue in color). The salt in the meteorites was exposed to cosmic radiation. These samples were exposed to radiation from chunks of the mineral Sylvite (potassium chloride or KCl) that has some radioactive potassium in its structure that was deposited near this salt layer.
1) Fragments
a) roughly 7 to 10 grams (about 18mm x 15mm x 15mm) - $10
b) roughly 20 grams (about 28mm x 23mm x 18mm) - $20
c) roughly 50 grams (about 35mm x 30mm x 23mm) - $30

Please include postage: a couple dollars on small U.S. orders and $10 on large items for first class (insurance is extra, if desired). On small overseas orders, $3 to $5 is generally plenty (I'll have to custom figure the rate for large items). Registration is also recommended on more valuable overseas shipments - an extra $12.00.
If you are sending a fax, simply begin transmitting when my line is answered. My fax will turn on automatically to receive (or I will start it if I answer) when you begin transmitting.

Blaine Reed Meteorites List 115 - H, E and D

2011-12-21T21:01:00.000-08:00

Blaine Reed Meteorites List 115 - H, E and D
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
………………………………………………………LIST 115

December 20, 2011

Dear Collectors,

This is likely my last offering for 2011, though I might do a "don't want to have to inventory it" sale next week (though, to be honest, I have not come up with many such items yet0.

Here is an offering of only 3 specimens, but boy are they specimens! (I'd love to have these in my collection!) I have one each Howardite, Eucrite and Diogenite slice that are about as big (surface area) as any I have ever seen – real museum type display pieces! These are very thin but can be carefully handled (I have done it). These are each in their own Riker mount. PLEASE NOTE – these are being sold as specimens, not based on a per gram price for commonly available similar (but thicker) type material! If anybody out there has had some cutting work done with a wire saw, they will know that this expense can really add to the cost of resulting specimens (I once had a roughly 20cm x 15cm Seymchan pallasite slice cost $1000 per cut!!)

I had hoped to "save" these back until we started to hear info that has been learned from the Dawn mission orbiting Vesta at this point. So far, I have only seen photos, no hard science. I have been told that this will likely stay this way as well. Apparently, they don't want to release any form of "preliminary" findings, only data once all the work has been done. This might be awhile and I DEFINITELY want to have what ever remains of these 3 on display in Tucson (I am running really low on large display pieces). So – now is the time!

HOWARDITE:

NWA (1811): Found 2001. Tkw = 8kg.
The total known weight on this listed in the bulletin is wrong. I think it is 3kg listed their. One look at this giant slice and it will be apparent that the 8kg the owner of this told me is the correct amount. This is a GIANT slice that is also quite aesthetic. It has clasts of many sizes and colors (mostly grays and browns) set in a nice light gray matrix. This is a complete slice and has crust along all but a tiny (25mm or so) portion of its edge.
93.28 grams – 205mm x 162mm x 1mm - $3000

EUCRITE:

SAHARA (02501): Found 2002, Tkw = 3.96 kilograms.
This is an interesting slice. It is a medium to dark gray and does seem to show some rounded darker clasts in a finer (shock melted?) matrix. This looks, texturally, very much like the "rarer" Millbillillie material, but darker. This is a complete slice and shows crust along most of the edge (maybe 4 or 5 cm being a natural break).
35g – 160mm x 95mm x 1mm - $1000

DIOGENITE:

NWA (4272): Found 2003. Tkw = 6768 grams.
This is a beautiful complete slice of a "common" diogenite (the pretty much all orthopyroxene type we usually think of. The classification system has recently been changed where all ultra mafic rocks (likely) from Vesta are labeled "Diogenite" and then are broken into orthopyroxenite, olivine-diogenites (harzbergite? – can't find the reference at the moment) and Dunites). This has that classic Jhonstown look to it; large (cm or so) green crystals in a light green matrix. This is also a complete slice. The shape clearly shows the rounded complete meteorite form, but there are only small patches of obvious crust spread around the edge of this.
78.4 grams – 180mm x 125mm x 1mm - $3000

GROUP SPECIAL: ALL 3 for $6500

Blaine Reed Meteorites - List 114 - last of collection and Seymchan display pieces

2011-12-07T00:04:00.000-08:00

Blaine Reed Meteorites - List 114 - last of collection and Seymchan display pieces

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
………………………………………………………LIST 114

December 6, 2011

Dear Collectors,

Here is the last of the "new" collection stuff I got after the Denver show. I also have put in an extra section of some super Seymchan pieces that were left in my hands after the show (mostly for storage, but it also gives me the chance to offer them to you/ buy what I want for inventory before I return them their owner at the Tucson show). Mostly I wanted to have the spheres (both all metal that are fantastically etched and a couple REALLY pallasitic ones) offered before Christmas, incase there is anyone out there with a fairly fat wallet needing a gift for a sphere collector (don't laugh, this is a HUGE market. I have already sold the two largest that were left with me). And, for the person with really deep pockets, a HUGE beautifully etched complete slice! (I actually have two of these, so some one could have matching end-tables if they wanted).

CANYON DIABLO, Arizona: Coarse octahedrite. Oxide fragment.
This was with a Haxtun, CO label but it is really a Diablo oxide fragment (I recognize the shape, layered texture and the type dirt still stuck to parts of it).
8.1 gram oxide fragment – 25mm x 10mm x 10mm - $2

DIMMITT, Texas: (H3.7). Found 1942. Tkw = 200+ kilograms.
Here is a smaple of probably the most under appreciated meteorite available. To scientists, it is important as it a regolith breccia (from the surface of the H parent body) that contains micro-diamonds (pre-solar?), chunks of various other meteorite types 9that crashed into the H parent body) as well as the usual chondrule-rich type 3 texture. I guess a large part of the problem is that this tends to be a dark meteorite in slices, so these features generally do not show well. This piece however, shows breccia texture and chondrules on the less polished side than most specimens.
23.9 gram complete slice – 46mm x 32mm x 5mm - $35

GIBEON, Namibia: Fine octahdedrite (IVA). Found 1836.
This is a small thin slice with a nice etch. There is a bit of light brown staining on parts, but nothing that looks to threaten the long-term survival of the piece. One edge of this is natural, the others are cut (as usual).
16.9 gram etched slice – 35mm x 32mm x 2mm - $30

HAXTUN, Colorado: (H/L 4). Found 1975. Tkw = 16.5+ kilograms.
This is a small end piece. One half of the back (natural) side shows the weird smooth greenish colored exterior that covered much of the pieces of this I had.
2.9 gram end piece – 25mm x 14mm x 5mm - $10

HENBURY, Australia: Medium octahedrite (IIIAB). Found 1931.
This is just a typical individual as found. It has the usual nice orange-brown color and a somewhat flat shrapnel shape.
21.2 gram individual – 30mm x 20mm x 9mm - $30

IMILAC, Chile: (Plallasite). Ound 1822.
This is one of the sandy-crystal "shrapnel fragments" that were found near the main impact pit.
5.0g fragment – 20mm x 13mm x 7mm - $35

NANTAN, China: Medium octahedrite (IAB).
This is actually a nice little piece. It is a tumbled oxide (but feels heavy enough to be metal yet) that has a nice blue-gray color and nice "worry stone" shape (flat, rounded). Best of all though, is this should not rust!
38.0 gram tumbled oxide fragment – 45mm x 30mm x 10mm – 45

ODESSA, Texas. Coarse octahedrite (IAB). Found 1922.
This is a nice natural individual left as it was found (rusty exterior, a bit of thin caliche in spots). This has a nice shape (rare for most Odessa's).
76.2 gram natural individual – 45mm x 22mm x 20mm - $80

SEYMCHAN, Russia: (Pallasite). Display specimens.
These are a mix of display type pieces. The etched ones (all iron) show fantastic structure (hard not to spend a lot of time contemplating these pieces) and the pallasitic specimens are intensely rich with olivine.

1) Huge complete etched slices. Real museum pieces!
a) 8750 grams – 530mm x 410mm x 6mm - $11,500
b) 9850 grams – 500mm x 450mm x 7mm - $13,000

2) Large to huge complete pallasite slices: The "small" one has larger more gemmy crystals and passes light through many of them, looking more like Esquel or Imilac and has a neat animal like shape. There are some zones of metal (or just a bit less olivine) in this piece that makes for an interesting contrast (it has been etched on one side and simply polished on the other). The large piece is intensely olivine rich, but has many smaller crystals and is thicker (it would likely fall apart if cut thinner there is such a high degree of olivine in this) so light passes through only a few areas on this one. This piece also has an animal-like shape (perhaps better than the 990g one) – looking much like a Buffalo (I know, they really are Bison) resting on the ground.
a) 990 gram complete slice – 280mm x 200mm x 3mm - $11,000
b) 4120 gram complete slice – 540mm x 320mm x 6mm - $25,000

3) Spheres: These are wonderfully well prepared! All come with a small plastic sphere stand.
a) 374.7 gram etched iron – 45mm diameter - $700
b) 623.5 gram etched iron sphere – 53.1mm diameter - $1200
c) 166.2 gram PALLASITE sphere – 41.3mm diameter - $950

3) End piece: This is a wonderful display specimen! It sits just right naturally. It has a great "differential etch". This is the old museum style where the specimen was given a high polish and the edge was protected with wax before etching. This leaves a shiny edge (about 6mm wide) around the outer edge and the usual etch in the center. The back side of this has been brushed and has a nice thumb-printed texture to it.
a) 7970 gram end piece – 180mm x 150mm x 80mm - $2900

Blaine Reed Meteorites - List 113 Tektites

2011-11-22T16:49:00.001-08:00

Blaine Reed Meteorites - List 113 Tektites
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
………………………………………………………LIST 113

November 22, 2011

Dear Collectors,

This is going out a week late, technically, as I was not home from Socorro yet last Tuesday.

This offering is a list of tektites from a collection I received shortly before the Denver show (but did not come to a sales agreement on the stuff until well after the show – largely my fault for being so busy after getting home that I forgot to work on this for a couple weeks).

AUSTRALITE:
The card with this indicates that it is from Southwest (actually has "Sweetwest" – an obvious misspelling) Australian Desert, Australia. This is a basic intact rounded blob. Nothing special, but not chipped up.
3.1 gram individual – 17mm x 13mm x 11mm - $15

BEDIASITE: Texas tektites.
I have two of these. One (the small one) came with the collection and is quite nice (no chips and nice surface features, though not highly sculpted). This specimen Has the usual 9for this collection lot anyway) small typed label that says it is from Grimes County, Texas. The larger is THE LAST of what I got this past Tucson (these things were very popular when I offered them on my May mailed offering and sold rapidly). These are my ONLY 2 specimens and it may be quite some time before I get more (unless some magically walk in the door this year like last Tucson – I wouldn't mind that happening again) so don't hesitate if you have been considering picking up a Berdiasite (they are getting quite hard to come by).
a) 3.5 gram complete individual – 17mm x 13mm x 12mm - $40
b) 32.9 gram "individual" (has large 28mm x 28mm flat chip on bottom) – 38mm x 30mm x 18mm - $265

CHINESE TEKTITE:
The card with this one has "Guang Dong Providence, Southern China". It should be "province", but the rest of it is right. This is a basic elongate intact specimen with nice soft surface features and no chips.
40.5 gram individual – 42mm x 25mm x 23mm - $5

INDOCHINITE:Cambodia.
The card with this one has nothing else for locality info. This is a rather plain rounded intact individual from a rare (?) locality.
17.6 gram individual – 25mm x 24mm x 19mm - $15

INDOCHINITE, Thailand.
The card with this specimen says "exact location unknown). This is certainly nothing special (the card is probably more valuable to a collector than the specimen). One side has the usual thumb-printed look to it and the other (dish-shaped) is smooth with chipped edges. This is possibly the cheapest item I have ever bothered listing.
5.5 gram individual – 22mm x 20mm x 7mm - $1

INDOCHINITE: Paulin District, Thailand.
This specimen definitely has a different look to it. It shows some pretty large scale stretch/ flow features along with some deep grooves and holes.
21.4 gram individual – 42mm x 20mm x 16mm - $4

INDOCHINITE: Delat Vietnam.
The card with this one has Delat/Lang Bian, Vietnam. This is a nice (not chipped anyway, but surface features are a little dull) elongate to tear-drop shaped specimen. I have long since sold out of my Dalat Indochinites.
10.8 gram individual – 40mm x 15mm x 13mm - $5

MOLDAVITE: In situ specimen!
Here is a small (roughly 15mm x 7mm) Moldavite still in the sandstone breccia that they supposedly weather out of. Most moldavites are found in stream beds/ deposits after they have eroded out of this kind of rock (where they supposedly were dropped when they fell). I have only had a couple specimens like this, and that was quite a few years ago (when a Eastern European supplier brought out a handful of these specimens) and I remember that they were quite expensive back then.
Small 15mm x 7mm in sandstone/breccia rock - $120

MOLDAVITE:
This is just a nice basic specimen with good surface features. It is not chipped but could use a cleaning (it still has a bit of natural dirt in the pockets/crevices. Interestingly, the dirt DOES match the material that the above specimen is stuck in). The card says "Moldau River Valley, Bohemia, Czech Republic".
3.7 gram individual – 25mm x 13mm x 8mm - $20

MOUNG NONG; (layered Indochinite).
These likely formed as pools of melt on the ground near the (still unknown) impact sit. The card says that this is from Ubonratch-thani District, Thailand.
53gram fragment – 45mm x 30mm x 25mm - $10

PHILLIPINITE: Rizal province, Philippines.
This does have some grooving, but not what I usually think of when I imagine "Rizalites". This is finer textured. Not an exciting specimen, and priced accordingly.
18.0 gram individual – 32mm x 22mm x 20mm - $7.

"TIBETAN" TEKTITE:
Notice how I put Tibetan in parenthesis? I have not seen any scientific proof that these things really come from there (though this one has a card that indicates it is from the "Bam Lake Region, Tibet"). My guess is that these may actually be transported (and then sold in the area) Chinese tektites. This particular specimen (and all of the other "Tibetan" tektites I have seen) looks identical in its wild shape and sculpting features (this one even has a small natural hole at one end) to a large batch of Chinese Tektites I got when they first started to re-appear on the market over 20 years ago (interesting story how I ended up with these. A Chinese mineral dealer asked if I would trade equal weight common US meteorites for Chinese meteorites at the Tucson show. Of coarse I said yes! The next year he showed up with 100pounds of these "meteorites" expecting 100 pounds of US meteorites. Quite an arm-wrestling match ensued as I explained that these were NOT meteorites (but still worth something to collectors) before we came to a trade agreement). I still have a couple bags of these generally small wild-shaped (Russ Kempton simply called them "Rubble-like") tektites in a back corner of the closet, but I sell them as "Chinese" tektites.
3.8 gram individual – 21mm x 16mm x 12mm - $10

Blaine Reed Meteorites List 112 - impact materials

2011-11-04T21:01:00.000-07:00

Blaine Reed Meteorites List 112 - impact materials
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
………………………………………………………LIST 112

November 2, 2011

Dear Collectors,

I completely forgot about getting this out properly on Tuesday. For some reason, I failed to recognize that the 1st was indeed the "first Tuesday of the month". Anyway, this is a small offering of impact materials and miscellaneous meteorite related items from a collection I received a month or so ago.

I will be leaving next Wednesday morning (the 9th) and will be gone until the 16th (another Wednesday). This is for the Socorro event (New Mexico Mineral Symposium). I should be at the Comfort Inn Friday the 11th through Sunday (evenings on Friday and Saturday and until mid afternoon on Sunday).

PLEASE NOTE:I will have to be out of town this afternoon (for more XRF analysis work on the supposed Lunar and plessitic material that has supposedly been found in Montrose the last couple years. Spoiler alert – all material I have analyzed so far has turned out to be terrestrial). I will probably be gone from around 2pm until 5pm. Please leave a message (if you are calling) or don't be upset if I don't get back to you by e-mail during that rough time frame.

COESITE: Meteor Crater, Arizona.
Here is a fragment of this snow-white soft rock. It is a high temperature/pressure form of quartz that formed from Coconino Sandstone during the crater-forming impact. This comes with a couple different info cards with it – including one "New England Meteoritical Services" card.
6.1 gram fragment – 22mm x 16mm x 11mm - $10

K-T BOUNDARY CLAY: Gola Bollacione, Italy.
I am a little suspicious of this one. It does look a lot like potter's clay (with rock fragments though). However, it does have a lot of documentation with it. This includes a photo of the boundary clay of the area (and it does resemble this in color and general texture) and a "Bethany Sciences Certificate of Authenticity" (not sure if that one helps or hurts this). Anyway, I discussed this with the previous owner and tried to make a balance that priced this affordably for what it is supposed to be.
45.0 gram fragment – 50mm x 40mm x 25mm – $50

REIS CRATER ROCK: Germany.
This is a couple pieces of breccia from the Reis Crater in Bavaria, Germany. This is pretty impressive breccia. It has angular to rounded fragments of all kinds of rocks of different compositions and colors in a light green matrix. Really neat! These come with an Excaliber Mineral Company label.
35.2 grams slices (2 pcs) - $15

ROCK FLOUR: Meteor Crater, Arizona.
This is a 20mm x 6mm capsule about half full or so of this fine white powder. This was formed by the pulverization of Coconino Sandstone during the formation of the crater. I think most samples of this came out o the mine shaft that was sunk in the bottom-center of the crater in an attempt to locate the large iron mass they thought would remain buried beneath (until later physics calculations showed that the energies involved would have precluded that possibility).
20mm x 6mm capsule half full - $5

SHATTER CONE; Beaverhead, Montana.
This is a nice, small example of shattercones from this area. This was likely retrieved from the remote find site o this stuff by a friend of mine who found it while doing raptor nest surveys for the government 5 or 6 years ago.
68.7 gram fragment – 75mm x 50mm x 12mm - $5

TROILITE: FeS, California.
I have not seen a piece of this in quite a long time. I remember the excitement over it being discovered though. I believe this was the only known terrestrial occurrence of this mineral that is so common in meteorites. This is like the typical iron pyrite ("fools gold"), but it has one less Sulfur atom in its structure (pyrite has 2 sulfur atoms for each iron where as Troilite has only one). This specimen comes with a card that says it is from the Copper Shaft, Alta Mine, Low Divide District, Del Norte Cnty, Calif. It furthe describes that this mineral was the subject of many mining adventures of Star Trek. This part is in error though, I believe that that mineral was something like "Dilitium crystals" not troilite.
68.5 gram fragment – 35mm x 30mm x 20mm - $50

TUNGUSKA BARK: Pockemennaya, Tungusta River Basin, Siberia, Russia.
This is a small piece of bark that was collected by a Russian research team in the 1980's, presumably from a tree that was knocked down by the blast on June 30, 1908 (it does indeed look sufficiently old). This sample comes with 3 different info cards, including one "New England Meteoritical Services" one (this is the only one with a source on it). I have never seen one of these before and they are, no doubt, quite rare.
Bark fragment – 27mm x 16mm x 4mm - $80

Blaine Reed Meteorites List 111 - recently mailed offering 19OCT2011

2011-10-18T14:46:00.001-07:00

Blaine Reed Meteorites List 111 - recently mailed offering

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

October 19, 2011
……………………………………………………LIST 111

Dear Collectors,

Here is the E-mail version of my just mailed paper list offering.

This is my 25th anniversary list! It was October of 1986 that my first ad came out in Rock and Gem and I sent out my first catalogs. My first actual order was late in the month and went out to a collector in Erie, PA. It sometimes seems like it has been a loooong time, but usually it feels more like I started just last year.

Socorro, New Mexico Mineral Symposium. I will be gone November 9th - 16th. The "informal tail-gating" (specimen sales) will be at the Comfort Inn at the very North end of town (1259 Frontage Rd NW). I should be in room 119. I should be set up and open by 2PM on Friday Nov 11th and open again about 6PM Saturday (generally open until 11 or so each night). I will also likely be open much of Sunday as well - not putting things away until around 4PM or so that day.

As usual lately: I am very busy with several projects that will have me out of the house periodically. Please leave a message if you don't reach me. I will get back to you when I get back in.

MUONIONALUSTA, Sweden: Fine octahedrite (IVA). Found 1906. Tkw = 1000+ kilograms.
I am a little bit scared to offer this one. I have heard it called MuonionaRUSTA. This is beautiful stuff though. It has a fantastic etch (sharper and better, by far, than most Gibeon) but does sometimes have a problem with developing rust lines. These pieces were supposedly cut in oil and etched in alcohol, so they are supposed to be much more stable than most. I have had these for 8 months and they are indeed holding up well, and we have been very rainy here this summer.
1) Etched part slices:
a) 8.2 grams - 25mm x 11mm x 4mm - $15
b) 17.1 grams - 29mm x 26mm x 3mm - $30
c) 26.9 grams - 30mm x 28mm x 5mm - $45

DHOFAR (1576), Oman: (L5). Found March 10, 2009. Tkw = 7.7 kilograms.
The current total known weight on this might be substantially less for the time being. I got a little over 2kg of this and was told that the remainder may have been "lost in the shuffle" (misplaced, lost its labeling or accidentally got mixed in with other similar-looking unstudied material perhaps). Anyway, this is indeed the "Right Stuff". This was recovered as a single large stone that had weathered apart into many pieces. I suspect that this original stone may have been oriented to some degree, as quite a number of these pieces show some patches of incredibly thick, somewhat bubbly crust. This is, internally, pretty typical for a weathered low shock level (S2) L-chondrite.
1) Cut fragments:
a) 8.1 grams - 26mm x 15mm x 12mm - $10
b) 14.3 grams - 38mm x 17mm x 15mm - $17
c) 28.0 grams - 44mm x 27mm x 15mm - $31
d) 42.4 grams - 54mm x 33mm x 12mm - $45
e) 106.1 grams - 82mm x 48mm x 20mm - $100
f) 231.4 grams - 85mm x 58mm x 22mm - $205 – most of back covered by thin crust.

NWA (5783): (LL6). Found before February 2008. Tkw = 524.2 grams.
I got five fairly fresh looking stones with really low magnetic attraction at the Tucson show some years ago and set them aside. Cutting one of the stones revealed that these were a nice, fresh LL6 with a good breccia texture (this has gray clasts in a light greenish-gray matrix internally). I decided to offer the remaining stones as complete individuals for now as these are indeed distinctly complete individuals (I may cut up what does not sell and offer slices on a later list). I do have many collectors that want only complete stones of various types, and LL6 is not the easiest to come by. These do show a moderate level of wind-polishing and weathering effects, but the crust is still quite dark and thick in most areas (with much of the crust on the larger pieces showing nice contraction cracks). Note for E-Mail offering; I rapidly sold the smaller ones and cut the 109g piece, so now there is an end piece available. This does have a little bit of light browning on the edges but is a very nice specimen with really nice crust covering the back.

1) Complete individuals as found:
a) 198.8 grams - 55mm x 43mm x 38mm - $600

2) End piece:
a) 54.8 grams – 50mm x 43mm x 18mm - $190

ORGUEIL, France: (CI1), carbonaceous chondrite. Fell May 14, 1864. Tkw = 11 kilograms.
This is the closest to comet material we as collectors have in our collections (I doubt we'll ever get access to some of the tiny grains they brought back from comet 81P/Wild 2 in the Stardust mission). This is very close to solar abundance in most elements and is the most "primitive" meteorite type known. This has had a lot of water flow though it in its past. I recently saw a very interesting article explaining that there may really be fossils in this material! Some of the evidence was along the lines of
the microbes that were fossilized were of a type that live underwater (we all know that this material would have turned to mud if it spent any time underwater after arriving on Earth) and the isotopic compositions of the `fossil" structures appeared to be non-terrestrial. I have not heard any more on this, but it is truly fascinating to think about none the less. What I have is crumbs (no surprise there), generally from small up to 4 or 5mm in size in a capsule or glass vial
1) Crumbs/ fragments in capsule/vial:
a) .05 grams - about 4mm diameter x 2.5mm deep in capsule - $125
b) .10 grams – about 4mm diameter x 5mm deep in capsule - $240
c) .25 grams – about 4mm diameter x 9mm deep in capsule - $575
d) .50 grams – 5mm diameter x 20mm glass vial filled - $1100
e) 1.0 grams – 11mm diameter x 9mm deep in glass vial - $2000

NWA (6888): Rio de Oro, Western Sahara: (Lunar meteorite). Found May 28, 2011, Tkw = 208 grams.
Here is a BRAND NEW Moon rock! This just got done with the research work, and it turned out to be really interesting! I have heard the term "collection in a slice" before, but it really applies to this stuff. This stone is classified as a "Polymict melt matrix breccia and is composed of many different mineral and rock type clasts (including granulites, anorthosites, gabbro, gabbro-norite, troctolites and VLT-like basalts) set in a devitrified glass matrix. This one meteorite seems to have a bit of pretty much all the different types of Lunar materials. The single "I've got some of that type Moon rock" Lunar specimen!
1) Slices:
a) .06 grams - 7mm x 4mm x 1mm - $65
b) .11 grams - 8mm x 6mm x 1mm - $120
c) .18 grams - 10mm x 9mm x 1mm - $195
d) .37 grams - 14mm x 10mm x 1mm - $390
e) .90 grams - 19mm x 18mm x 1mm - $900
f) 3.09 grams - 57mm x 22mm x 1mm - $2935 – complete slice.

2) End piece:
a) .13 grams – 10mm x 5mm x 2mm - $140

SEYMCHAN, Russia: (Pallasite). Found 1967. Tkw = tons, but very little true pallasite material known.
I got a few more pieces of the intensely pallasitic stuff at the Denver Spring Show and had it cut thinner. I couldn't recall if I have ever offered this material. I have offered the material with large crystals before, but I don't believe I have offered this really fine-grained material. Anyway, these have a high content of angular olivine sized from really tiny up to 5 or 6mm. These are neat pieces in that even a small specimen shows the pallasitic texture of a large slice (I often offer these to jewelers as even cabs for rings still show a good olivine/ metal mix).
1) Slices:
a) 3.3 grams - 19mm x 17mm x 2mm - $40
b) 6.6 grams - 31mm x 22mm x 2mm - $80
c) 9.8 grams - 28mm x 28mm x 3mm - $115
d) 14.2 grams - 43mm x 35mm x 2mm - $165
e) 21.0 grams - 70mm x 35mm x 2mm - $240
f) 36.7 grams - 52mm x 50mm x 3mm - $400 – lots of large crystals/ light transmittance!

2) Fantastic 6.7kg intensely pallasitic end piece – 230mm x 140mm x 120mm - $12,500 – I'd love to keep this one as my representative pallasite end piece if I had the cash (this is consigned).

DARWIN GLASS, Australia; impact glass.
I thought I was pretty much out of this material, but recently located another small bag I had set aside from long ago (probably 15 or 20 years). These are the usual dark greenish/gray irregular blobs of rough glass from the roughly 700k year old, 1 Km diameter Mount Darwin Crater in Tasmania.. Most show interesting stretch and or flow structure (I think this was a bag of the "good stuff", or at least the "better stuff").
1) Individuals/ fragments as found: Price = $2.50/g
Sizes available: 2.0g, 4.2g, 6.4g, 9.0g, 11.5g,

STONE (chondrite) METEORITE PENDANT/BEADS:
These are some really neat hand-made "beads" that I picked up in Denver. I have 2 styles – disks and hearts. They have a hole in them near their respective "tops" (near one edge of the disk and just below the V of the heart) for running a loop through for hanging on a chain. These would make a great Christmas present, so I decided to offer them now.
1) Disk shaped pendant bead: roughly 35mm diameter, 5mm thick (roughly 15 to 20 grams) - $20.00 each
2) Heart shaped pendant bead: Roughly 40mm tall x 35mm wide, 5mm thick (roughly 20 to 30 grams) - $25.00 each

Please include postage: a couple dollars on small U.S. orders and $10 on large items for first class (insurance is extra, if desired). On small overseas orders, $3 to $5 is generally plenty (I'll have to custom figure the rate for large items). Registration is also recommended on more valuable overseas shipments - an extra $12.00.
If you are sending a fax, simply begin transmitting when my line is answered. My fax will turn on automatically to receive (or I will start it if I answer) when you begin transmitting.

Blaine Reed Meteorites List 110

2011-10-05T22:20:00.000-07:00

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
………………………………………………………LIST 110

October 4, 2011

Dear Collectors,

Here is another small offering that is actually going out at the proper time for once. A couple of the items here are things I picked up at the show, but most of it is from a collection of impact materials, tektites and a some small meteorite specimens I recently received from a collector "retiring" from collecting. I will probably have special offerings of just Tektites and another of impact items (breccias/ shattercones and such) later, once I get it all organized and cataloged.

I do have one small (?) complication with this listing though – Blake is out of town for a couple days, so I will have to wait until he returns Wednesday night or Thursday mid day to send out pictures of any of this, unfortunately.

CANYON DIABLO, Arizona: (Coarse octahedrite (IAB). Found 1891.
This is a natural, as found individual (complete with all of the white caliche that was stuck to it from its 50K years in the ground). This is nothing exceptional, but it is a nice solid piece and comes with an old Excalibur-Cureton Co. label.
100.6 gram individual – 38mm x 30mm x 20mm - $60

NANTAN, China. (Medium octahedrite, IAB). Found 1958.
This is an "oxide" fragment that is actually mostly metal. It is surprisingly solid, and is not bleeding rust product goo at all! Some one let their curiosity get the better of them and hack sawed off an end of this specimen. It does indeed show a fair amount of metal in the interior (around 50% of the cut face).
93.4 gram fragment with rough cut face – 45mm x 40mm x 20mm - $15

NWA (5549) (?), Silicated iron.
This is a nice sculpted fresh (it does show some small patches of fusion crust yet) individual that was originally brought to me as "Zizz" (I had a customer for a piece of that stuff). Everyone that saw this said that this was actually the "new" silicated iron – NWA (5549). This is definitely a silicated iron. You can easily see zones of silicates (some that are quite large, one is some 40mm x 30mm) on the surface of this thing (and in bright light, some of these zones have a greenish brown almost gemmy color to them). I looked up some pictures of the known NWA (5549), and this does indeed match up perfectly!
1706 gram complete individual – 115mm x 75mm x 65mm - $5500

WOLF CREEK, Australia. Medium octahedrite (IIIAB). Found 1947.
This is a typical (but solid) "shale ball" from this impact crater. I have had a few of these over the years, but they seem to be fairly scarce at this point.
63.8 gram shale ball – 43mm x 30m x 30mm - $65

DALGETY DOWNS, Australia. (L4). Found 1941. Tkw = 474+ kilograms.
This is a part slice that was purchased from me many years ago. It is roughly square shaped and has one natural edge. This is nice material internally (it does not look like much on the exterior). It has plenty of metal in a mottled brown/ green and light tan matrix. Actually, this stuff looks very much like cut pieces of Gold Basin.
7.7 gram part slice – 20mm x 18mm x 6mm - $15

FOREST (B), Australia. (L6). Found October 1980. Tkw = 26kilograms.
This is a flat fragment with a hint of a cut are on one side, small, but large enough for me to clearly see that this is an (L6). This certainly does look like the stuff I got from Robert Haag years ago. This piece may have indeed come from him, but an info card was not included with this – just an old copy of the listing for this stone in an older version of the "Catalog of Meteorites".
7.7 gram fragment – 35mm x 25mm x 5mm - $25

GAO, Burkina Faso. (H5). Fell March 5, 1960.
This is another part slice that was purchased from me many years ago. It is nothing real special. It has the typical medium brown coloration that the more recent recoveries of this material showed internally, but it does show lots of metal including a 1mm x 7mm metal vein on one edge.
10.4 gram part slice – 24mm x 23mm x 6mm - $20

HOLBROOK, Arizona. (L/LL6). Fell July 19, 1912.
This is a really nice complete individual as found. It has some minor dirt on spots (so it was likely not picked up right after the fall) but the crust is really fresh and black.
2.38 gram complete individual – 16mm x 11mm x 6mm - $50

JILIN, China. (H5). Fell March 8, 1976. Tkw = 4000+kilograms.
This is a nice square-shaped part slice that is very fresh (a lot of this material that came out fairly recently was quite brown in the interior). This does show minor hints of oxidation, but only in the form of brown spotting. Other than that, this is a nice light gray color.
5.5 gram part slice – 19mm x 16mm x 6mm - $30

MILLBILLILLIE, Australia: (Eucrite). Fell October 1960.
This is a really nice little end piece of the more mushy/ breccia textured portion of this meteorites (this is somewhat rarer than the intertwined crystal laths texture that has the "salt and pepper" look to it). This has full crust coverage on the back. The crust is orange stained, as most of this stuff was, but does show good flow lines and contraction cracks.
1.6 gram end piece – 20mm x 14mm x 4mm - $25

VACA MUERTA, Chile. (Mesosiderite). Found 1861.
This is a nice solid little end piece. It is not as fresh as, say NWA (2932) (boy, I wish I had bought more of that one when it was available. Now the NWA mesos are running $6 to $10/g out of the field!). but it is quite nice for Vaca. This still shows quite a lot of metal.
9.2 gram end piece – 22mm x 20mm x 10mm - $28

METEORITE WATCH:
This is a beautiful men's wrist- watch that has a gold platted Munionalusta slice for the dial. The etch on this is fantastic! The watch is done in a style similar to a Rolex Presidential, I believe. It has "diamond" highlights at 6, 9 and 12 and the date window at 3. The band is two-tone; gold and stainless. This also comes with a nice jewelry/ display box. A really nice looking watch.
Munionalusta dial men's wrist watch - $350

Blaine Reed Meteorites -- List 109 After Denver stuff 28SEP2011

2011-09-28T16:52:00.000-07:00

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
………………………………………………………LIST 109

September 27, 2011

Dear Collectors,

I am back from the show, unpacked and somewhat caught up. I am still very busy with a number of projects (including getting a new mailed offering pulled together), so this offering my end up being a bit shorter then some. This is a mixed lot of material. Some I have had (but forgot), some are consigned and some I picked up at the show.

MUNDRABILLA, Australia: Medium octahedrite (ungrouped). Found 1911.
Here are a few really nice little individuals (all are above average in shape for their size). I got these from a collection back in the summer and forgot I had (probably could have sold them if I had them in Denver). These are natural as found and have a nice brown/orange coloration.
1) Individuals as found:
a) 23.7 grams – 29mm x 18mm x 10mm - $25 – dumbbell shaped.
b) 33.5 grams – 37mm x 20mm x 12mm - $35
c) 85.7 grams – 28mm x 28mm x 27mm - $90 – really nice knobby shape.

CLAXTON, Georgia: (L6). Fell December 10, 1984. Tkw = 1,455grams.
This is the famous one that hit a mailbox. I actually owned the mailbox for a number of years (5 or 6) before someone made me an offer I could not refuse (actually, I needed money for a piece of land, so I was far more receptive to selling the thing than I would normally have been. I would probably still have the thing otherwise. But now I still have the 3 acres in Wyoming that I got with it). These specimens are neatly mounted in a small Riker box with a picture of the smashed mailbox end (with someone holding the complete meteorite over it to show how it hit) and a card (with a photo of the complete mailbox) and info on the meteorite. I have only these two specimens.
1) Slices:
a) .240 grams – 6mm x 6mm x 2mm - $120
b) .576 grams – 11mm x 10mm x 2mm - $290

GAO, Burkina Faso: (H5). Fell March 5, 1960. Tkw = 100+ kilograms.
This is a really nice oriented complete individual. It has a rounded dome on one side (with some hints of flow lines – rare for this fall) and bubbly crust on the backside (which is pointed, not flat though, hiding the fact that this is oriented a bit). This has not been cleaned but is still one o the freshest Gao stones I have had. The crust is mostly dark gray to black (but has some dark chocolate areas and adhering dirt yet).
128.5 gram oriented individual – 50mm x 45mm x 33mm - $250

GOLD BASIN, Arizona: (L4). Found 1995. Tkw = 170+ kilograms.
I got this large chunk in a trade at the show. It is blocky but it is indeed a complete individual. It shows a lot of both primary and secondary crust as well as a flat 110mm x 75mm slickenside face (late violent shearing break, or a break along an existing shock vein). I have not cleaned this at all, so it has quite a lot of caliche still adhering to it (I don't have proper air-abrasion equipment and I am worried that an acid bath may end up really screwing up this thing). This would probably make a great specimen for cutting into slices (which my indeed happen later if I don't sell it intact here).
1912.2 gram individual – 10mm x 10mm x 60mm - $1600

HYATTVILLE, Wyoming: (L6). Found April 2008. Tkw = 8911grams.
The bulk of this (4.8kg or so) is in a private collection in Canada. I am already running low on what I had of this. These are a couple large samples cut from a flat fragment that I had someone with better (larger) equipment cut for me (he delivered them too me at the show). These are, by far, my largest specimens remaining of this stuff and perfect for the collector that wants larger surface area display pieces.
a) 81.7 gram slice – 115mm x 70mm x 3.5mm - $370
b) 222.2 gram cut fragment – 120mm x 70mm x 10mm - $875 – some crust along edge.

PERRYTON, Texas: (LL6). Found 1975, recognized 1995. Tkw = 2114 grams.
This one escapes me. I was going to comment that this is one of the very lowest total known weight Texas meteorites I have handled since my days of field work in west Texas many years ago. It turns out that this is indeed one of the meteorite I recovered back then! I have no records of offering this on any form of public list (nor do I have any info cards made up for it, indicating that I DID NOT offer this one). I (embarrassingly) do not remember what I did with this one. I obviously sold this thing intact off to someone. This is the first I have seen of this stuff since getting it out of the field and reporting it, so it obviously disappeared down a deep hole somewhere. This is not real impressive stuff to look at, but it is not all that weathered either. It shows quite a lot of fine metal flakes in a mottled brown to nearly black matrix (this looks almost identical to a really nice thumb-printed fully crusted NWA I picked up at the show. I finally gave in and cut a thin corner off as my curiosity over its weak magnetic attraction finally got the best of me). These are all part slices; the largest being nearly a ½ slice with quite nice crust along some 60% of its edge. Please note: I have only 54 grams of this material.
1) Part slices:
a) 1.8 grams – 22mm x 12mm x 2mm - $45
b) 4.2 grams – 22mm x 22mm x 2mm - $100
c) 8.5 grams – 32mm x 31mm x 2mm - $200 – 50% of edge crusted
d) 26.7 grams – 73mm x 47mm x 2mm - $600 – 60+% edge crusted.

LAFAYETTE, Indiana: Martian (Nakhlite). Found before 1931. Tkw = 800grams.
This stone is among the best examples of orientation ever seen. It was cut none the less, but then we would not know it is a Mars rock if it were not. This is likely a witnessed fall as it is very fresh and was reported to have been seen to fall (but the person who gave the stone to Purdue could not be found to confirm this). This is a tiny crumb (about 1.5mm across) in a nice Riker display with a picture of Mars and a picture of the super oriented main mass of this meteorite.
Crumb (1.5mm) in Riker display - $125

Blaine Reed Meteorites - List 108 and Denver Show 2011 info

2011-09-06T18:02:00.001-07:00

Blaine Reed Meteorites - List 108 and Denver Show 2011 info

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
………………………………………………………LIST 108

September 6, 2011

Dear Collectors,

Here is the info for the Denver show this next week (waaaay to soon, I am just now beginning to pack) and a small offering of Monig specimens (most have Monig Collection labels – I'll make note of those that do or do not in the descriptions).

SHOW INFO:
As usual. I will be in the Holiday Inn "Denver Central" (4849 Bannock St for any of you wanting to use a GPS to find the place). Also as usual, I will be in room 224. I should be set up and have my door open by noon Tuesday (the 13th). I will be open through late afternoon Sunday (the 18th). The days in between I should have my door open by 10am and plan on being open until about 10pm. HOWEVER, I may close early Friday night so I can attend the COMETS auction and festivities, so don't be surprised to find my door shut after 6:30 or so that day.

I will be leaving either Saturday mid day or Sunday morning (leaning towards Sunday as far behind as I am at the moment) and will not be getting back until September 21st (as I will be staying in Denver a couple days after the show to generally goof-off). SO, please don't expect to reach me between the 9th and the 21st. I do apologize that this does not leave a lot of time to look over this small offering. I will do my best to have any orders packed up and ready to ship right up until Friday night though.

PONY CREEK, Texas. (H4). Found 1947. Tkw = 4.6kg.
I had a special request for some of this during the Denver Spring show. I was completely out of the little amount I had of this from earlier so I had to beg for a bit more. I got a nice box containing a hand full more pieces of this material. This is weathered, but still shows lots of metal in a dark (almost black) gray-green matrix. Not a lot of this was cut, so I don't expect to see much of this once these pieces are gone. All of these except the 2 smallest come with a Monig label.
1) Slices:
a) 4.9 grams – 34mm x 15mm x 3mm - $20
b) 6.8 grams – 55mm x 25mm x 2mm - $30
c) 12.1 grams – 35mm x 20mm x 5mm - $48
d) 19.3 grams – 70mm x 35mm x 2mm - $80
e) 29.8 grams – 50mm x 20mm x 6mm - $120
f) 86.5 grams – 90mm x 65mm x 5mm - $325

TSAREV, Russia: (L5). Found 1968. Tkw = 1132kg.
Here are 4 slices of this material (this is all I have, so no replacements are available for sold pieces on this one). This is quite weathered. It does not show any clear metal grains, just spots and veins of magnetite and hematite. I seem to recall that all of the pieces I have seen of this meteorite are like this. This is not a big surprise to me as my XRF showed that there is quite a lot of chlorine hiding in this stuff (7 or 8% I think). All of these pieces come with a Monig Collection label.
1) Slices:
a) 5.1 grams – 19mm x 13mm x 7mm - $20
b) 11.8 grams – 27mm x 19mm x 6mm - $40
c) 17.4 grams – 45mm x 18mm x 6mm - $55
d) 39.0 grams – 52mm x 30mm x 7mm - $120

SOMERVELL COUNTY, Texas: (Pallasite). Found 1919. Tkw = 11.8kg.
Here a few odd pieces of this pallasite that I received along with a bit larger (and nicer) specimen that I specially asked for a friend who wanted a piece of this. These are indeed all odd and not highly prepared. The smallest does resemble somewhat an end piece. The 4.9g piece is a long rough cut slice portion. The largest is actually fairly nice, but it is stuck in a chunk of resin. None of these are particularly nice, but then, very little of this is available in any form. NOTE THOUGH, that I think Ann Black is having some of this material prepared up in slices that are properly polished. So, those of you that want to wait may have a shot at some better pieces. Anther note – none of these specimens came with a label. These were really kind of left over cutting scraps.
a) 3.7 gram end piece – 13mm x 11mm x 7mm - $55
b) 4.9 gram slice – 28mm x 8mm x 6mm - $65
c) about 5g end piece in resin – 22mm x 22mm x 5mm - $70

Blaine Reed Meteorites List 107 - last of the Florida collection, etc.

2011-08-16T15:04:00.000-07:00

Blaine Reed Meteorites List 107 - last of the Florida collection, etc.

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
………………………………………………………LIST 107

August 16, 2011

Dear Collectors,

I am back from the Creede show (plus a short trip to the Buena Vista show this past Saturday) and have a lot to catch up on now, so this is going out a bit late. I should be home (aside from a dentist appointment tomorrow and general running into town for the usual stuff) for the next week or so. Not sure I will be able to handle being home for so long. It will be a change. I got new tires on my car a couple weeks ago and already have a couple thousand miles on them!

Any way, this will likely be my last list of the summer (and, finally, the last of the Florida collection material). My next one (time and material permitting) will likely be early September. I will at least make a posting concerning the Denver show around then regardless.

CANYON DIABLO: Arizona. Coarse octahedrite (IAB).
Like the Sikhote below, this is, finally, my last Diablo specimen from the Florida collection. It is a nice piece for its size and has held up very well considering the environment it was in for many years. This shows only minor surface spotting in areas, no scaling.
140.1 gram brushed individual – 40mm x 40mm x 28mm - $75

ETCHED IRON SLICE: Likely Canyon Diablo.
This came in with the collection from Florida some time ago. It was not labeled so I simply set it aside. Now it is time to let it find a home. This is a complete slice that is etched on one side (the back is sanded but not highly polished). I guessed that this is Canyon Diablo mostly based on; a) It has not rusted apart like a Campo likely would in Florida (it shows some minor brown staining but that is all). b) it does not have a lot of inclusions that Odessas usually show and c) it is too coarse a structure for a Toluca. This would be a fine piece for showing people an etched coarse octahedrite, even if we don't have a positive ID on its origin.
84.2 gram complete slice, etched one side – 70mm x 40mm x 5mm - $45

GIBEON, Namibia: Fine octahedrite (IVA).
This is a nice slice that attests to the stability of most of this material. This has been in Florida for MANY years (looks like a fairly early Haag specimen) and shows only a couple thin "rust" lines. This is a part slice that has on nice long edge of natural exterior (about 60mm long). A good and stable piece.
79.6 gram etched part slice – 50mm x 50mm x 5mm - $110

SIKHOTE-ALIN: (Russia). Coarsest octahedrite. Fell February 12, 1947.
I think that this, finally, is my last piece of this meteorite from the Florida collection. However, this is not the least. This is a shrapnel piece with a particularly nice shape. You can easily see where two layers were coming apart but just managed to stop where they are barely attached – forming a bit of a long natural hole between them. Really nice little piece!
9.9 gram shrapnel fragment – 30mm x 17mm x 12mm - $6

DIMMITT, Texas: (H3.7). Found 1942.
This is a really nice individual of this interesting meteorite. Dimmitt is a regolith breccia that contains fragments of many different kinds of meteorites (LL, carbonaceous, etc.) that impacted the H parent body. This is a particularly nice stone (better than I have had or seen in years). It is an obviously complete stone (no `late breaks" on this one) with nice rounded edges, soft thumb-printing and nice orange brown to chocolate brown crust. This is also a Monig specimen. This has a catalog number (M138.167) put on it by Glenn Huss when he cataloged the collection in the `80s. It also has a black square painted on it where the original Monig number was painted on it, but now mostly missing for some reason. I suspect that it may be that this was originally labeled as a Tulia (these two meteorites have been mixed up, stirred together and confused for decades) and Glenn scrubbed off the original number so as not to confuse this obvious nice Dimmitt with a Tulia.
714.1 gram complete individual – 100mm x 70mm x 55mm - $900

NWA (2179): (H3). Found 2003. Tkw = 367.2 grams.
This is a nice small slice that does not show much fresh metal, but does a real good job of showing chondrules of many sizes and colors.
1.54 gram slice – 25mm x 13mm x 2mm - $30

TAMDAKHT, Morocco: (H5). Fell December 20, 2008.
This is the stuff that generally is found in fragments, as most of the stones got shattered by hitting rocks on the ground where they fell high in the Atlas Mountains. This "door stop" is no exception. This has a number of crust patches (and a large amount of slickenside surfaces that hint that much of the "late breakage" of this may be atmospheric). One patch has a lot of obvious scraping and adhering dirt and is likely the point of impact for this stone. It is the largest crust patch (roughly 90mm x 90mm) that tells the most interesting story though. This crust patch is very thick (1.5mm to 2mm in some areas) and does show a good amount of bubbles. This is likely the crust that was on the back-side of a large oriented stone, where melted material that flowed off of the front pools up and often gets bubbly in the low-pressure area of the back side of the falling oriented stone (the scuffed up crust on the opposite end supports this view. It is thumb-printed and seems to show flow-lines running the correct direction, though the scuffing hides them a bit). What is even more special is that there is an obvious "mini-meteorite" (about 10mm x 8mm) that has gotten stuck in the thick crust (this is NOT a piece of iron in the large stone that simply did not erode away). This is likely a small stone that was falling with (in front of actually) this chunk that got caught up in the low-pressure zone of this large oriented stone that was overtaking it during the fall and got welded to its back side to preserve the story for us. This, admittedly, is not a real pretty specimen overall but it tells a really neat story and is priced really cheap for a fall.
4284 gram crusted fragment with mini-meteorite – 180mm x 120mm x 90mm - $4000

UNKNOWN STONE: Most likely L4 or LL4.
Here are a few .5cm to 1cm sized fragments of an unlabeled meteorite (along with powder and a good number of loose chondrules) in a plastic vial. I suspect that this is Bjurbole, but have no way to prove it, unfortunately.
Fragments, dust and chondrules in a vial - $2

DHOFAR (026), Oman: (Lunar. Anorthositic melt), Found 2000. Tkw = 148 grams.
This is probably one of the more ugly Lunars known. It is a pretty uniform gray/ green color and almost completely lacking any kind of features, other than a few tiny bright white (likely anorthosite) inclusions. I would never recognize this as a meteorite, let alone a Lunar (however, the XRF sees that it is). This may not be pretty, but it has gotten quite scarce.
.39 gram slice – 12mm x 10mm x 1mm - $700

TATAHOUINE, Tunisia: (Diogenite). Fell June 27, 1931. Tkw = 13.5kg.
At first glance this looks like one of the usual small fragments but this is much more interesting. This piece actualy has fusion crust! One side has an obvious smooth, thumb-printed look to it (the other faces are the usual sharp, angular surfaces of these pieces). Looking at it with a hand-lens, it becomes readily apparent that there are some patches of shiny black crust on this smoothed surface. So, finally, I have a fragment of this meteorite available that shows a fusion surface!
2.2 gram fragment with fusion crust – 17mm x 13mm x 5mm - $40

HUCKITTA, Australia: (Pallasite).
This is one of the usual oxide pieces and one that is a bit harder to see the olivine in than some.
29.3 gram end piece – 40mm x 35mm x 13mm - $38

IMILAC, Chile: (Pallasite). Found 1822.
This is a shrapnel (impact?) fragment that has had much of one side ground down and highly polished to show the interior. This has a nice interesting shape and the crystals inside are somewhat gemmy (NOT the usual sand-like crystals typically found in these type pieces). A nice little display specimen.
9.8 gram fragment with polished face – 25mm x 18mm x 10mm - $75

MOLDAVITE: Tektite.
This is a nice long (tongue-shaped) individual. It has nice surface features (not a water rounded lump) and no chipping.
12.0 gram complete individual – 40mm x 22mm x 5mm - $70

FULGURITE: Lightning fused sand from the Sahara Desert.
This is a bag containing about 10 small fragments and pieces (around 1cm to 2cm sized, 3g worth) - $2

ROCK OF GIBRALTOR:
This keeps making me think of the old insurance commercial "Get a piece of the rock" where they would show an outline of this famous rock. This was in the Florida collection material. Not a meteorite but probably interesting to some one out there.
138 gram fragment (looks to be limestone) – 60mm x 55mm x 40mm - $5

TRINITITE: Nuclear blast fused sand from the world's first nuclear explosion on July 16, 1945.
This is a nice large piece of this always popular material. This is quite a bit larger than anything I have left in my inventory.
4.1 gram fragment – 23mm x 17mm x 13mm - $20

Blaine Reed Meteorites List 106 and show info 20JUL2011

2011-07-20T11:05:00.000-07:00

Blaine Reed Meteorites List 106 and show info 20JUL2011

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
………………………………………………………LIST 106

July 19, 2011

Note: I just found that I need to be out of the office this afternoon from about 2pm until 4pm or so for an appointment. Sorry for the difficulties that this may cause, but i did not want to wait until after I get back (it would be close to midnight in Europe then)

Dear Collectors,

I have been home only a handful of days over the last month or two. Here, finally, is another small offering. This is likely my last until at least mid to late August as I have a show coming up that will interfere with my next scheduled offering time. This show is the Creede, Colorado show that is held in the community center just north of town (in what appears to be a mine tunnel – neat place to have a mineral show). The show runs 10AM to 5PM August 5th, 6th and 7th. I will be gone August 4th through August 10th, as I hope to try and hike up an over 14,000 ft mountain north of town after the show this year (I never got the chance last year. In fact, I never even got to complete the show. I turned up with chicken pox Friday night and had to pack up and leave town early Saturday morning. I can personally confirm that getting this "childhood" disease as an adult is really rough and dangerous).

CAMPO DEL CIELO, Coarse octahedrite (IAB). Found 1576.
This is a really nice complete, wire brushed individual. It has a nice thumb-printed texture and has a great "asteroid looking" appearance overall. I have had this one around for quite some time (I think I got it over a year ago in Tucson), but forgot I had it. This is a really solid piece, showing no rust scaling what so ever. The only rust visible are a few tiny spots that are in pockets that the wire brush did not reach when this was originally cleaned. These really nice pieces have come rather hard to get these days, at least at "reasonable" prices.
` 1082.5 gram brushed individual – 105mm x 50mm x 40mm - $270

CANYON DIABLO, Arizona: Coarse octahedrite (IAB). Found 1891.
These are a couple brushed individuals from the Florida collection. These both are nice pieces. They have nice shapes (the large is particularly interesting) and do not show any signs of damage from their visit to Florida.
a) 10.6 gram brushed individual – 25mm x 16mm x 6mm - $10 (I had to XRF this one, as it did not have a label when I got it, but it does match with the other Canyon Diablo specimens I have run).
b) 85.6 gram brushed individual – 40mm x 27mm x 25mm - $50

GIBEON, Namibia: Fine octahedrite (IVA). Found 1836.
This is a nice little lot of "jewelry" pieces. These are mostly little triangular roughly 1cm sized etched pieces. These do show (at least some piece do) a bit of surface rust (not surprising, these were not coated and spent time in Florida) that should be easy to remove (Bill Mason's stuff would take care of these in seconds, likely). These would be great or the jewelry maker or someone putting together small meteorite display boxes (who wants to have an etched iron in the mix). There are about 20 pieces in this lot.
41.1 grams small etched jewelry pieces - $40

NANTAN, China. Medium octahedrite (IAB). Found 1958.
This stuff sets the gold standard for rusting (at least most pieces, but I have indeed seen some, even in slices, that is stable), BUT that is not a concern with these pieces. These are already "pre-disastered - already fully rusted (the person that owned these in Florida was probably smart to buy these samples for his Nantan though). This bag of oxide fragments is pretty typical of what I see at many retail rock shops and shows. They have a wire-brushed look to some areas and a dark blue-gray fresh fracture look to the remainder of their surface (as if some one went ahead and broke down a larger, originally brushed piece). A good lot for flea market re-sale or gifts to kids.
67.2 grams (a dozen or so pieces) - $15

SIKHOTE-ALIN, Coarsest octahedrite (IIAB). Fell February 12, 1947.
These two pieces are more consignments from Florida (yes, I am still working through those and likely will be for quite some time). The shrapnel is really nice. It has a good shape and was not harshly brushed, so it still shows some nice dark brown patina in areas. The "individual" is a bit rough (really just a bit over brushed). But, it does have an oriented shape and does show some flow lines on its front side.
a) 129.1 gram shrapnel piece – 65mm x 45mm x 35mm - $55 (note – the sources for this material were asking $.60/g at the Denver Spring Show and were not willing to discount much for a "bulk sale" the mere 3kg they had! This has gotten very hard to find recently. VERY little is coming out now).
b) 32.6 gram oriented individual – 40mm x 25mm x 11mm - $40

NWA (1289): (H3.8). Found 2002. Tkw = 288grams.
This, like the NWA (2229) listed below, is another Tucson trade that is still listed as "provisional. This one was listed as being assigned to Greg Hupe, who is more than likely the original source of this nice specimen. I can say that I was able to look up a couple pictures of other pieces of this, and it matches perfectly. This shows lots of chondrules of many sizes and colors as well as larger breccia fragments. Wish I had more of this one (I have only this specimen).
2.37 gram complete slice – 28mm x 22mm x 1mm - $30

NWA (2229), Rumurutiite (R3.8). Found 2004.
I got a couple pieces of this in a trade in Tucson (they are both the same size – within .1g anyway). Unfortunately I now find that this meteorite has not been officially reported - still listed as "provisional" and the number assigned to Dean Bessey, who I haven't talked with in a long time, unfortunately). Regardless, I can say that both pieces are end pieces from a small individual and are definitely R – chondrite (I could not absolutely be sure it is 3.8 though by simple visual inspection, but I personally see no reason to doubt that part the classification).
1.3 gram end piece – 13mm x 11mm x 5mm - $30

ALLENDE, Mexico: carbonaceous chondrite (CV3.2). Fell February 8, 1969.
This would be an ideal piece for thin-sectioning. It is a thick rectangular slice with one edge of fusion crust.
4.8 gram "slice" – 19mm x 14mm x 6mm - $38

DAR AL GANI (476), Libya: Martian basalt (Shergottite). Found 1998. Tkw = 2kg+
Here is a nice little "micro" slice in a gem "box" (one of the actually round plastic containers that you usually see gem stones displayed in).
.04 gram slice – 5mm x 3mm x 1mm - $40

SEYMCHAN, Russia: (Pallasite). Found 1967.
This is a nice thin slice with gemmy olivines that transmit light beautifully. This piece is a bit richer on the metal side (probably making up closer to 2/3rds of the area), but the olivine is well distributed, making this an aesthetic piece. A big plus also is that this piece has already been put through a rusting trial (this is another Florida collection consignment) and passed with a perfect score (no rusting on this piece).
15.2 gram thin part slice – 72mm x 35mm x 1mm - $200

IRGHIZITE: Tektite from Zhamanshin Crater, Russia.
This is a nice bent (U – shaped) individual that has a few (but not many) of the interesting "micro – tektites" adhering to it that originally came from Michael Blood (this is another "Florida collection" consignment). An aesthetic example of this material.
Bent shaped Individual as found – 13mm x 10mm x 3mm - $15

METEOR CRATER SOUVENIR SPOON:
I found this little spoon in an antique store recently. I don't believe that it is really that old (looks quite modern to me). It has the Meteor Crater logo on a 16mm diameter disk at the top end of this small (85mm long0 spoon.
Small souvenir spoon - $10

Blaine Reed Meteorites List #105 21JUN2011

2011-06-21T20:11:00.000-07:00

Blaine Reed Meteorites List #105 21JUN2011

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
………………………………………………………LIST 105

June 21, 2011

Dear Collectors,

I am finally getting caught up after an endless series of trips and visitors so I am finally getting a chance to put an offering together (a bit late I admit, but the last visitor was here until late this morning).

This is yet another offering of picked up in Tucson or consigned stuff (mostly consigned stuff actually).

I do have yet more traveling planned for fairly soon (I will be gone the weekend of July 4th and yet again July 7th through about July 12th), but these should not greatly affect taking and shipping orders from this list.

HENBURY, Australia: Medium octahedrite (IIIAB). Found 1931.
This is a nice little end piece. The cut and etched face is roughly 25mm x 15mm or so. The remainder is wire brushed and has a nice thumb-printed shape. A nice display piece!
64.5 gram end piece – 30mm x 18mm x 25mm - $100

SIKHOTE-ALIN, Russia: Coarsest octahedrite (IIAB). Fell February 12, 1947.
This is a really nice shaped small shrapnel fragment. It has a fantastic torn shape and a pleasing dark brown color (this was only lightly brushed). This stuff, believe it or not, is getting very hard to come by. There was VERY little available at the Denver spring show and it was priced at or slightly higher than this superior specimen.
9.9 gram lightly brushed shrapnel fragment – 30mm x 15mm x 12mm - $9

NWA (906): (H3.8). Found June 2001. Tkw = 1031 grams.
This is a nice end piece with one edge cut off (kind of a "book end" cut). This has quite a lot of metal in a medium brown matrix, so it is not highly weathered.
4.7 gram cut end piece – 25mm x 16mm x 6mm - $30

NWA (925): (H3.8). Found June 2001. Tkw = 897 grams.
This is distinctly different than the sample above. This is a bit fresher, has a lighter color and a bit of porous texture to it.
4.5 gram slice – 24mm x 20mm x 2mm - $30

PLAINVIEW (a), Texas: (H5) breccia. Found 1917. Tkw = 700+ kilograms.
A 25 pound piece of this meteorite fell into a horse corral in early spring 1903, so this meteorite should probably be called a fall rather than a find (I have had slices of the horse corral specimen and they do indeed match other Plainview slices). This is a nice part slice that has ½ of its edge crusted and the remainder divided between a natural break and a sawn edge.
15.6 gram part slice – 36mm x 26mm x 5mm - $55

ALLENDE, Mexico: carbonaceous chindrite (CV3.2). Fell February 8, 1969.
This is a nice slice that has one edge of crust (remaining edges are breaks or very late stage crust). I am nearly out of this stuff in my inventory so I was glad to get a piece or two in this consignment lot.
4.4 gram slice – 25mm x 23mm x 3mm - $35

NWA (2663): Carbonaceous chondrite. (CO3.1). Found 2004. Tkw = 580grams.
This is a nice macro specimen in a plastic display box, showing lots of tiny chondrules in a medium to dark brown matrix.
2.0 gram slice – 15mm x 13mm x 3mm - $30

ZAGAMI, Nigeria: Martian (shergottite). Fell October 3, 1962. Tkw = 18.1 kilograms.
This is a small fragment with a roughly 5mm x 4mm cut face. This does not have any fusion crust that I can see, but it does have a good number of thin black shock lines running through it.
.178 gram fragment with cut face – 6mm x 5mm x 4mm - $160

ESQUEL, Argentina: (Pallasite). Found 1951.
This is a particularly aesthetic little piece. It has a nice arrangement of large gemmy crystals, a couple of which nicely transmit light (and the remainder are interesting in that they act like windows to looking down inside the slice). The edge is nearly ½ natural as well! The only problem I can see (and this is only for some people) is that it is a wedged sample and not uniform thickness (but this is what allows for the diversity of crystal appearances though).
8.1 gram slice – 31mm x 20mm x 4mm - $250

IMILAC, Chile: (Pallasite). Found 1822.
This is a really nice "weathered" fragment – the ones that have the wild shape and sandy olivine crystals that range from yellow to pink in color. I personally feel that these are more likely impact shrapnel fragments, as the bulk of them were found surrounding an impact crater. Regardless, this is a particularly nice example.
13.1 gram fragment – 25mm x 16mm x 12mm - $95

SEYMCHAN, Russia: (pallasite). Found 1967.
This is a nice rectangular slice with fairly dark but yet gemmy olivines. I sold this piece to the owner a few years ago and have not been able to come up with as nice of material for replacement (I am nearly out of truly pallasitic pieces of this meteorite).
5.9 gram slice – 26mm x 17mm x 3mm - $90

THIN - SECTIONS:
Unfortunately, I have only these two specimens. The dimensions are the area of actual meteorite material on the slide.

Allende, Mexico: (CV3.2) – 23mm x 18mm - $50

Waltman, Wyoming: (L4) – 22mm x 16mm - $50

Blaine Reed Meteorites List #104

2011-06-02T02:44:00.000-07:00

Blaine Reed Meteorites List #104

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
………………………………………………………LIST 104

May 31, 2011

Dear Collectors,

This is a mixed list of some things I have bought and others that are consignments. This should be going out next week (first Tuesday of the month), But I would be leaving for a trip the next morning if I waited. I wanted to give at least some chance for all of you to look this over before I head out the door for a week (I will likely be gone the 8th until about the 14th – a bit different than what I posted on my last list, but I had the wrong dates for the watch and clock convention when typed that up). Also though, I will be going on a short overnight trip this Friday through Saturday (unexpected, but "required"), so do try to reach me before Friday if you want anything listed here.

CADDO COUNTY, Oklahoma: ungrouped silicatated iron. Found 1987. Tkw = 18kg.
This is the stuff that many people thought might be a Lodranite when it was first brought out. This piece is mostly metal, with a nice fine etch structure, but does have silicates along 2 sides.
8.58 gram slice – 31mm x 19mm x 2mm - $130 SOLD!

CANYON DIABLO, Arizona: Coarse octahdrite (IAB).
This is a nice semi-large wire – brushed individual. It as some large deep pockets in it (one is nearly spherical and about 35mm diameter) to give this paper-weight an interesting shape. Not quite an art piece, but quite nice!
1700 gram brushed individual – 100mm x 65mm x 65mm - $850

ODESSA, Texas: Coarse octahedrite (IAB).
I have not gotten any new pieces of Odessa in a long time (the last batch I thought I was getting turned out to be Deports – the ones on my last offering). These are definitely Odessa and came from two different sources! Both are nice solid pieces with nice surface sculpting (better than the typical Odessa). The large "end piece" (actually closer to an individual with one 75mm x 25mm flat side polished and etched) has a couple particularly deep pockets on it. Both of these are natural, NOT brushed. Very nice pieces, and quite hard to come by these days.
a) 256.6 gram natural individual – 60mm x 50mm x 20mm - $190
b) 1291 gram "end piece" – 120mm x 60mm x 40mm - $900

BENSOUR, Morocco: (LL6). Fell February 10, 2002. Tkw = 45+ kg.
This is a really fresh and nice specimen. It is a "broken individual" but is more than 60% covered in really fresh crust. This also has a small added feature of interest – a scuff mark on part of the crust from this stone hitting something on the ground when it fell.
24.5 gram individual (60% crusted) – 35mm x 25mm x 15mm - $150

BROWNFIELD (1937), Texas: (H 3.8). Found 1937. Tkw = 44kg.
This is a slice that came from me many years ago, and still has the old, mostly still legible label I sent with it that long time ago. This was cut from a 6kg individual I bought from the farmer that ploughed it up in 1994. I thought WOW! 6kg of an H3! This will last a looong time. I sold out of this stuff surprisingly rapidly, and at the same price, I believe, that I sold it for back in 1994.
31.3 gram slice – 50mm x 33mm x 6mm - $235

GHUBARA, Oman: (L5), black, xenolithic. Found 1954. Tkw = 250+ kg.
This is rather interesting stuff. It is fragments of L5 material in an L3 host. This might be best considered an L3 with L5 xenoliths.
18.3 gram slice – 45mm x 43mm x 3mm - $25

GOLD BASIN, Arizona: (L4). Found 1995. Tkw = 170+ kg.
This is an unpolished slice (actually the back is a lightly ground natural flat surface – the finder probably did this to make sure they had indeed located a meteorite). It has lots of metal and a pleasing mixed almost bluish gray and medium brown matrix (this stuff has always reminded me of Dalgetty Downs).
16.9 gram slice – 31mm x 30mm x 6mm - $20

NWA (1697): (L5), breccia. Ound 2002. Tkw = 3 kg.
This is really very fresh material. It shows a number of angular fragments (mostly lighter, but there are a couple dark fragments) in a light gray matrix. There is some light brown spotting, but not much.
27.3 grams slice – 40mm x 35mm x 8mm - $30

PLAINVIEW (1917), Texas: (H5), breccia. Found 191, may have fallen Spring 1903.
A fireball was seen in the area shortly after dusk in early spring 1903. A 25 pound stone was recovered from a horse corral the next day. This piece was eventually cut and matched perfectly internally and externally with the many Plainview stones discovered in 1917some 10 miles away. This meteorite is a regolith breccia and pieces have been found that contain fragments of many different kinds of meteorites that impacted the H chondrite parent body.
29.8 gram part slice 53mm x 25mm x 7mm - $110

DAR AL GANI (067), Libya: carbonaceous (C03). Found 1995. Tkw = 688 grams.
This is one piece of many that were recovered from a strewn field (I think each stone ended up getting its own number – at least that is how it seemed at the time) so there is obviously a lot more of this stuff than 688grams. Pieces of this were quite common and affordable 15 years ago. They are fairly scarce now. This slice is highly polished on one side, but the chondrules show much clearer on the unpolished side.
4.3 gram complete slice – 23mm x 20mm x 3mm - $50

NWA (2943), (R3-6). Found 2005. Tkw = 300 grams.
This is a part slice (this has one cut edge) that shows a lot of light colored chondrules in a a medium to dark brown matrix.
3.7 gram part slice – 20mm x 20mm x 3mm - $50

AGOULT, Morocco: Unbrecciated eucrite. Found 2000. Tkw = 9+ kg.
This is definitely unusual stuff (despite the reported 9+kg known, I have only seen and have handled small pieces such as this). Ut has a drastically different look to other eucrites (I have not heard if this is also from the same parent body as Ibitira – which this closely resembles). This has a fine-grained sugary texture that more closely resembles sand stone rather than a basaltic meteorite.
3.2 gram fragment – 17mm x 12mm x 9mm - $290

Blaine Reed Meteorites - List 103 - my just mailed list

2011-04-28T02:53:00.000-07:00

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
………………………………………………………LIST 103

April 28, 2011

Dear Collectors,

Here is the e-mail version of my mailed list that is just now hitting collector's hands.

I will be doing some traveling this year (that got blown out by what felt like an endless stream of crisis last year). A few small trips I know about at this point are:
1) May 19th to about May 30th
2) June 1st to about June 12th
There will likely be more trips later, but these are the ones that may affect orders from this list.

DEPORT, Texas. Coarse octahedrite (IAB). Found 1926. Tkw = 15+ kilograms.
I got these wonderful specimens from a person who got them directly from Oscar Monig a long time ago. This guy had stopped in my room during the New Mexico Mineral Symposium in Socorro and asked if I would stop by his house on my way home and look over some "Odessas" he had. It turned out that what he really had was Deport individuals (long story on how I figured that out though, but these really are Deport specimens – something that Monig had plenty of). These are all complete individuals that may have experienced some form of chemical cleaning by Monig many years ago, but look pretty natural at this point. They have nice interesting thumb-printed like shapes, so these are certainly not simple ugly lumps!
1) Individuals, mostly natural:
a) 41.0 grams - 35mm x 15mm x 15mm - $82
b) 76.4 grams - 45mm x 23mm x 15mm - $150
c) 136.5 grams - 50mm x 30mm x 17mm - $250
d) 164.8 grams - 60mm x 40mm x 25mm - $350 – really nice oriented shape!
e) 288.9 grams - 54mm x 45mm x 30mm - $500

HYATTVILLE, Wyoming. (L6). Found April 2008. Tkw = 8911 grams.
I think this is the first time ever I have had a new Wyoming meteorite. I guess that this is not very surprising as there are currently only 14 meteorite reported from the state (and this is the 9th chondrite from there). This was found by a man named Jon Todd, who is working to become a noted meteorite hunter (he is obviously off to a good start). Most of this (the 4.5kg main mass) is already tied up in a collection. I was ably to acquire a couple fragments that I cut for distribution to collectors (and keeping a piece or me, obviously). This is fairly fresh stuff (weathering grade of W1). It has lots of metal in a mottled light gray and tan matrix.
1) Slices:
a) 4.5 grams - 24mm x 13mm x 4mm - $21
b) 8.7 grams - 30mm x 22mm x 4mm - $40
c) 16.2 grams - 38mm x 37mm x 3mm - $75
d) 34.2 grams - 51mm x 45mm x 4mm - $155 – one edge fusion crusted.
e) 56.3 grams - 90mm x 50mm x 4mm - $255
f) 69.3 grams – 90mm x 54mm x 5mm - $310

TAMDAKHT, Morocco: (H5). Fell December 20, 2008, Tkw = about 100 kilograms.
Many people witnessed the fall of this meteorite. This material ended up falling in the Atlas Mountains, where recovery was difficult due to the presence of snow and steep slopes. Unfortunately, the area was also very rocky so few pieces survived as complete individuals. Most recovered specimens (as is the case with most of these pieces) were fragments that resulted from falling stones hitting rocks on the ground. These are all quite fresh (showing lots of metal in a generally medium gray matrix), but they do show some minor brown rust spotting (thanks to the snow no doubt).
1) Slices:
a) 8.9 grams - 27mm x 20mm x 5mm - $36
b) 21.4 grams - 37mm x 35mm x 5mm - $85
c) 50.0 grams - 75mm x 35mm x 5mm - $190
2) Crusted ½ individuals plus (more than 60% fusion crust covered).
a) 32.5 grams - 35mm x 25mm x 16mm - $110 – a bit more chipped up than the others.
b) 77.5 grams - 68mm x 30mm x 20mm - $270
c) 122.1 grams - 70mm x 35mm x 27mm - $425 – complete? (break might be secondary crust)
d) 144.3 grams - 62mm x 45mm x 30mm - $600 - Special! This is ½ of an oriented individual and has nice flow lines on one face and really thick bubbly crust on another. Broken area is mostly slickensides or thin secondary crust.

NWA (5784): Dunite). Found before February 2006. Tkw = 2.6kg.
The bulk of this scientifically important stone is already locked up in museum collections (I have only around 100g available). This was originally classified as a diogenite (which it does indeed look like visually). But, it is over 91% olivine and only contains 2% orthopyroxene – the mineral that regular diogenites are composed almost entirely of. Having said that though, there are changes in the classification scheme for these ultra-mafic rocks being considered. I have read that all Diogenties (real orthopyrexene ones), olivine diogenties and dunites will be grouped as "Diogenite" for the main classification header with orthopyroxinite, periddotite or dunite as the sub type (this change may have already come about). Regardless of how they name it, this still represents a rare and important sample of deep crust or mantle material from Vesta.
1) Slices in membrane box:
a) .21 grams - 10mm x 9mm x 1mm - $32
b) .39 grams - 12mm x 10mm x 1mm - $59
c) .68 grams - 15mm x 9mm x 1.5mm - $100
d) 1.37 grams - 17mm x 14mm x 1.5mm - $185
e) 2.55 grams - 33mm x 30mm x 1mm - $320
f) 5.9 grams - 45mm x 32mm x 1mm - $700
g) 12.9 grams - 65mm x 50mm x 1mm - $1300

NWA (6355): Lunar melt – matrix mingled breccia. Found 2009. Tkw = 760 grams.
This is a clast-laden breccia that contains fine- grained mineral debris (pyroxene, olivine, anorthite) and sparse igneous clasts in a heterogeneous "swirly" glass matrix. This is very similar chemically to Apollo 16 soils. This meteorite is a rare instance where a lunar meteorite can be correlated with materials at a specific landing site on the Moon (this according to well the known and highly educated in this field Dr. Tony Irving). This is mostly dark gray to black in color with small lighter colored inclusions scattered (sparsely) throughout. One further note; only about 350grams of this is available to the public.
1) Slices in membrane box:
a) .107 grams - 5mm x 4mm x 1mm - $100
b) .143 grams - 8mm x 5mm x 1mm - $135 – nice texture!
c) .31 grams - 10mm x 6mm x 1mm - $285
d) .496 grams - 14mm x 7mm x 1mm - $450
e) .870 grams - 15mm x 12mm x 1mm - $785 – has one anorthosite inclusion that transmits light!

BEDIASITES: Tektites from Texas.
It has been quite awhile since I have had any of these. I used to sell some on consignment for TCU but they have been completely out for a good number of years now. These came in the door one evening at the show. They were found by a person who usually finds and prepares major fish fossils (he had an incredible large and toothy specimen on display in the Lobby of Inn Suites this year). This guy is quite wealthy and was, justifiably, proud of his finds. None the less, after quite a bit of back and forth haggling, I finally was able to purchase these wonderful specimens. All are absolutely complete, with the exception of the largest, which has a small (8mm x 5mm) ding on one edge.
1) Individuals as found:
a) 2.2 grams - 14mm x 12mm x 9mm - $25
b) 4.3 grams - 17mm x 14mm x 13mm - $48
c) 7.2 grams - 21mm x 17mm x 14mm - $78
d) 14.3 grams - 25mm x 22mm x 18mm - $150
e) 22.4 grams - 35mm x 22mm x 21mm - $225 – has some nice deep grooves.
f) 44.2 grams - 37mm x 32mm x 28mm - $400 – largest I have ever had.

METEORITE COINS: Serial number matched Moon and Mars coin sets.
These are sets of 4 coins that have identical serial numbers. These are neat 50mm diameter tokens that have a picture of a Lunar scene or Mars scene on one side and a brief note about the meteorite (contained as dust and fragments in a roughly 5mm x 3mm recess on the picture side) the coin contains and serial number on the back. There were 2 different coin designs of each (each set was in a limited run of 250 pieces maximum) of the Moon and Mars rocks – NWA (2995) for the Lunar and NWA (2986) for the Martian in this case. I have only 5 sets available. Serial numbers available are; 167, 172, 174, 178, 185
4 coin matched serial number set - $250

Please include postage: a couple dollars on small U.S. orders and $10 on large items for first class (insurance is extra, if desired). On small overseas orders, $3 to $5 is generally plenty (I'll have to custom figure the rate for large items). Registration is also recommended on more valuable overseas shipments - an extra $12.00.
If you are sending a fax, simply begin transmitting when my line is answered. My fax will turn on automatically to receive (or I will start it if I answer) when you begin transmitting.

Blaine Reed Meteorites: List 102 - yet more after Tucson stuff

2011-04-16T20:26:00.001-07:00

Blaine Reed Meteorites: List 102 - yet more after Tucson stuff

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
LIST 102
April 16, 2011

Dear Collectors,

Here is yet another "brought it home from the show" list. This is going out at an odd time (sorry about this) as I will likely be leaving Wednesday for a trip (Leadville, Denver, possibly more). I wanted to have this out early enough so people could look it over and place orders before I have to take off (sending it out Tuesday afternoon and then leaving Wednesday morning certainly would not have worked well). I tried to get this out yesterday, but was far to busy with random calls and such to get finished with typing it until well after 5pm (something like midnight for people in Europe) so here it is on Saturday.

ALLENDE, Mexico: (CV3.2). Fell February 8, 1969.
This is a nice complete slice of the portion that is a bit more chondrule-rich than much of Allende. Much of Allende is a bit more bluish/gray and has fewer chondrules. This is more of the slightly greenish gray stuff that looks more like Axtell.
35.3 gram complete slice – 80mm x 60mm x 2.5mm - $375

COLE CREEK, Nebraska: (H5). Found 1991. Tkw = 16.3kg.
This is a fairly large part slice that has one cut edge (the others are mostly weathered fusion crust and old break, The fusion crust makes up more than 2/3 though). This is quite weathered but it does show a good number of chondrules in a mixed brown and gray matrix (no real fresh metal though). I haven't seen any of this for quite a long time.
140.6 gram slice – 10mm x 75mm x 6mm - $385

DAR AL GANI (400): Libya: Lunar anorthositic breccia. Found 1998. Tkw = 1425 grams.
This is a small fragment that I obviously sold many years ago (it has a mane and weight sticker with my writing on the back of the gem box it is displayed in).
.02 gram fragment – 3mm x 2.5mm x 1.5mm - $50

HaH (314), Libya: (LL6). Found 2001. Tkw = 1470 grams.
This is fresh stuff. This looks as fresh as most falls, with only some tiny hints of brown staining. It has a good amount (for an LL) of fresh iron and quite a nice breccia texture (including a couple dark inclusions that could be carbonaceous or shock-melt. This is a complete slice of a fragment (no cut edges, but I don't see any distinct crust either.
2.8 gram slice – 25mm x 24mm x 1.5mm - $25

HVITTIS, Finland: Enstatite chondrite (EL6). Fell October 21, 1901. Tkw = 14kg.
This is a nice roughly square slice with on edge of fusion crust. It is fresh with lots of fine-grained metal in a mixed medium brown and gray matrix.
7.5 gram slice – 37mm x 29mm x 1.5mm - $675

NWA (801): carbonaceous chondrite (CR2). Found 2000. Tkw = 5kg+.
This is a nice individual. It looks to be at least ½ and likely a complete individual with most of the surface being the proper smooth/ rounded shape and a relatively flat face making up one side. This may be a broken specimen (but a very old break if that is the case), or possibly an oriented individual. Unfortunately the crust has been wind-polished enough (as pretty much all of the pieces of this find were) that it is difficult to tell. The plus side is that this wind-polishing does allow a lot o chondrules to show on the surface.
11.4 gram individual as found – 25mm x 19mm x 15mm - $180

NWA (1929): (Howardite). Found 2003. Tkw = 922++ grams (probably 20 or 30kg actually).
These are more of the membrane boxed super thin slices. These 3 pieces all show a nice breccia texture.
a) 22mm x 15mm - $15
b) 24mm x 20mm - $20
c) 25mm x 24mm - $25

NWA (4290): (LL3.1). Found 2005. Tkw = 1101 grams.
Here are yet some more of the super-thin slices in a membrane box I have been offering lately (I have 3 of these). These show LOTS of chondrules. These also allow light top pass through some of the minerals like a thin-section!
20mm x 20mm slice in membrane box - $40

NWA (4857): Martian Shergottite. Found August 2007. Tkw = about 1kg.
This is a nice small individual. It still has a fair amount of crust (covering probably 50% of the piece), with the remainder being wind polished away (this does seem to be a complete specimen). A nice little Mars rock for the person that wants basically complete specimens.
.38 gram individual – 8mm x 5mm x 5mm - $230

PARK FOREST, Illinois: (L5). Fell March26, 2003. Tkw = 12.25+kg.
This is a small fragment in a gem stone box. The back has a small sticker claiming that this is a piece of one of the
most famous house hitters. I am not completely sure I believe this though as it is spelled "the Gaza House stone". It should be
"Garza".
Fragment 5mm x 2mm x 2mm - $20

PARNALEE, India: (LL3.6). Fell February 28, 1857. Tkw = 77.6 kg.
This is a nice little part slice (one cut edge, others appear to be natural fractures). This shows a nice variety of chondrules of a wide range of sizes and color. I have not had a piece of this in a long time and it cost a small fortune to get a hold of this piece.
3.4 gram slice – 23mm x 13mm x 4mm - $150

YILMIA, Australia: enstatite chondrite (EL6). Found 1969. Tkw = 40kg.
I have only these 2 specimens. The smaller is a cut fragment in a capsule, the larger is a complete slice (of a fragment anyway). This stuff is fairly weathered, but the larger piece does have a couple areas (comprising nearly half of the surface area) that still shows lots of fine-grained metal and has the E-chondrite look. I have only ever had a few pieces of this material over the years.
a) .14 gram cut fragment in a capsule - $15
b) 2.62 gram slice – 23mm x 11mm x 3mm - $200

[brmeteorites_list] List 101 - more after Tucson stuff

2011-04-05T12:55:00.000-07:00

[brmeteorites_list] List 101 - more after Tucson stuff

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
LIST 101
April 5, 2011

Dear Collectors,

I am back from Phoenix and helping my uncle. Blake and I worked very hard to get a few things done around his house (cleaning up, moving 200lb ham radio equipment, installing ceiling fans, I fixed a couple dozen wrist watches). We Got 7 of his 9 cars back in running order as well so he can start selling off the many extras (any body want a Mercedes?).

Anyway, here is another "brought it back from Tucson" offering. There will be more as time allows.

BARRATTA, Australia: (L3.8). Found 1845. Tkw = 202.9kg.
Now this is a nice display specimen. It is a triangular shaped ½ slice and has 2/3 of its edge showing clearly thumb-print textured dark chocolate brown to black crust. The interior is also very fresh, showing lots of chondrules and metal in a mixed brown and light gray matrix. I remember years ago (when this was still classified as an L4), I had the chance to pick up a fairly large amount of slices of this for a really low price (couple bucks a gram perhaps). I stupidly passed on them. To add insult to that idiocy, the stuff was re-classified as an L3 shortly after. Ooops!
74.5 gram ½ slice – 75mm x 45mm x 6mm - $450

CACHARI, Argentina: (Eucrite), monomict breccia. Found 1916. Tkw = 23.5kg.
These are a couple small fragments in a capsule. I have not seen any of this material in a long time. I have only this sample.
.08grams fragments (2pcs) in a capsule - $20

DAR AL GANI (319), Libya: (Ureilite), polymict breccia. Found 1997. Tkw = 740 grams.
This is a small natural fragment in a membrane box. This comes with a Swiss Meteorite Lab label.
.36 gram fragment in membrane box and SML label - 9mm x 6mm x 2mm - $20

GIBEON, Namibia: Fine octahedrite (IVA).
This is a large uncut individual (52.4kg). It apparently was used as an anvil in some village in Namibia at some time as both the top and bottom surfaces are quite flat and show a texture that looks similar to a hand-hammered silver bowl. I have seen a few similar pieces that the flat areas were really considered to be from impacts with other pieces as they came through the atmosphere though, and this may indeed have formed that way as well. This thing looks EXACTLY like an alligator head! I even, as a joke, put a "cats eye" marble in the divot that is located perfectly for an eye socket. So far, everyone that has shown interest in this wants it for cutting into little jewelry pieces. Someone polished a spot on the bottom and tried to etch it. It did show some etch, but as this is a hammered (or impacted) surface it was distorted and indistinct. I really do suspect though that if an area in between (that shows the nice typical thumb-printed surfaces) were polished and etched, the pattern would be fine (and I may very well end up giving that a try soon). This would still mean a loss of useful etch area along two of the edges of slices cut from this thing for jewelry people, but might yield the neat contorted edge etch pieces I have seen command a premium from collectors.
52.4kg brushed individual – 450mm x 230mm x 110mm - $12,500

NWA (801): Carbonaceous chondrite (CR2). Found 2000.
This is one of my favorite meteorites and this is a really nice thin slice of it. This piece is some of the slightly fresher stuff (some of the (801) was really dark hematite red and showed no metal). This is a pleasing yellow-brown and still shows lots of metal surrounding many of the chondrules and as rounded blebs (metal chondrules).
3.1 gram slice in Riker mount – 60mm x 25mm x 1mm - $100

NWA (2737): Martian (Chassignite). Found 2000. Tkw = 611 grams.
This is a small thin slice in a membrane box.
5mm x 4mm slice in membrane box - $50

NWA (3118): Carbonaceous chondrite (CV3). Found 2003. Tkw = 5895grams.
I suspect this is paired with my favorite CV NWA (2086). This has a super chondrule-rich texture and looks very similar to the popular (and expensive) Axtell. These are super thin slices in a membrane box.
a) 17mm x 13mm - $ 15
b) 25mm x 19mm - $20

NWA (5717): ungrouped chondrite (3.05). Found 2006. Tkw = 7.31kg.
One fresh stone of this strange material was found. Research work on this showed that it did not match with any known parent body (similar to H's in some respects and similar to LL's in others, with oxygen isotopes and other features matching neither). This material is further enhanced by being one of the most primitive "ordinary" chondrites available. Only 18 meteorites out of all known ordinary chondrites (some 40,000 now, this includes Antarctic recoveries) have a petrographic subtype below 3.10! I traded for a bit of this (with a bit extra) for my collection. I have very little, so contact me soon if you want any. These are all thin part slices.
a) .43 grams – 14mm x 6mm x 1mm - $26
b) .74 grams – 19mm x 7mm x 1mm - $44 – has large (5mm) chondrule.
c) 2.08 grams – 28mm x 16mm x 1mm - $120 – nice mix of light and dark zones.
d) 4.72 grams – 35mm x 27mm x 1mm - $250

NORTON COUNTY, Kansas: (Aubrite). Fell February 18, 1948. Tkw = 1175+ Kg.
This is a really interesting piece. It appears to be a piece of thick (4mm) black slaggy crust (plenty of gas bubbles) with a few bright white angular fragments of enstatite sticking out of one side. This black material from Norton County is quite scarce.
.36 gram fragment in membrane box – 11mm x 7mm x 5mm - $25

SAHARA (97072): Enstatite chondrite (EH3). Found 1997. Tkw = 1270 grams.
Actually, the TKW on this stuff is a lot higher as every stone seems to have gotten its own number. Regardless, any fresh enstatite chondrite is really rare (this has the added benefit of being a type 3) and quite hard to come these days. This is really nice complete slice that shows complete brown edge (likely weathered fusion crust along most of it) and a fresh interior with lots of fine-grained metal and chondrules visible.
5.9 gram complete slice – 34mm x 17mm x 2.5mm - $250

TATAHOUINE, Tunisia: (Diogenite). Fell June 27, 1931. Tkw = 13.5+ kg.
This is a super thin slice (shows a bit of light through some areas) in a membrane box.
Slice (10mm x 9mm) in membrane box - $15

DAMASCUS METEORITE KNIFE:
Actually, this might be better used as a letter opener. It is completely hand made by someone experimenting with the damascus process and meteorite metal. This is definitely a bit crude, but folksy artistic none the less. It has an interesting artistic shape overall. The handle is wood with several small hematite beads inset on each side. A lot of work went into this for someone just learning the process (I got two of these, but I will likely hang onto one to use as my regular letter opener).
Small meteorite knife - $95

[brmeteorites_list] List 100 - after Tucson stuff

2011-03-08T15:06:00.000-08:00

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
LIST 100
March 8, 2011

Dear Collectors,

Here, finally, is an after Tucson offering. I have had tons of projects to deal with (one major meteorite related the others not) and yet a further estate to deal with. This last thing will have me gone starting about Wednesday the 16th for a week or so back in Phoenix (I am rapidly running out of "elderly" relatives it seems, so I would expect this problem to start abating soon).

Please try to contact me fairly soon if you see anything here you want. This is partially so I can get sold things off and on their way to buyers before I leave and largely so I can do my final settlements with consignors (many, but not all, of the items here were consigned to me for the show) and get what doesn't sell on its way back home to the owners.

ALLENDE, Mexico: Carbonaceous (CV3.2). Fell February 8, 1969.
This is a large fragment (only a small patch of crust visible). BUT, it is a labeled Nininger specimen (818.98) that was listed in the 1985 "Catalog of Meteorites in the Collection of Arizona State University" (I'll include a copy of the cover and the page listing this -–I have only the one actual catalog and I do use it quite regularly for looking up some of the more recent Nininger numbers). It has been suggested that this may be listed in the most recent Nininger catalog (which I don't have) before he passed the collection on to ASU. I got this in a trade over 20 years ago (can't remember just what I gave for it) and have had it in storage ever since (so long in fact, that I forgot the piece's origin and originally thought the numbers on it were its weight). I am offering this to help pay for my big meteorite related project (more on that in the future), or this would likely remain safely in storage for another few years (decades?). Again, only a tiny bat of crust, but it is loaded with LOTS of large CAI's.
965.8 gram Niniger numbered fragment - 135mm x 90mm x 40mm - $7500

BILANGA: Burkina Faso: (Diogenite). Fell October 27, 1999. Tkw = 25+ kg.
Here are some almost thin-section slices (some light will pass through parts of these!) in mylar display boxes. I am NOT going to risk pulling these out for measuring thickness or weight (same goes for the other similarly prepared items on this and future lists). The measurements are simply the rough dimensions of the surface area of each specimen.
1) Thin slices in mylar box.
a) 16mm x 11mm - $15
b) 19mm x 15mm - $25
c) 21mm x 16mm - $30 – has 13mm of crust along one edge.

CAMEL DONGA, Australia: (Eucrite). Found 1984. Tkw = 30+ kg.
Here a few really nice complete individuals of this popular (and likely to be more popular once we start orbiting Vesta later this year) meteorite. These are likely "late" recoveries, but are either picked up quite some time ago or are superb specimens from a very large batch of recent found material (this stuff has a high amount of free iron and does oxidize fairly rapidly out in the elements. It is apparent that the fall must have not been long before its discovery in 1984. The first pieces were all super fresh and glassy. Pieces picked up even a few years later started to show strong weathering effects). These are all complete and are covered with black crust and generally only show minor areas of dirt or dimming of the crust.
1) Complete individuals:
a) .77 grams – 11mm x 10mm x 4m - $23
b) 1.45 grams – 11mm x 11mm x 7mm - $40
c) 4.22 grams – 19mm x 10mm x 9mm - $110 – lots of heavy flow lines.
d) 6.59 grams – 20mm x 16mm x 11mm - $175 – super glossy crust.
e) 9.32 grams – 25mm x 20mm x 10mm - $250 – also really glossy.

DAR AL GANI (735), Libya: Martian (Shergottite). Found 1997. Tkw = 588 grams.
This is quite obviously a pairing to DaG (476). This has the usual small angular dark brown to black clasts (olivine, I believe) in a jade-green matrix. There is not a lot of this material available any more and, given the unrest in Libya, it is not highly likely that many will go out looking for more for some time.
.835 gram slice – 17mm x 14mm x 1mm - $700

IRIDIUM: The element.
Here is a serious batch for the serious element collector (or speculator, perhaps. This stiff seems to be going up in value almost faster than I can keep track of it). This is more of the fine crystals salvaged from the furnace that produces Yag laser crystals. These are quite a bit smaller than what I had offered on a list earlier (and were all I could get when I rapidly sold out of those specimens). I have 1 troy ounce of this in a screw lid "make up" container (the same as I use for storing small watch parts). I am actually pricing this a tiny bit below iridium's current "spot" value (which was $1025 when I just checked it while typing this).
1 troy ounce of powder/ small crystals - $1000

KORRA KORRABES, Namibia: (H3). Found 1996. Tkw = 130+kg.
This is a really nice slice. It is much fresher than any of the other pieces I have had (even fresher than the few Gao specimens I have cut). This also shows a really nice breccia texture; with angular to rounded light gray clasts in a light tan to brown matrix. I have heard rumor that some believe that this may actually represent a all different from the actual Korra Korrabes, but I would find it a bit a stretch (but not impossible) to find two H3 meteorites overlapping.
79.7 gram slice (one cut edge) – 77mm x 45mm x 6mm - $120

MILLBILLILLIE, Australia: (Eucrite). Fell October, 1960. Tkw = 150+ kg.
Here are a couple more super thin slices (the smaller actually passes some light through some areas!) in mylar boxes. These are both quite nice and each has one nice edge of fusion crust.
1) Thin slices in a mylar box:
a) 17mm x 15mm - $20
b) 20mm x 20mm - $30

NWA (1774): rumurutiite (R3.8-6). Found 2002. Tkw = 714 grams.
This, like the Bilanga above, is cut super thin. This is something I wish I had a lot of larger pieces of (I do have a few cut fragments of a likely paired meteorite, but not many). It has a fantastic breccia texture, with many lots of clasts of various shades and colors in a light brown matrix.
1) Thin slices in a mylar box:
a) 15mm x 10mm - $15
b) 22mm x 16mm - $25
c) 24mm x 23mm - $30

NWA (4662): (Angrite). Found June 2005. Tkw = about 400 grams.
I have quite a few people asking for angrites lately. Unfortunately, this is the ONLY piece I have. It is consigned so I cannot take to the saw either. This is a rather nice solid natural fragment/ individual (though I would hesitate to call any of the surface fusion crust, all surfaces are ancient. NO recent fracturing on this specimen).
10.6 gram natural fragment – 25mm x 20mm x 12mm - $950

SACRAMENTO WASH (003), Arizona: (H4). Found March 22, 2004. Tkw = 89.2 grams.
Here is something special for the Arizona collector (or "main mass" collector). This is the entire mass remeiing after research of this meteorite (and it has not been paired with anything else!). This is a 62.2 gram individual (rounded enough that it is clearly not merely a fragment of something larger) with one end cut of to show the mottled medium to dark brown interior.
62.2 gram "Main Mass" – 35mm x 25mm x 28mm - $900

Blaine Reed Meteorites - Tucson Show 2011

2011-01-23T18:11:00.000-08:00

Blaine Reed Meteorites - Tucson Show 2011
Show Room Ramada Limited, Room 134.
about January 26th until about February 17th
from 10AM until - ?

Show info: I will be gone from home from about January 26th until about February 17th (a couple days longer than usual. Just as last year, I need to deliver stuff to and visit with my uncle in Phoenix. This time it is to deliver stuff from my mom's estate). I will be at my usual show location: Ramada Limited, room 134. This is at St Marys and the interstate (next to Denny's) - just 1/4 mile or so due West of Inn Suites (Now called Hotel Tucson City Center - where many of the other meteorite dealers are). My room is about mid-way down the length of the motel (right next to the walk through actually) on the west side of the building (on the parking lot side - and there is often parking available right in front of my room). I should be open the afternoon of January 29th through the afternoon of February 12th. There is always the chance I may leave a couple days early if things get really slow. I have not done this the past few years (but things sure got slow enough last year for me to seriously consider it), but notify me if you plan to see me those last couple days so I will be extra sure to stick around. I will be open every day in between - generally from 10AM until - ? (usually at least 7pm if I am going out to eat and often until 10pm or so other nights).

Blaine Reed Meteorites List 99

2011-01-17T22:02:00.000-08:00

List 99 - recent mailed offering, Tucson show info

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
LIST 99

January 13, 2011

Dear Collectors,
Happy New Year!
Here is the e-mail version of my new list that is in the mail (many of you will likely have received this today). Please try to reach me as soon as possible if you would like anything listed here. I have very little of most of this material and I will be off to Tucson before long. Sorry about the tight time frame (see "gone" dates below), I just got swamped with other things and couldn't get this out earlier.

Show info: I will be gone from home from about January 26th until about February 17th (a couple days longer than usual. Just as last year, I need to deliver stuff to and visit with my uncle in Phoenix. This time it is to deliver stuff from my mom's estate). I will be at my usual show location: Ramada Limited, room 134. This is at St Marys and the interstate (next to Denny's) - just 1/4 mile or so due West of Inn Suites (Now called Hotel Tucson City Center - where many of the other meteorite dealers are). My room is about mid-way down the length of the motel (right next to the walk through actually) on the west side of the building (on the parking lot side - and there is often parking available right in front of my room). I should be open the afternoon of January 29th through the afternoon of February 12th. There is always the chance I may leave a couple days early if things get really slow. I have not done this the past few years (but things sure got slow enough last year for me to seriously consider it), but notify me if you plan to see me those last couple days so I will be extra sure to stick around. I will be open every day in between - generally from 10AM until - ? (usually at least 7pm if I am going out to eat and often until 10pm or so other nights).

TOLUCA, Mexico: Coarse Octahedrite (IAB). Found before 1776. Tkw = quite a lot.
I have not had any of this in years. I used to get some from a mineral dealer from Mexico at the Denver Show a long time ago. Then, they started offering what, to me, seemed to be obvious Campos as Toluca (thankfully, they indeed had them properly labeled as Campos the last time I saw them offering meteorites). I picked these up from a collection of irons supposedly purchased 40 years or so ago. These are really nice! They are solid pieces and actually have nice interesting shapes (particularly the 3 largest pieces, both unusual features for typical Toluca specimens.
1) Wire-brushed complete individuals:
a) 782.1 grams - 95mm x 45mm x 35mm - $350.00
b) 1223.5 grams - 90mm x 60mm x 45mm - $500.00
c) 3581 grams - 130mm x 90mm x 70mm - $1350.00 – shows several large troilite nodules.
d) 4531 grams - 130mm x 130mm x 55mm - $2000.00

BUCK MOUNTAIN, Arizona: (H3.9). Found September 2005 , Tkw = 900grams.
This is something that Robert Ward found. I purchased a small hand full of fragments from him last year and finally got around to cutting them. Normally, I probably would not bother cutting such small pieces, but being a type 3, I thought it would be good to show the chondrules (these were just brown, ratty fragments as I received them). This does show a good number of chondrules on careful inspection. However, they really do tend to blend into the matrix (they are pretty much the same medium brown color as the matrix) so they do not jump out at you. Very little of this is available (I only got 60 grams). I believe that this is only Arizona's second or third type 3 chondrite! Note: I will have to send buyers of pieces of this the usual info card later. I did not get the info I needed before Robert headed out east (visiting friends or family, not sure) and the coordinates and such are back at his home. I WILL make up and send cars out when he is able to get me the info though.
1) Cut fragments:
a) .67 grams - 10mm x 9mm x 3mm - $8.00
b) .97 grams - 12mm x 10mm x 3mm - $12.00
c) 1.8 grams - 14mm x 12mm x 5mm - $20.00
d) 4.0 grams - 20mm x 18mm x 5mm - $40.00
e) 5.9 grams - 28mm x 22mm x 5mm - $59.00

SAYH AL UHAYMIR (504), Oman: (L5/6), S2, W3. Found March 12, 2010. Tkw = about 20kilograms.
This also something Robert Ward turned up. I got this from him during the Denver Show. It is a nice basic weathered (but not trashed) L chondrite. This has a fairly pleasing appearance (the reason I jumped on a decent sized batch of it when he offered it). Robert put a really nice high polish on this, so it looks far better than most typical L stones of similar weathering condition. It shoes a few chondrules, quite a lot of hematite/magnetite veining (not much fresh metal) in a mixed medium brown and dark greenish gray matrix. Not rare, but representative and very well prepared.
1) Slices: one side polished:
a) 11.0 grams - 30mm x 23mm x 6mm - $10.00
b) 25.4 grams - 50mm x 27mm x 7mm - $22.00
c) 48.0 grams - 50mm x 48mm x 7mm - $40.00
d) 78.5 grams - 70mm x 55mm x 7mm - $63.00
e) 151.2 grams - 95mm x 73mm x 7mm - $115.00
2) End pieces:
a) 337.4 grams - 110mm x 77mm x 23mm - $235.00
b) 514.2 grams - 125mm x 60mm x 40mm - $335.00
c) 973.4 grams - 135mm x 75mm x 50mm - $585.00

TENHAM, Australia: (L6), veined. Fell spring 1879. Tkw = over 160 kilograms.
I have had a number of (fairly large) whole pieces of this for years (now I have only the possibly oriented one listed below). I had a few people ask for smaller or sliced pieces (a couple researchers wanted cut pieces as Tenham is one of only a couple known meteorites that is shocked enough to have veins of ringwoodite and majorite – the high pressure phases of olivine and pyroxene) so I cut up a couple stones to supply this need. I don't have much of this left, and I don't expect to be able to get any more either, so don't wait long if you have been wanting to add this name to your collection.
1) Slices;
a) 6.1 grams - 23mm x 22mm x 4mm - $40.00
b) 10.3 grams - 40mm x 22mm x 4mm - $65.00
c) 20.7 grams - 45mm x 42mm x 4mm - $130.00 – nice complete slice.
2) End pieces: back sides completely crusted.
a) 40.7 grams - 40mm x 35mm x 14mm - $225.00
b) 60.7 grams - 41mm x 39mm x 22mm - $325.00
3) Complete individual: one 10mm x 9mm late atmospheric chip, remainder fully crusted.
a) 241.5 grams – 54mm x 54mm x 35mm - $1200.00 – This looks like it might be oriented. It has the right general shape and the crust around the edge of the "back side" looks a little rougher than the rest. This meteorite has a unique looking crust texture that never shows distinct flow lines or such, so identifying truly oriented pieces from this fall is nearly impossible. Nice stone, regardless.

DHOFAR (018), Oman: (Howardite). Found January 17, 2000. Tkw = 833 grams.
This one caused quite a stir when it first came out years ago. The sellers thought it was Lunar as it looks virtually identical to Dhoar (1180) (close enough that I went to extra trouble to have one of my pieces looked at again). They cut it super thin with a wire saw and went about selling it as Lunar. The science though said this find though was "just a howardite". Refunds were given and samples returned to the sellers, who eventually sold me these pieces. Amazing stuff and definitely different than any other howardite I have had.
1) Slices:
a) .49 grams - 18mm x 10mm x 1mm - $15.00
b) .75 grams - 39mm x 8mm x 1mm - $23.00
c) 1.4 grams - 33mm x 21mm x 1mm - $42.00
d) 2.9 grams - 49mm x 24mm x 1mm - $85.00

SPRINGWATER, Canada: (Pallasite). Found 1931. Tkw = about 200 kilograms.
These are pieces that Farmer and company turned up recently. So far, they have only been allowed to export a few kilos of these small "individuals" (some may be weathering/ freeze – thaw fragments). They may not be allowed to bring any more out either. But then, I guess that does not matter (to them anyway, the rest of us would be left out) if they can sell it all for the price they want to institutes in Canada anyway. I cut my pieces open to show the interior. Some of these do show some weathering effects (mostly the smallest piece I have – not surprising, and, oddly, the largest specimen) and are priced accordingly. Regardless, they all have plenty of fresh metal and olivine to look like the pallasite they are.
1) End pieces:
a) 4.1 grams - 17mm x 16mm x 6mm - $60.00
b) 10.0 grams - 23mm x 20mm x 7mm - $200.00 – nice!
c) 19.7 grams - 30mm x 28mm x 12mm - $350.00 – has lots of troilite.
d) 50.8 grams - 45mm x 35mm x 14mm - $900.00 – nice!
e) 89.8 grams - 42mm x 37mm x 26mm - $1300.00

MICRO-TEKTITES: Pilbara, Western Australia.
Some of the Precambrian rocks of the Hamersley Basin contain tsunami debris from several huge ancient impacts (from roughly 20km diameter or Eros-sized impactors on at least three separate occasions between 3.47 and 2.47 billion years ago). These deposits contain micro-tektites, impact spherules and have a high iridium content. These micro-tektites, once glass, are now found (with extremely great difficulty) as millimeter or so sized devitrified sand-like textured spheres in weathered limestones and cherts of the area. Not many of these will be available from now on, as the area has been made off limits to further rock collecting.
a) Sample with 1 or more - $50.00
b) Sample with 3 (or more same as above) - $75.00
c) Sample with at least 4 spherules - $100
d) Super special sample with over 20! - $500

Please include postage: a couple dollars on small U.S. orders and $10 on large items for first class (insurance is extra, if desired). On small overseas orders, $3 to $5 is generally plenty (I'll have to custom figure the rate for large items). Registration is also recommended on more valuable overseas shipments - an extra $12.00.
If you are sending a fax, simply begin transmitting when my line is answered. My fax will turn on automatically to receive (or I will start it if I answer) when you begin transmitting.

Blaine Reed Meteorites List 98 - Norton County and other Monig specimens

2010-12-31T03:45:00.000-08:00

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
LIST 98
December 28, 2010

Dear Collectors,

I really had not planned on having any further lists this year. I was supposed to be in Denver this week. Unfortunately the weather and several deals that need to be finished (including picking up a nice 8.4kg natural Gibeon specimen from the owner in Grand Junction yesterday) prevented this. The weather is not bad right now (sunny – only the second day in weeks! My solar system has not proven to be of much use the past couple months, unfortunately). But, another big storm is moving in and expected to stay awhile. Linda has jury duty January 3rd as well and I cannot risk getting stuck an extra week in Denver right now (as happened all last December and January on every trip I made up there to clean up my Aunt's estate).
Any way, these are a few things from TCU. Most of these have a Monig collection label. The large Travis (a) slice and the fragment lots of Norton County don't, unfortunately (I may be able to get a label made up for the Travis (a) piece and send that to the buyer later though).

NORTON COUNTY, Kansas: enstatite achondrite (Aubrite). Fell February 18, 1948. Tkw = 1175kg.
I have not had any of this in a looong time, particularly pieces large enough to actually weigh (the 4 fragment lot could have easily been broken down into 4 individually weighed specimens). As mentioned above, the two large specimens (3.1g and 18.0g) come with Monig Collection labels.
a) 2.9 grams of fragments (crumbs to about 7 or 8mm in size) in glass vial - $75
b) 3.0 grams; 4 nice fragments (roughly equal size) - $120
c) 3.1 gram fragment – 18mm x 15mm x 8mm - $120
d) 18.0 gram fragment – 31mm x 28mm x 16mm - $675 – this has a really large enstatite crystal (30mm x 20mm x 10mm) on one end.

TRAVIS COUNTY (a), Texas: (H5). Found 1889. Tkw = 175.4kg.
This is the fresher (by a bit) of the two Travis County stones. It has a good number of metal and sulfide rimmed chondrules in a dark green/gray matrix. This piece also has a few large Troilite inclusions (one that is about 10mm x 6mm).
136.9 gram complete slice – 175mm x 80mm x 3mm - $200

TRAVIS COUNTY (b), Texas: (H4). Found before 1980. Tkw = 5.9kg.
This is the rarer of the two Travis County stones. It is a bit more weathered than the Travis (a), but is still nice. These pices show lots of chondrules (really visible on the back unpolished side) in a mixed medium to dark brown matrix.
a) 20.1 gram part slice – 45mm x 34mm x 5mm - $40
b) 64.2 gram ½ slice – 80mm x 60mm x 5mm - $120

TULIA (d), Texas: (H6). Found 1981. Tkw = 17.7kg.
Yep, I did sell the last piece I had of this from the last list, BUT the folks at TCU noticed this offering and sent up a couple pieces (2 "large" complete slices) that they had set aside somewhere (as inventory for potential trades with other museums, perhaps). Any way, I am offering the largest here. I have a very similar 99.2 gram piece, but I am temporarily holding that one for someone that wanted the 74g one I had last time but missed out.
114.1 gram complete slice – 100mm x 84mm x 4mm - $285

Blaine Reed Meteorites List 97, more consigned plus "gift ideas"

2010-12-15T03:10:00.000-08:00

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
LIST 97
December 14, 2010

Dear Collectors,

Here is an offering of remaining consigned items and a couple things that turned up while doing inventory work (I have just begun this long tedious process, so more my turn up later). I also forgot about some beautiful sterling wire-wrapped Moldavite and Libyan glass pendants that would make great gifts, though I am, admittedly, a bit late on that. I can ship express if needed though..

HUCKITTA, Australia: (Pallasite).
This is a smaller piece than the last one I listed. This is a slice though.
6.3 grams slice (no cut edges) – 22mm x 17mm x 5mm - $12

NWA (----): Unstudied. Likely (L6) .
This is a nice part slice. It has 2 cut edges and the remainder shows slightly wind-polished black crust. The interior is also interesting. It shows a good number of black shock veins in a light brown matrix. Nice stuff, would not mind having a fairly large quantity of this one if it were available.
17.7 gram slice – 45mm x 30mm x 5mm - $20

NWA (-----): Unstudied. Likely (H5).
This is a nice complete slice that shows lots of metal in a mixed light to medium brown matrix. If it didn't have a wind-polished crust edge, I would probably guess that this was Gao.
17.2 gram complete slice – 52mm x 27mm x 4mm - $15

NWA (2907): Anomalous achondrite. Found before Sept. 2005. Tkw = 203grams.
This is some strange stuff I picked up at the Denver Show. It has the mineralogy of a diogenite but it appears to be from the parent body of the Mesosiderites. It certainly does not look anything like a diogenite. It has fine granular texture with some slightly larger (couple mm or so) clasts in a orangish to almost pinkish brown matrix. This is a consigned specimen. I think I have a few (but very few) pieces remaining of this of my own (though I have not come across them yet), so let me know if more of you want specimens and I will set them aside or you when I do locate mine.
.85 grams complete slice – 17mm x 10mm x 2mm - $65

SANTA VITORIA DO PALMAR, Brazil: (L3). Found 2003/2004.
This, as with the Huckitta, is a smaller piece than offered last time that turned up in the same consignment lot.
1.5 gram slice – 15mm x 8mm x 4mm - $8

SELMA, Alabama: (H4). Found 1906. Tkw = 141kg.
This is just a basic square cut sample(a nice "macro"). The unpolished back shows lots of chondrules. The front shows fewer chondrules (polishing darkens things) in a dark green and brown mixed matrix.
3.6 gram slice – 18mm x 17mm x 3mm - $30

SEYMCHAN, Russia; (Pallasite).
This is a nice rectangle cut iron piece. It has a beautiful etch and particularly well shows the fantastic diversity of this meteorite's structure (with areas that appear to be finest octahedrite structure as well as some bands that are almost coarsest octahedral width). A really nice piece and a testament to the stability of this stuff. This shows only the tinniest traces of brown rust staining along a couple crystal boundaries on the back even after spending considerable time in Florida (without special storage no less!).
62.0gram etched 9both sides) slice – 61mm x 41mm x 3mm - $90

TULIA (D), Texas: (H6). Found 1981. Tkw = 17.7kg.
This is my last piece of this, and I know the source (TCU) is not cutting any more. I don't think they cut much of this to begin with, so very little of it is floating around the collecting world. This is a large piece, but I have tried to price it very close (if not slightly under) what I paid for the thing. However, let me know if you want a smaller piece of this for your collection. If I get a number of "smaller pieces wanted" orders, I may break this down.
78.7 gram slice – 95mm x 70mm x 4mm - $175

ZAG, Morocco: (H3-6). Fell August 4 or 5 1998. Tkw = 175kg.
This is one of 2 meteorites that halite crystals were discovered in 9the other being Monahans, TX). This is a nice "E-Bay" lot perhaps. It consists of 5 pieces including 2 large pieces (23mm x 6mm x 5mm and 28mm x 10mm x 5mm) and a couple small (a bit under 1cm max dimension) fragments.
13.5 grams slices and fragments - $25

JEWELRY: I know, I really needed to have these offered last week (or earlier) but completely forgot about these things until I opened the box they were in while inventorying part of the vault a couple days ago. I am going to try to get Blake to take a group photo of these so I can send it to anyone interested. I will have the different sized moldavite and libyan glass pendants arranged from lightest (first listed below) to heaviest from left to right in the picture. The other items should be fairly obvious.

CAMPO DEL CIELO:
I have 2 necklaces that have a Campo nugget as the center piece. BUT, the remainder, in my opinion, is the best part. These are very well done. They use all kinds of glass and stone beads. The maker also felt (and I certainly agree) they were good enough to spend extra money to use a sterling "lobster claw" for the clasp. One is mostly blue and light purple, the other red and yellows. Your choice - $80

LIBYAN DESERT GLASS:
These are nice clear pieces (the largest does have a fair number of round white crystobalite inclusions though) that have wire-wrapped in sterling with almost indescribable skill. The "back side" of these is often even fancier on the silver work than what will be visible in the picture.
a) 7.6 grams total - $80 – glass sample is roughly 25mm x 16mm x 6mm. Overall pendant is 35mm x 25mm x 22mm.
b) 11.3 grams total - $115 – glass sample is roughly 30mm x 21mm x 8mm and roughly arrow-head shaped. Overall pendant is 53mm x 22mm x 10mm.
c) 12.4 grams total - $125 – glass sample is roughly 35mm x 20mm x 12mm. Overall pendant is 50mm x 25mm x 15mm.

MOLDAVITE:
These, as above, are fancy wrapped with sterling (except the carving – noted below and photoed next to the NWA (482) and Sikhote pieces). I tried to pick samples that have nice surface texture to them (no river-worn pieces here). Some do have broken or chipped areas, but they were wrapped such that this does not readily show from the front. Also, as above, the silver work is often fancier than that on the front (so accidentally wearing one of these backwards would still look great).
a) 9.4 grams total - $100 – moldavite is roughly 26mm x 17mm x 5mm. Overall pendant is 37mm x 30mm x 10mm.
b) 11.2 grams total - $115 – moldavite is roughly 40mm x 14mm x 6mm. Overall pendant is 63mm x 17mm x 12mm.
c) 17.2 grams total - $170 – moldavite is roughly 40mm x 12mm x 10mm. Overall pendant is 63mm x 17mm x 13mm (this has some really heavy sterling "wire" in it).
d) Moldavite with 3 amethyst gem stones. Now this is really special! The work in this thing is incredible. The moldavite is roughly 40mm x 12mm x 5mm and the overall pendant is 62mm x 25mm x 10mm - $250
e) Moldavite carving. This is a 18mm x 16mm x 9mm moldavite that has a beautiful woman's face carved into it (remainder is natural) and wire-wrapped in 14kt gold-filled wire. Total weight is 4.0g - $100.

NWA (482):
This is my last "moon dust" pendant. It is a small (20mm long) tear-drop glass vial with dust from the cutting of the NWA (482) moon rock. It is attached (glued?) to a 14kt gold bell cap. - $100

SIKHOTE-ALIN:
This is a nice basic shrapnel piece (roughly 28mm x 17mm x 6mm) wrapped simply but elegantly in sterling wire. Total piece is 13.5 grams and 40mm x 19mm x 7mm - $45

List 96, more miscellaneous consigned items

2010-12-01T08:32:00.000-08:00

List 96, more miscellaneous consigned items
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487

..................................LIST 96

November 30, 2010

Dear Collectors,

I have been very busy with projects of various sorts and have not had time to put together any kind of list for the past month and a half. These items are actually from a box of consignments that was sent to me shortly after the Denver Show. I do hope to get on the ball and get inventory work started soon. That should bring out some special "only got a tiny bit left" offerings next month. Unfortunately though that on top of all of the other things I have been trying to accomplish I got notice yesterday that I need to prepare the "landing spot" for a trailer that will become my ultra-light's hanger. I have gotten tired of hanging myself trying to carefully get around all of the wires of the hang-glider wing taking up a substantial portion of my garage (I am beginning to think that the reason they call these wings "hang-gliders" is not because you hang underneath them while flying, but because you can't move around one that is completely or partially set up with out hanging yourself on a support wire or two). This was NOT a project I had planned on working on for the near term, but the trailer yard says it must be moved by the end of next week. I will have many hours of dirt moving and such to do now, so future lists (and the inventory work that will generate them) will likely be a bit delayed or oddly timed. I apologize for this.

ALLENDE, Mexico: Carbonaceous chondrite (CV3.2). Fell February 8, 1969.
This is a nice complete stone! It has a very high amount of crust coverage (something like 90% - only the usual chipped edges). What is interesting is that all o this crust shows lots of contraction cracks. This may be partly due to the act that I think that this may be a "later" recovery and some light colored dirt has settled into the cracks. However, this is not one of the really later recoveries, it is still very fresh (no rust, no lichen and such as found on some of the most recent recovered specimens). Another interesting feature is a crater where a 3mm chondrule popped out during the fall that is now fully crusted over.
8.8 gram crusted individual – 20mm x 17mm x 16mm - $90

BONITA SPRINGS, Florida: (H5). Found 1938. Tkw = 41.8 kg.
I am quite surprised at how fresh this is. I would think that any iron bearing meteorite found in Florida (or similar environment) would be deeply rust weathered. This is a nice light gray (there are some brown spots) color with lots of fresh metal.
3.0 gram slice – 18mm x 18mm x 3mm - $75

BRAHIN, Belarus: (pallasite). Found 1810. Tkw = 1000+kg.
This slice, of coarse, shows a fair amount of rusting, but it has not completely fallen apart (amazing considering it spent a long time in Florida). This does have some nice gemmy crystals though. One is really clear (only about 4mm x 4mm though) and could possibly be cut into a gem stone
5.7 gram slice – 27mm x 12mm x 5mm - $10

CANYON DIABLO, Arizona: rock flour.
This is a small container (approximately 20mm x 20mm x 15mm) that is a bit over half full of white powdered sandstone. This is some of the "rock flour" (highly shocked Coconino Sandstone) that was retrieved from the "mine" shaft in the bottom of the crater.
Approximately 18mm x 18mm x 10mm in box - $20

GHUBARA, Oman: (L5), black, xenolithic. Found 1954. Tkw = 250+kg.
2.5 gram slice – 15mm x 8mm x 6mm - $3

GOLD BASIN, Arizona: (L4). Found 1995.
This is nothing special, just a typical representative cut fragment ( the back side is natural, but I don't see anything I would call crust). It has the usual surprisingly fresh interior with a fair amount o metal in a mixed gray and brown matrix.
5.6 gram end piece –26mm x 13mm x 8mm - $8

HENBURY, Australia; Medium octahedrite (IIIAB). Found 1931.
This is just a typical natural individual. I used to have a lot of this stuff (in fact, this probably came from me years ago), but I am now down to only a small hand full (the strength of the Australian dollar combined with the weakness of the US dollar has made the "wholesale" price of this material higher than what I normally sold it for so I have not picked up any new materail in years).
8.6 gram natural individual – 20mm x 15mm x 6mm - $10

HUCKITTA, Australia: (pallasite).
This is an end piece of the usual oxide material.
21.6 gram end piece – 35mm x 13mm x 17mm - $32

IMILAC, Chile: (Pallasite).
This is a particularly nice "shrapnel" fragment. It has a really wild shape with some yellow and almost pinkish olivine in the deepest pockets.
10.0 gram fragment – 20mm x 18mm x 10mm - $60

MONTURAQUI, Chile: Impactite.
This is one of the better cut pieces of this I have seen.
7.7 gram end piece – 33mm x 23mm x 6mm - $15

MUNDRABILLA, Australia: Medium octahedrite, ungrouped.
This is just a basic natural individual metal nugget. Nice, but typical for this meteorite.
20.3 gram individual – 25mm x 17mm x 10mm - $20

NWA (------): unclassified, likely (H5).
This is a nice end piece with a large cut face (about 70mm x 60mm) that has not been polished (I can do this if you like). There is also another "test cut" on the back (about 35mm x 25mm). Overall, this is a nice specimen and would make an ideal "pass around" educational specimen. The interior is quite fresh – showing lots of metal in a light tan matrix (reminds of Gao). The exterior is very smooth (highly wind-polished) and has in interesting pinkish brown color. This looks shockingly similar (internally and externally) to the Sahara (99427) listed below, but then this piece weighs as much as the total reported (according the hand scribbled notes that came with all of this anyway – that Sahara stone has not been officially reported – according to Meteorites A to Z).
351.1 gram end piece – 70mm x 60mm x 40mm - $150

NWA (----), Unclassified.
This is just a typical fragment of chondrite (no real idea what kind as it has no cut or polished suraces).
7.0 gram fragment – 15mm x 15mm x 14mm - $3

NWA (482): Lunar impact melt breccia. Found 2000. Tkw = 1015grams.
This is a small fragment in a capsule in a magnifier box. This is almost completely white (anorthosite) with only a few hints of shock darkening.
.027 gram fragment 2.5mm x 2mm x 2mm - $50

NWA (2932) (Mesosiderite). Found 2005. Tkw = 15+kg.
I really wish I bought more of this when the "big" batch came out (I am out of it myself). This is what a mesosiderite should look like. It has a nice mix of metal (including one 5mm or so nodule) and silicates.
22.5 gram end piece – 40mm x 20mm x 13mm - $135

PUTORANA, Russia: Terrestrial Fe/Ni in basalt.
This is still a mystery to me. This has Fe, Ni ands even troilite. It is a breccia (unlike any other iron in basalt that I am aware of). This is a nice highly polished specimen that has loads of iron. This is a nice as any mesosiderite. This is the only piece of this I have (I am COMPLETELY sold out in my inventory).
7.8 gram slice – 40mm x 6mm x 5mm - $11

SAHARA (99427): Not reported but likely (H5), Tkw = 351.1 grams.
Here is a slice of this, unfortunately, unreported stone. It is quite fresh and shows lots of metal in a tan to brown matrix (reminds me of Gao).
43.2 gram slice – 47mm x 38mm x 8mm - $45

SANTA VITORIA DO PALMAR, Brazil. (L3). Ound 2003/2004. Tkw = 50.36kg.
This is the one, despite its rather dark matrix and lack of metal, that is reproted to have likely fallen June 25, 1997. I quickly sold all I had when I had a good quantity of it a few years ago. This does show lots of chondrules of all sizes, though there are a bit hidden in the dark brown matrix.
17.2 gram slice – 50mm x 25mm x 4mm - $80

SARIR QATTUSAH (001), Libya: (L/LL3). Found 1994. Tkw = 796 grams.
This is actually a nice specimen. It is weathered ( it only shows a few bits of metal) but it has lots of chondrules of different colors. It kind of reminds me of Ragland or Wells.
1.9 gram slice – 14mm x 12mm x 5mm - $30

Blaine Reed Meteorites List 95

2010-10-16T08:34:00.000-07:00

Blaine Reed Meteorites List 95, mailed list posting Saturday, October 16, 2010 4:21 AM
List 95, mailed list posting Saturday, October 16, 2010 4:21 AM
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487

..LIST 95

October 15, 2010

Dear Collectors,

Here is an electronic copy of my just mailed paper list. That should have been in the hands of every body on the mailing list by now, but I have only gotten calls from overseas and Hawaii (I send those out earlier in an attempt to have everyone everywhere get the thing at the same time). Something got goofed up this time. Probably delays and such from the holiday Monday (Columbus Day) that I had completely forgotten about. I decided to go ahead and send this out now (usually I wait until I start getting calls from a wide selection of regions) so that collectors in the main parts of the US will have a shot at some of this (I have already sold my 2 largest Gebel Kamil individuals and the smallest NWA (5782) complete slice). Many of you are on both the paper mailing list and this e-mailing one so I guess there is only a bit of "unfairness" in doing this now.

I finally pulled together this list from stuff I have had and stuff I picked up at the Denver show a couple weeks ago. I have been very busy with many things (some good some bad, unfortunately) so this is going out a bit later than I would have liked. This also means that the typical time frame that I usually see orders come in from one of these mailings will overlap with a couple out of town trips I have to make (leave a message if you do find you want to place an order during these dates, I will set aside samples for you and get back in touch with you when I get home). These are:
Denver: October 21st - 25th.: Not meteorite related, but if any of you in Denver really want me to bring some samples to look over, let me know.
Socorro, New Mexico Mineral Symposium. November 11th - 17th. This "show" I have been attending longer than any other. I think the first time I went was in 1985 (first set up and offered samples in 1986). This year the "informal tail-gating" (specimen sales) will be at the new Comfort Inn at the very North end of town (1259 Frontage Rd NW - West side of the interstate). I am supposed to be in room 119. I should be set up and open by about 5PM on Friday Nov 12th and open again about 6PM Saturday (generally open until 12 each night - this is a drink in hand, wander and look at specimens kind of thing - very relaxed and enjoyable). I will also likely be open much of Sunday as well - not putting things away until around 5PM or so that day.

GEBEL KAMIL, Egypt: Ni-rich ataxite (ungrouped). Found 2008. Tkw = about 1600kg.
A 45meter (148ft) diameter crater was discovered on Google Earth satellite photos in 2008. Field expeditions in February of 2010 confirmed that it was indeed a meteorite impact crater. Many shrapnel type fragments of Ni-rich (close to 20% nickel!) iron meteorites were found surrounding the crater. It is currently estimated that this fall occurred less than 5000 years ago. When I first saw some of this stuff (at the Denver spring show in April) I was quite suspicious. The external texture looked VERY much like how man-made materials weather (but then an iron of fairly uniform composition in a sand-blasting type environment probably should end up looking the same). But, the slices (that are obviously cut from shrapnel type fragments), clearly show schriebersite and other meteoritic minerals (and I now have some scientific reports on the stuff - something I did not have at all then). I have both nice complete shrapnel fragments (the large ones are really neat) and some really nice super thin slices that are etched (some on one side with the other side highly polished and some etched on both sides).

1) Complete shrapnel fragments as found:
a) 52.7 grams - 45mm x 30mm x 10mm - $70
b) 92.4 grams - 55mm x 30mm x 15mm - $115
c) 211.4 grams - 58mm x 40mm x 22mm - $250
d) 339.0 grams - 65mm x 60mm x 23mm - $390
e) 595.8 grams - 105mm x 65mm x 23mm - $640 - yes, this is available. It was a replacement for the 691g piece on the mailed list.
f) 908.1 grams - 120mm x 80mm x 30mm - sold

2) Complete slices, etched:
a) 26.5 grams - 70mm x 40mm x 1.5mm - $80
b) 39.5 grams - 80mm x 60mm x 1mm - $118
c) 57.5 grams - 90mm x 60mm x 1.5mm - $170

BENSOUR, Morocco/ Algeria: (LL6). Fell February 11, 2002. Tkw = 45+kg.
This is one of those "rumor of a fall" while we are at major shows (these are surprisingly common) that later turned out to be true (actual falls during or near Tucson and Denver show dates were the subject of this year's Tucson wine glass I made). I sold the last of this I had (at $7 to $8/g) some time ago and have not seen much of this meteorite since (aside from the bag of really small fragments I had earlier this summer that is). Luckily I picked up a nice bag of fresh material. These are the usual broken fragments that show a light gray, fine textured interior (and the occasional metal or troilite grain) with large patches of fresh black crust (covering roughly 30% or more of most of these pieces). Nice, affordable, pieces of an LL fall!
1) Fragments with crust as found:
a) 1.0 grams - 9mm x 8mm x 7mm - $7
b) 2.1 grams - 12mm x 11mm x 6mm - $14
c) 3.0 grams - 22mm x 8mm x 7mm - $20
d) 5.9 grams - 18mm x 17mm x 11mm - $38
e) 12.8 grams - 25mm x 18mm x 15mm - $80

NWA (5778): (H4). Found before September 2008. Tkw = 1560 grams.
This is yet another "thought it was something better" when I got it stones. The seller thought it was an H3 and, given the large number of chondrules it showed on the cut surface it had, it looked like one to me as well. Alas, it turned out to be an H4 (the science on this one is irrefutable - equilibrated olivine = type 4 or higher). This is quite weathered (no real visible), but yet it still has a pleasing light almost pinkish brown color with lots of chondrules clearly visible (many H's get so dark when oxidized that the chondrules get hidden - Dimmitt, TX is one example).

1) Slices:
a) 11.7 grams - 47mm x 22mm x 2mm - $10
b) 22.1 grams - 60mm x 30mm x 5mm - $18
c) 44.0 grams - 72mm x 45mm x 5mm - $35 - complete slice.
d) 71.1 grams - 103mm x 44mm x 6mm - $55 - complete slice.

2) End piece:
a) 336.9 grams - 100mm x 43mm x 45mm - $235 - Main Mass!

NWA (5779): (LL5), polymict breccia: Found before October 2008. Tkw = 815 grams.
This is a stone I wish I had much more of. I asked the source for more of this but was told "there is none", darn it. This is a fantastic LL breccia that has a light tan/ brown matrix and lots of angular to rounded fragments that are generally different shades of brown and gray to some that are weird swirled mixes of both (those are impact melt clasts, most likely). These fragments are of different compositions than the host rock - making this a "polymict" breccia. This does still show metal grains and troilite in proper amount for the type stone this is, so it is not weathered to any great degree either. A real interesting stone scientifically and great visually.
1) Slices:
a) 6.9 grams - 30mm x 20mm x 5mm - $30
b) 16.0 grams - 45mm x 30mm x 4mm - $68
c) 24.6 grams - 70mm x 50mm x 3mm - $105
d) 56.3 grams - 90mm x 65mm x 4mm - $225 - complete slice.

NWA (5782): Acapulcoite/Lodranite. Found Before September 2008. Tkw = 130 grams.
This was special enough to get special treatment in its reporting. I did not know that this one was "finished" until I saw a picture of it in the most recent Meteoritical Bulletin (a picture Blake took that the bulletin miss-labeled as having an inch scale for size when it was really centimeters). This is a breccia containing fragments of both acapulcoites of various compositions (making up 45% of this stone) and lodranites (also of variuos compositions and making up 25% of this stone) with a matrix composed of fine debris of both types. This is the only such thing known in the world. It has been called the "Rosetta Stone" of the acapulcoite/lodranite parent body. It is too bad that so little was recovered (and even that was by accident in a batch of L6 stones I picked up some time ago). After I got done sending pieces of all sizes all over for research work (that is still continuing on this thing for clues about its parent body) I was left with only about 41 grams to offer to collectors.
1) Slices:
a) .13 grams - 9mm x 5mm x 1mm - $50
b) .26 grams - 12mm x 6mm x 1mm - $100
c) .52 grams - 17mm x 9mm x 1mm - $200
d) .86 grams - 17mm x 15mm x 1mm - $325
e) 1.50 grams - 24mm x 21mm x 1mm - sold.
f) 2.93 grams - 33mm x 26mm x 1mm - $1070 - complete slice.
g) 4.98 grams - 37mm x 31mm x 1mm - $1800 - complete slice.

IRIDIUM: The element
Iridium is a very important to meteorite impact research element. Iridium is one of the very rarest metals in the Earth's crust (making up less than .001 parts per million on average). In meteorites, however, it is "relatively common" - making up around .5 parts per million. Large impacts bring a large dose of this element to the Earth's surface. This is then deposited into accumulating sediments in the area (smaller impacts) to all over the globe (as in the Chicxulub impact). Thus, an increased Iridium content in a rock layer tends to indicate that a large impact may have occurred at that time. These are fine crystals (maybe mm sized) that were vapor deposited during the process of making crystals for high power lasers. I have these in a capsule in a magnifier box in various sized lots (I, as an element collector would prefer a "mole" sized lot - but that is some 192 grams!).
1) Crystals in a capsule in a magnifier box:
a) .10grams - $10
b) .25grams - $15
c) .50 grams - $25
d) 1.0 grams - $40

LIGHTED LOUPE:
This is what most of us know as a hand lens. I bought one of these a year or so ago (for $20) and have used it almost exclusively ever since. These are 20X magnification and have a fairly large lens area (about 19mm diameter) and have a couple really bright L.E.D.s built into them to light what you are looking at - $15 each.

Please include postage: a couple dollars on small U.S. orders and $10 on large items for first class (insurance is extra, if desired). On small overseas orders, $3 to $5 is generally plenty (I'll have to custom figure the rate for large items). Registration is also recommended on more valuable overseas shipments - an extra $12.00.
If you are sending a fax, simply begin transmitting when my line is answered. My fax will turn on automatically to receive (or I will start it if I answer) when you begin transmitting.

List 94, some "after Denver" stuff

2010-10-04T08:35:00.000-07:00

MONDAY, 4 OCTOBER 2010

-- List #94
List 94, some "after Denver" stuff
Wednesday, September 29, 2010 8:14 AM
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax: (970) 874-1487
…………………………………………………..LIST 94
September 28, 2010

Dear Collectors,
Sorry this is going out so late. I have been very busy today (lots of calls, visitors and such). I have been working on this since 11AM this morning and wanted to be done by 1 or 2PM. Here it is after 5.

Most of these are things that were sent to me for the Denver show or things I picked up while there. I had a couple more boxes of things that were sent, but did not arrive in time to make it to the show with me as well (I still have not opened them). Those should make for the next offering or three. I am also desperately trying to get a mailed offering pulled together before too long (I usually would have the bulk of an after Denver paper listing ready to go and by now, but all of the difficulties health wise this summer left me waaay behind in cutting, polishing and cataloging stuff for such an offering). We have really nice weather now, so I am trying to get that caught up as well (but it will likely be a couple weeks before I have envelopes stuffed and sent).

ODESSA, Texas: Coarse octahedrite (IAB).
This is a sample I got in a bucket of mixed irons I picked up this summer from a mineral dealer in California (he got them as part of a large mineral collection he bought). This one looked like it was simply about to rust into two pieces (along an almost perfectly straight and flat surface that I originally assumed was simply along one of the internal etch structure boundaries). I had considered simply cutting the last little bit of this break and polishing and etching the resulting two pieces to make two end pieces. I am glad I didn't. On closer inspection, I realized that this "rusting crack" is really a troilite or Schiebersite inclusion that has mostly broken out of this specimen (some of this is still visible in the narrow end of the split). Very interesting and unusual, but I am pricing this at the same as a more common Odessa specimen of this size.
1270 gram brushed individual - 125mm x 70mm x 30mm - $900

TAZWELL, TN: Finest octahedrite (IIICD). Found 1853. Tkw=27.2kg
Tazwell is the only finest ocathedrite I have ever seen and this is only the second sample I have ever had of it. I had this hiding in a "do something with later" stuff and forgot about it for many years (it came too me from Tom Palmer's collection). Actually, the "do something" was to trim the slightly larger specimen down into two pieces; one for my type set micro collection (I had goofed and accidently left my last specimen in with "extra" specimens from that collection that I was willing to part with and, of coarse, it sold immediately) and this one to sell. It has been decades since I got my first piece (and a good 7 or 8 years since I got this one) and it may be as long before another specimen of this turns up again.
10.8 gram etched part slice (50% crusted edge) - 20mm x 11mm x 6mm - $300

NWA (6135), (LL3.8). Found 2008. Tkw = 3.8kg.
Matt Morgan got this stone a couple years ago and cut a few pieces off of it. I picked up this fantastic slice from him a earlier this summer (I had a customer that wanted LL3 pieces, but it turned out that he wanted larger, preferably complete pieces individuals). This is not an individual, so it didn't meet the needs, but it is a complete slice. It has a great LL3 interior (lots of chondrules) and a few interesting inclusions. One (the one that caught my eye and got me to take this piece) is a 20mm x 25mm obvious LL5 fragment!.
121.5 gram complete slice - 110mm x 65mm x 6mm - $1100

ASH CREEK, (a.k.a. "West") Texas: (L6). Fell February 15, 2009. Tkw = 11.7kg.
I remember that I was still visiting friends in Phoenix after the Tucson show when this fell. I was unloading my car back at home when the first recovered pieces started turning up. I really wanted to go and look for some of this one (it looked like enough pieces were being found that there was a real chance of not getting skunked on a hunt here - not so with the recent Wisconsin fall). Unfortunately, I had a good 3 weeks of work, bills, etc waiting to be immediately dealt with after being gone so long for the show. These are both beautiful complete, black crusted individuals (the smaller has some hint of dark brown coloration that could be very light oxide - it did rain quite a bit the days after this fell). .
a) 17.9 gram complete individual - 27mm x 20mm x 15mm - $985
b) 27.0 gram complete individual - 32mm x 25mm x 21mm - $1485

TUXTUAC, Mexico: (LL5). Fell October 16, 1975. Tkw = 29.25kg.
This is one of the usual crust free pieces. Much of this meteorite was broken apart by the locals that found it as they thought that there must gold or gems hiding inside it as the price offered for it was really high for just an "ugly rock", even if it did fall from space. Robert Haag had the bulk of this stuff years ago, but it is now fairly scarce stuff (and quite under priced for an LL fall in my opinion).
28.7 gram cut fragment - 48mm x 24mm x 20mm - $150

ALLENDE, Mexico: carbonaceous chondrite (CV3.2). Fell February 8, 1969.
This is beautiful super thin slice cut by wire saw. This is a particularly nice piece of Allende it has nice chondrules (not quite as many as the NWA 3118 below, but very nice for Allende) and has a nice 10mm x 1.5mm CAI. I had a bunch of pieces like this at the show and sold all of them rapidly (this one would have sold, but it was mistakenly mixed in with the NWA (3118) pieces that I had extras of so I did not know I had this).
32mm x 23mm thin slice in mylar box - $40

NWA (801), carbonaceous chondrite (CR2)
Here is a really nice LARGE (for this stuff) slice that I wouldn't mind keeping for myself (I am making working on a deal to get one for myself a bit later though). This is a complete slice that was cut with a wire saw, but not polished so it does show some horizontal cut marks. The owner of this did polish down a slice that they kept for their collection and decided that it was best to leave this unpolished (sanding tends to darken the material and you loose a fair amount of the chondrule structure and metal in this material). I did just discover though that he coated the back side with some kind of lacquer, and did a pretty poor job of it unfortunately (though it does really bring out the chondrules really well). This is in a riker mount box so this is the first I have seen the back side of this piece. It is too thin to risk trying to sand and re-coat so I am going to offer it as it is at a price a bit below what I had on it at the show.
35.0 gram complete slice - 135mm x 70mm x 1mm - $875

NWA (3118), carbonaceous chondrite (CV3). Found 2003. Tkw = 5895grams.
This, to me, looks the same as NWA (2086), which is on of my favorite meteorites (why oh why didn't I keep more of that 33kg lot I sold off back in 2003 and 2004?). This is loaded with chondrules. Some Allende looks like this stuff, but most is positively uninteresting compared to this material. These are more of the super thin cut wire-sawed samples I got on consignment just before leaving for the show. The small specimens are so thin that I am not going to risk trying to take them out of their mylar boxes to weigh them or try to guestimate their thickness.
a) 16mm x 11mm slice in mylar display box - $15
b) 20mm x 17mm slice in mylar box - $20
c) 28mm x 20mm slice in mylar box - $35
d) 3.0g - 65mm x 58mm slice in riker mount box - $75

LAFAYETTE, Indiana: (Nakhlite) Mars Rock. Found before 1930. Tkw = 800g.
This is the important mars rock that also was about the most perfect oriented meteorite. There is very little of this available (it was cut, but, thankfully, not completely cut up so it is still a pretty impressive display piece for showing classic orientation). This is "just" a small (about 2mm x 1mm) crumb (not many larger pieces of this are available, so most of us have to settle for a crumb if we are going to own any of this one). It comes in a neat Riker display that has a picture of the remaining oriented mass and a picture of Mars.
2mm x 1mm fragment in riker box display - $75

Blaine Reed Meteorites - Denver Show info

2010-09-09T08:38:00.000-07:00

Blaine Reed Meteorites - Denver Show info
Denver Show info

Thursday, September 9, 2010 2:44 AM
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
(970) 874-1487

Dear Collectors,

Unfortunately I got to busy and too far behind to pull together an offering (that should have gone out yesterday no less). I did manage to finally pull together all of the paper-work, approvals and everything to get my solar electric system up and running (which is currently producing nearly 3 times my current electric use - at least when the sun is shinning), so I guess that means this is my first "all solar powered" listing. It is nice to have at least one major project completed this challenging summer (several await my attention later, unfortunately. I guess that means I won't be bored this fall).
I am attempting to get prepared for the Denver show now (I leave Saturday afternoon to visit a friend that evening and Sunday). I am probably the most unprepared I have ever been by this short of time before leaving (and I have been doing this show for nearly 25 years now - I don't know for certain if it is this year or next that will be my 25 year anniversary - I'll look it up later). Things may seem a bit less organized in my room for awhile this year, so have a bit of patience if it takes me a little extra time to set up and get my door open (I usually like to open by about 10 or 11AM Tuesday morning, but my need until 12 or 1PM this time, but I will really try to open by 11AM).

Here is the important info:

For those visiting the show:

I will be in my usual location - Room 224 of the Holiday Inn - Denver Central (yep, they changed their name recently). This is at 4849 Bannock St for those of you with address location finding GPS units. It is relatively easy to find for those of you navigating otherwise; it is near the intersection of the two interstate highways that cross Colorado - I-25 and I-70. The easiest method for most would be to take the 58th street exit off of I-25. Go West to 58th's dead end on Bannock. Head South (left turn) and the Holiday Inn will be down a bout a mile on the right (parking close by can be difficult though).

I will be open (as mentioned above) from about 12 noon (hopefully a bit earlier) Tuesday morning (the 14th) through 5pm or so on Sunday (the 19th). I will be open the rest of the show at 10AM and should be open until about 10pm each night (though there is a chance I may take a break and close on Friday at around 7pm to attend the COMETS auction and social gathering - free good micro-brew beer and good fun.

Blaine Reed Meteorites List 93 25AUG2010

2010-08-25T08:40:00.000-07:00

Blaine Reed Meteorites List 93 25AUG2010
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax: (970) 874-1487
………………………………………………….. Meteorite LIST 93

August 25, 2010

Dear Collectors,

I am finally getting a bit better. Not fully recovered (still quite weak, and tire out too easily in my opinion yet) but much better (and well past the contagious stage). I am slowly trying to get caught up and back in the groove. But have patience with me if I end up not being able to jump right on things just yet.

I would have had this offering out yesterday, but I got tied up with a rather difficult (and a but frightening) electrical inspection (I was able to do the very light work of finishing the solar panel wiring while stuck in quarantine here at home). I was warned that the local inspector was a real tough one (he only passes about 10% of the jobs the first visit). I had a few minor things that he wanted changed (and, thankfully, he was willing to let me change them as he watched), BUT he wanted to fail me on the inverter - the really expensive thing that changes the DC from the panels into the AC that the house uses. We live in such an extreme area that the temperatures do occasionally go both above and below the inverter's rated operation range (-25C to 40C). Technically, this is a "fail" for the job. The solution, in his opinion, is to buy a different inverter - a $4000 problem. A bit of discussion and pointing out that it does not reach either extreme all that often (quite a bit more often on the hot end than the cold though) and that the inverter will safely self shut down if either extreme is reached. I got off with a pass but a note that the inverter may eventually have to be replaced if we commonly start hitting those extremes (God, I certainly hope not - it is already plenty hot in the summer and cold in the winter here for me). So, once the electric company changes out the meter, I can start it all up and start operating on my "free" electricity.

These items are a few miscellaneous things and last of an item things I have had sitting around for a good part of the summer now. I hope to have another offering or two before the Denver show (time to try and make up a bit for the 3 shows I lost this summer), but I am not certain that will happen. But, if I do have more things to offer, those lists may (as this one) be a bit skewed from the proper timing (but I will try to stay as close as possible).

CANYON DIABLO, Arizona: Coarse octahedrite (IAB)>
This is a really nice complete shale-ball. Usually the shale from this meteorite is seen as isolated flakes and angular fragments. This is a nice flattened egg shape (roughly) intact (aside from a few small edge chips) individual.
138.0 gram complete shale ball - 55mm x 40mm x 27mm - $60

SIKHOTE-ALIN, Russia. Coarsest octahedrite (IIAB). Fell February 12, 1947.
Here are a couple special pieces I have had set aside for awhile. One is a shrapnel fragment that has a very interesting set of holes (more like two holes connected to a fairly large central cavern). The other piece is what some call a "half breed". It is mostly a long, really interesting shaped shrapnel fragment but the fatter end of this has a patch (about 50mm x 25mm) of obvious crust and thumb printing. I have only had a few such pieces over the years (and they all have sold quickly).
a) 94.8 gram shrapnel fragment with holes - 45mm x 30mm x 25mm - $90
b) 429.1 gram crusted/ shrapnel "half breed" - 105mm x 40mm x 25mm - $300

BENSOUR, Morocco: (LL6). Fell February 10, 2002. Tkw = 45+kg.
This is a nice little E-Bay or micro-mount lot. These are a bunch of small (generally 2 to 5mm or so) fragments. They are very fresh and most have a good coverage of black crust (many are actually small half stones). I am willing to "part out" this lot if I do not find a home for it intact, so let me know if you really only need 10 or 20g or such.
75gram lot of small (mostly crusted) fragments - $250

GAO, Burkina-Faso: (H5). Fell March 5, 1960.
This is a small slice that was obviously picked up right after it fell. It is likely from a museum trade (unfortunately, I cannot recall where I picked it up from). Its interior is very fresh. It is mostly very light gray (but shows some faint brown spots) and lots of metal. It also has a couple nice patches of black crust along its edges.
5.3 gram fresh slice - 29mm x 11mm x 6mm - $25

HOLBROOK, Arizona: (L/LL6). Fell July 19, 1912.
This is a nice complete stone. It looks to be a fairly old recovery as it is still black and has only a few tiny hint of rust spotting. This is a complete individual. The tag on its box says "95% fusion crust" but in reality it is more like 99% (it has a couple tiny chips in the crust), as the 5% section the previous owner was looking at as not crust is really a late break and is completely covered in a thin secondary crust. Nice piece and priced well considering the prices I have seen on recently recovered specimens these days ( $30/g for fragments to $50/gram for complete stones is what they were asking for the things in Tucson this year).
6.5 gram complete individual - 22mm x 15mm x 12mm - $130

LEEDEY, Oklahoma: (L6). Fell November 25, 1943.Tkw = 51.5kg.
This is a really nice fresh part slice (one cut edge). It has great crust along more than 50% of its edges that displays really well (one crusted edge is gently sloped so you get a lot of crust display surface along that edge).
14.1 gram crusted part slice - 30mm x 25mm x 6mm - $100

NWA (1930): (LL3). Found 2003. Tkw = 7.5kg.
This is the last piece of this I have. It is a nice end piece that shows lots of chondrules (wonder why this one never got the 3 subtype). This is a bit weathered (only a W2 though and really solid - no cracks) so there is some brown staining that hides the chondrules a bit along part of the outer edge of the polished face.
29.5 gram end piece - 30mm x 25mm x 22mm - $150

NWA (5425): (H4). Found May 2006. Tkw = 995grams.
This is a basic, low shock level (S1) H-chondrite. It still shows a good amount of porosity (this gets crushed out at higher shock levels) and shows plenty of chondrules in a medium gray/brown matrix. My last piece of this!
28.3 gram cut fragment - 32mm x 28mm x 11mm - $20

PONY CREEK, Texas: (H4). Found 1947. Tkw = 4642 grams.
A little bit of this was cut from the main mass and released by TCU awhile ago (and no more will be cut). It is quite nice stuff : lots of metal in a dark gray/green matrix. This is my last piece.
37.6 gram slice - 53mm x 40mm x 6mm - $120

NWA (6136): carbonaceous chondrite (CO3). Found 2008. Tkw = 4670 grams.
Here is a large display worthy end piece (it even sits nice naturally) at a price equal to or less than what a typical raw (unstudied) CO3 specimen would likely cost direct from Morocco. I actually have the other side of this stone (it is my "CO type" display specimen) as well as some slices that need prep work before I make them available later (at a substantially more realistic price - this big chunk is kind of a "summer", or make up for a difficult summer, special for the time being). Its interior is the typical fairly dark mixed brown and gray matrix and shows lots of really small chondrules (I will be trying to get this thin sub-typed to see just what level of 3 it is). There are also a roughly 25mm x 11m m area that looks like it might be an impact melt zone.
535.8 gram end piece - 100mm x 75mm x 40mm - $2100

Blaine Reed Meteorites List 92 - more small to medium sized miscellaneous.

2010-07-27T08:50:00.000-07:00

Blaine Reed Meteorites List 92 - more small to medium sized miscellaneous.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010 7:00 AM

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416Ph/fax: (970) 874-1487
…………………………………………………
July 27, 2010

Dear Collectors,I have been so overwhelmed with things around here that I completely forgot that the Creede show dates were changed shortly after I re-signed up for it at the end of last year's show. It is actually August 6-8th, not this weekend (thankfully, I am completely unprepared for a show this weekend. Linda is still not recovered enough from her recent surgery to come along and help if it were this weekend, so I would be on my own - though Mike Martinez, who is visiting right now, was willing to extend his vacation and come along to help if need be).Any way, this offering is probably the simplest I have ever had. I usually like to have some kind of description with each specimen (not really sure if that helps or is just clutter to potential buyers though). Mike typed these in to the computer for me while I worked on other things yesterday and I never got the chance to add any comments since. So - feel free to contact me and ask if you need further details on any specimen you are interested in.

BONDOCK, Philippines: Mesosiderite. Found 195617.6 gram slice - 39mm x 21mm x 6mm - $70 - mostly silicate.

CADDO COUNTY, Oklahoma: Silicated iron. Found 1987. Tkw = 18kg.a) 8.58 gram slice - 32mm x 17mm x 2mm - $130 - mostly iron, nice etch!b) 9.0 gram slice - 40mm x 30mm x 2mm - $200 - super silicate rich.

CLEO SPRINGS, Oklahoma: (H4). Found 1960. Tkw = 24kg.76.7 gram slice - 70mm x 30mm x 13mm - $130

COONANA, S. Australia: (H4). Found 196414.2 gram cut fragment - 35mm x 20mm x 8mm - $55 - this has been "repaired" (a corner glued back on), but it does not show on the polished face at all.

DALGETY DOWNS, Western Australia: (L4). Found 19418.1 gram slice - 21mm x 18mm x 6mm - $15

DHOFAR (007), Oman: (Eucrite). Found 1999. Tkw = 21.2kg..a) .27 gram slice - 10mm x 6mm x 3mm - $5b) 1.8 gram slice - 20mm x 14mm x 3mm - $25

EL HAMMAMI, Africa: (H5). Fell 19976.2 gram slice - 22mm x 15mm x 6mm - $10 - fresh!

ESTACADO, Texas: (H6). Found 18832.5 gram slice - 23mm x 10mm x 2mm - $10

FORESTBURG (b), Texas: (L5). Found 195726.8 gram slice - 40mm x 30mm x 7mm - $45 - nice amount of metal.(this is the better one of the two Forestburg meteorites).

FORREST (002), Western Australia: (L6). Found 198045.7 gram end piece - 50mm x 45mm x 10mm - $80

GAYLORD, Kansas: (H4). Found 198313.8 gram slice - 30mm x 21mm x 6mm - $50

INDOCHINITE: Layered Moung Nong type.56.5 gram complete specimen (no substantial modern breaks) - 55mm x 30mm x 25mm - $20

JILIN, China: (H5). Fell March 8, 19769.2 gram slice - 32mm x 18mm x 5mm - $45 - has a crack (but has not broken - yet) on one side. On the fresher end of what has been available for this meteorite.

LAKE MURRAY, Oklahoma: (IIAB). Found 193320.0 gram oxide Fragment - 30mm x 30mm x 7mm - $20

MARLOW, Oklahoma: (L5). Found February 193620.7 gram slice - 45mm x 26mm x 5mm - $40

McKENZIE DRAW, Texas: (H4). Found 1989. Tkw = 11.8kg.6.4 gram end piece - 32mm x 17mm x 6mm - $20

NWA 869, Africa: (L4). Found 200145.5 gram complete slice - 45mm x 40mm x 9mm - $2512.9 gram slice - 45mm x 18mm x 8mm - $8 - wedged, but has interesting inclusion.

NWA (1068): Martian (Shergottite). Found April 2001. Tkw = 576 grams..150 gram cut fragment - 8mm x 5mm x 3mm - $120

PASAMONTE, New Mexico: (eucrite). Fell March 24, 1933. Tkw = 3.62kg.Approx. .6g of powder in capsule in magnifier box - $40

RENFROW, Oklahoma: (L6). Found 1986. Tkw = 81.6kg.58.0 gram slice - 60mm x 50mm x 6mm - $130

SEIBERT (b), Colorado: (L6). Found 199119.9 gram complete slice - 45mm x 30mm x 6mm - $70 - nice breccia texture.

SLEEPER CAMP (001), Western Australia: (L6). Found 196219.5 gram complete slice - 65mm x 25mm x 5mm - $60

SPRINGER, Oklahoma: (H5). Found 1965. Tkw = 8.3kg.21.8g slice - 44mm x 35mm x 5mm - $75 - lots of metal.

TULIA (a), Texas: (H3/4). Found 19170.7 gram slice - 10mm x 9mm x 4mm - $2

UNKNOWN: NWA specimen.8.3 gram fragment - 20mm x 17mm x 13mm - $4

UNKNOWN: Likely NWA but labeled as SaU (001).36 gram complete individual - 27mm x 27mm x 20mm - $15 - Nice smooth (wind-polished) rounded surfaces.

UVALDE, Texas: (H5). Found 19155.6 gram slice - 23mm x 17mm x 4mm - $30

WAGON MOUND, New Mexico: (L6). Found 193210.7 gram end piece - 42mm x 19mm x 10mm - $ 15
__._,_.___
POSTED BY LUNARMETEORITE*HUNTER AT 04:46
LABELS: BLAINE REED METEORITES

Blaine Reed Meteorites List 91 - Alan Hills 84001 look-a-like

2010-07-06T08:53:00.000-07:00

List 91 - Alan Hills 84001 look-a-like

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
……………………………………………..LIST 91
July 6, 2010

Dear Collectors,

Here is a single (but special) item offering. I hope to be doing more offerings before long (still waiting on more miscellaneous small things from the Florida collection), but their timing my be a bit off of proper, thanks to my busy schedule this month. I will be gone for a couple days this weekend to visit the Durango mineral show (probably Saturday and Sunday). I will be gone again the following weekend, though that will be a bit longer (probably Friday through Tuesday: 16th through the 20th, I believe). Then I have a show that I actually set up for (Creede) at the end of the month (I will have more details on that in a future posting, but the dates for the show are July 30th through August 1st in case anybody out there wants to start making plans to visit this neat show).

NWA (5484). Achondrite (Diogenite). Found 2008. Tkw = 328 grams.
When Matt sent me pictures of this stone (it was quite richly priced for "just a diogenite" raw out of the field, so he wanted an outside opinion), I almost fell over (and started screaming "buy it, buy it, buy it!). This thing looks just like the super famous Alan Hills 84001 (the one that stirred up the life on Mars excitement - something that seems to be rekindling, according to a short article in a recent Popular Science magazine). I have personally seen and held a couple pieces of that stuff, so my alarms went off the second I saw this thing. The same happened with the researchers that started working on this stone. They really thought that it might be another piece of the super special Martian "Diogenite". This really does a good imitation. It has an identical crystal structure, black spots scattered about (chromite, I believe) and even shows a few thin shock veins. Unfortunately, the oxygen isotopes point to a Vesta origin for this thing (and I would guess that they may have double checked those results a couple times to be sure). Most of this material has already found homes. Matt is keeping a full slice (maybe 12 or 13grams) for himself and the main mass is already in a private collection. I have all that is available to collectors. Unfortunately, this consists of a mere 41.7 grams total (and I only have 2 complete slices, so those of you that specialize in complete slices of odd and rare meteorites, please contact me quickly). I don't believe that any Alan Hills 84001 has ever made it into a private collection, but, though a bit expensive for "just a Diogenite", we can at least own and show off a piece of this fantastic look-a-like.

1) Slices:
a) .63 grams - 10mm x 10mm x 2mm - $50
b) 1.04 grams - 14mm x 13mm x 2mm - $80
c) 1.81 grams - 22mm x 13mm x 2mm - $135
d) 3.07 grams - 22mm x 21mm x 2mm - $225
e) 5.59 grams - 36mm x 25mm x 2mm - $400
f) 9.33 grams - 42mm x 32mm x 2mm - $650 - complete slice
g) 12.32 grams - 50mm x 35mm x 2mm - $850 - complete slice

List 90 - miscellanous small specimens

2010-06-16T08:46:00.000-07:00

List 90 - miscellanous small specimens

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
……………………………………………..LIST 90

June 16, 2010

Dear Collectors,

I know, here is another offering that missed its due date. I was out of town most of the day yesterday (and on my garage roof the rest of the time, working on finally getting that solar equipment I have had for a bit over a year now so I can finally start getting some of that "free" electricity going - as if $19k and counting could be considered free by any stretch of the imagination).

Last weeks list completely sold out in a few days. I hope I have similar success with this stuff (though I won't be holding my breath). These specimens are all from a collection in Florida. The owner of these passed away a year or so ago and I am helping his widow with finding new homes for them. Most of these are just right for the average collector that wants to add a few names to their collection. Nice specimens that are generally not large and expensive that require one to decide which to skip - the house payment, the car payment, or food on the table to afford. I have many of these and will likely need to do several offerings (once I get them cataloged that is) over the summer to get them all out there.

BARILLA, Texas: (H5). Found 1994. Tkw = 11.1kg.
A nice dark brown square (cut on all sides) slice. Not much visible metal, but a nice specimen none the less.
5.6 gram slice - 19mm x 18mm x 4mm - $30

BILLY GOAT DONGA, Australia: (L6). Found 1962. Tkw = over 1kg.
Nice aesthetic complete slice that is quite fresh (very light tan) in the center (with darker tan to brown around the edges) . Probably from David New years ago.
12.1 gram complete slice - 36mm x 28mm x 5mm - $50

BJURBOLE, Finland: (L/LL4). Fell March 12, 1899. Tkw = 330kg.
This is a typical rounded fragment that shows lots of chondrules (that can be easily rubbed off if handled roughly). Once fairly common, but difficult to find lately.
2.2 gram fragment - 16mm x 11mm x 7mm - $30

CLEO SPRINGS, Oklahoma: (H4). Found 1960. Tkw = 24kg.
This one should have been on the last list, but then it was not received with that batch. This is a small rectangular piece. It has a fairly good amount of metal in a brown and greenish mixed matrix.
1.4 gram slice - 13mm x 8mm x 4mm - $5

DAVY (A), Texas: (L4). Found 1940. Tkw = 50.6kg.
This is a little cut fragment that ultimately came from the Monig Collection at TCU (though I am unsure of who sold it to Ray (it could have been me, but I usually make a point of polishing specimens if I receive them raw off of the saw).
4.0gram cut fragment - 19mm x 14mm x 10mm - $5

DIMBOOLA, Australia: (H5). Found 1944. Tkw = 16kg.
I have no idea the origin of this one. It is a nice complete slice of a natural fragment (and does show some pretty nice crust along one edge). Interior is a medium to dark brown mix but still shows a fair amount of metal, so it is not completely weathered. Nice piece and probably really hard to replace these days.
11.1 gram complete slice - 32mm x 20mm x 6mm - $70

DIMMITT, Texas: (H3.7). Found 1942.
This is a really nice little end piece. It shows a lot more chondrules than are usually easily visible in this stuff and the back side has a lot of nice medium chocolate brown crust.
15.0 gram end piece - 39mm x 20mm x 9m - $30

GAO, Burkina Faso: (H5). Fell March 5, 1960.
This is a nice complete little individual. Good crust (mostly dark gray with some brown highlights) that has never been cleaned.
1.5 gram complete individual - 13mm x 10mm x 7mm - $6

HENBURY, Australia: Medium octahedrite (IIIAB). Found 1931.
This is a nice little (natural, not cleaned) shrapnel piece. By far more interesting shape than most similar sized Henburys.
4.5 grams - 22mm x 7mm x 6mm - $9

IMILAC, Chile: (Pallasite). Found 1822.
A small individual (impact frament?) that has a wild shape and a bit of pinkish weathered olivine in some of the pockets.
1.79 gram fragment - 15mm x 5mm x 4mm - $15

MT. TAZERZAIT, Niger: (L5). Fell August 21, 1991.
Complete slice of a fragment (no crust). Fresh and shows lots of porosity.
2.4 gram slice - 18mm x 15mm x 3mm - $10

NAKHLA, Egypt. Mars rock (Nakhlite). Fell June 28, 1911. Tkw = 10kg.
I know the history of this one. I had a few gram piece that I got from Robert Haag and someone asked me to take a slice off of it for them (for really good money, or I wouldn't have tried it). I learned a lesson about friable meteorites. A large part of the thing fell apart into piles of tiny crumbs on attempting the cut. For years afterwards, I was selling capsules with some of these crumbs (I sure wasn't going to toss the stuff out). This is one of those capsules in a magnifier box from those many years ago.
Capsule with crumbs in a magnifier box - $50

NWA (869), (L4-6) regolith breccia. Found 2001.
This is a nice slice I sold to him a few years ago. It is complete and shows a good number of fairly large breccia fragments. Definitely better than your typical 869 piece.
52.2 gram complete slice - 80mm x 42mm x 4mm - $40

NWA (2086): Carbonaceous (CV3). Found 2003. Tkw = 33kg.
A nice Axtell - looking complete slice.
9.9 gram complete slice - 32mm x 31mm x 4mm - $60

OZONA, Texas: (H6). Found 1929. Tkw = 127.5kg.
Ozona was the first meteorite I bought a block of (from Robert Haag) to cut up and sell when I got started as a dealer nearly 25 years ago. I have not seen much of it lately. This is a little end piece that may have come from him as well (judging be the saw marks - it was cut on a large saw - something I don't have but Robert does).
3.0 gram end piece - 19mm x 12mm x 7mm - $10

PILLISTFER, Estonia: Enstatite chondrite (E6). Fell August 8, 1868. Tkw = 23.25kg.
A small blocky piece that came from me many years ago. Very fresh, light gray color with lots of metal.
.7 gram slice - 9mm x 6mm x 4mm - $50

VACA MUERTA, Chile: (Mesosiderite). Found 1861.
This is a nice little end piece that shows LOTS of metal (rare for this meteorite) so it actually looks like a mesosiderite!
2.2 gram end piece - 15mm x 8mm x 8mm - $6

[brmeteorites_list] List 89 - Oklahoma Meteorite rarities

2010-06-01T08:48:00.000-07:00

[brmeteorites_list] List 89 - Oklahoma Meteorite rarities
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487

........................... LIST 89

June 1, 2010

Dear Collectors,

Here is a list of some really special and rare (2 falls and 3 carbonaceous!) items from Oklahoma. There are things here that I have only ever seen a piece or two of and some that I have never encountered a sample of before. Only a few couple items here are what I would call generally available (Carnegie, Kingfisher perhaps), but even these are not often encountered these days. These are the ONLY pieces of these I have available, so don't wait to contact me if you want to add any of these named rarities to your collection.

CADDO COUNTY, Oklahoma: (IAB) silicated iron. Found 1987. Tkw = 18 kilograms.
This is the only "iron" on this list. Frankly, it looks more like a stony-iron (definitely NOT your typical silicated iron). The silicates in this piece (making up something like 80% of the specimen) are a mix of quasi-gemmy green and brown crystals. I remember when this stuff first came out. There were many (including researchers) that thought that this was going to be the world's second known Lodranite. This all disappeared into collections quite rapidly. I have not had a piece to offer in many years.
58.1 gram end piece - 50mm x 37mm x 15mm - $1000

AMBER, Oklahoma: (L6). Found 1934. Tkw = 4532 grams.
A single stone was recognized in 1955. There is some suspicion that it could be another piece of Cahion or Kingfisher. I am quite certain that it does not match Kingfisher (as I have a piece here to compare it to). This has a mixed green and brown matrix that shows a few black shock lines (where as Kingfisher is nearly black and shows very little structure). This is one that I have never seen a sample of before. It is from the Dupont collection (through a trade).
10.6 gram 1/4 slice - 50mm x 26mm x 3mm - $100

ATOKA, Oklahoma: (L6). Fell September 17, 1945. Tkw = 1384 grams.
A number of fragments of this were recovered. Most of this is tied up in museum collections (I believe this one came from the Monig collection) so very little has been available to collectors (A have only seen/ handled a few grams of this stuff over the years). This is a fresh elongate part slice (2 cut edges) that has fresh crust along one 10mm long edge.
2.07 gram part slice - 22mm x 9mm x 2.5mm - $300

BURNS FLAT, Oklahoma: (L6). Found 1971. Tkw = 1987 grams.
This is a nice 1/2 slice. This is fairly fresh stuff. It has a nice light tan to light brown interior with lots of metal (for an L). Most ( about 2/3) of the edge shows fairly thick black to chocolate brown crust. I sold Jim this specimen, but I don't recall much about the stuff (it was 8 or more years ago), other than that only a few slices were available to collectors.
64.8 gram 1/2 slice - 65mm x 60mm x 6mm - $390

CARNEGIE, Oklahoma: (L6). Found 1963. Tkw = 132.7 kilograms.
A single large stone was found while terracing a field. There was a fair amount of this available years ago (even though the bulk of the stuff went into the Huss collection). It has been fairly scarce recently. I think I had a large (expensive) piece, from the same person that owns this one, a couple years ago. Here is a good affordable sample to add to your collection.
19.0 gram 1/2 end piece (book-end cut) - 53mm x 29mm x 6mm - $50

EVA, Oklahoma: (H5), polymict breccia. Found 1965. Tkw = 6.7 kilograms.
One fragment that was likely less than 1/2 of the original mass was found (the other piece was never located, at least it has not been reported). This is a specimen from the Dupont collection and another one of those that I have never seen a piece of before.
14.9 gram part slice - 32mm x 27mm x 6mm - $135

KEYES, Oklahoma: (L6). Found 1939. Tkw = 142 kilograms.
Interesting in that it has a large known weight, but this is the first piece of this meteorite I have encountered (another Dupont collection trade). This is an aesthetic specimen. It is a mixed very light tan/gray with dark brown blotches in the interior. This also has two museum collection numbers on it (one Dupont?).
12.47 gram slice - 40mm x 33mm x 3mm - $80

KINGFISHER, Oklahoma: (L5). Found 1950. Tkw = 8.18 kilograms.
This is a nice 1/2 slice from the Monig collection. It has three different Labels on it; one is a had-written label (name and weight) done on a sticker by Art Ehlmann at TCU, another is a Monig number (M219.2) likely painted on by Glenn Huss (he did a bunch of cataloging and labeling work for the Monig collection years ago) and a third that is simply a typed (on cloth and lacquered to the specimen) 28:5 above the Monig number (no idea of origin of this one).
42.9 gram 1/2 slice - 75mm x 45mm x 4mm - $170

LOGAN, Oklahoma: (H5). Found 1923. Tkw = 45.5 kilograms.
Two weathered masses (of 43kg and 2.5kg) were reported (in April of 1939) as being found. This is another where the bulk (pretty much all?) of the material is tied up in museum collections (this one came from the Dupont collection).
9.0 gram end piece - 27mm x 18mm x 17mm - $100

COLONY, Oklahoma: Carbonaceous Chondrite (CO3.0). Found 1975. Tkw = 3912 grams.
This stone was found stuck in the tines of a cotton cultivator. It is a super rare (and highly desired) type 3.0! There used to be a fair amount of this available years ago (at around $100/g), but I have seen very little in recent years.
3.48 gram 1/2 slice - 23mm x 20mm x 3mm - $435

CRESCENT, Oklahoma: Carbonaceous (CM2). Fell August 17, 1936. Tkw = 78.4 grams.
Wow, now this is a rare one! I think this may be the rarest witnessed fall I have ever handled. This piece has it all; rare type, tiny total known weight and even shows a good patch of fusion crust (about 12mm x 9mm).
1.09 gram fragment with crust - 15mm x 12mm x 7mm - $1900

WEATHERFORD, Oklahoma: Carbonaceous Bencubbinite (CBa). Found 1926. Tkw = 2 kilograms.
This is another extreme rarity. I got a larger (4 or 8 gram, I don't recall) piece for the current owner years ago. He had it wire-sawed into a few thinner pieces (I think I sold one piece off for him a few years ago, other pieces probably helped trade for some of the things listed here). These are the only samples of this meteorite I have ever had (and the only US Bencubbinite I have ever handled). This is a nice aesthetic thin slice that shows a great mix of silicate areas and metal blobs. Small by weight, but still very representative in texture.
1.83 gram part slice - 18mm x 13mm x 2mm - $1000

Blaine Reed Meteorites List 88

2010-05-18T08:42:00.000-07:00

Blaine Reed Meteorites List 88
Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
……………………………………………..LIST 88

May 18, 2010

Dear Collectors,

Here is one of a series of lists over the next couple months (when I am home that is) that is recently received (or soon to be received) consigned items. I will try to keep these to their proper scheduled times, but some my vary so don't be to surprised if a list shows up off schedule.
Please contact me as soon as possible on these as I will only be home for today and tomorrow (I have been on a home 2 days gone 5 or 6 day schedule lately and will be through at least the end of May, unfortunately). Feel free to leave a message (phone is best while I am here e-mail on the days I am gone might be better as there is a chance I may be able to borrow a computer and check those while gone). I should be back home by Tuesday evening next week if you want to talk too me after this Thursday morning (I will be leaving about 10AM).

DIMMITT, Texas: (H3.7). Found 1942, recognized as distinct fall in 1950. Tkw = about 200kg.
This is a small cut fragment that has been coated (lacquer?) to help bring out the structure and chondrules (that usually are nearly invisible in this stuff). This is definitely Dimmitt and contrasts distinctly different in appearance from the Tulia listed below (these would make a good pair - showing the real difference between these long confused meteorites).
9.6 gram cut fragment - 30mm x 15mm x 7mm - $15

FAUCETT, Missouri: (H5). Found 1966. Tkw = 100 kilograms.
Here is a nice little 1/2 slice (one cut edge remainder is mostly crusted but part looks like it may be a natural break) of this now difficult to obtain meteorite. I once had quite a bit of this, but this is the first piece I have had in a number of years now.
9.6 gram slice - 33mm x 21mm x 4mm - $45

JILIN, China: (H5). Fell March 1976. Tkw = 4 tons.
Here are a couple slices of this huge fall. The largest recovered piece was 1770 kilograms and is still, I believe, the largest single stone meteorite in the world. The smaller piece here is likely an earlier recovery as it is lighter in color and has a bit fresher crust. The larger piece though shows some shock features and hints of breccia clasts.
a) 4.6 gram slice - 24mm x 24mm x 2mm - $25
b) 12.8 gram slice - 40mm x 35mm x 3mm - $60

NADIABONDI, Burkina-Faso, Africa: (H5). Fell July 27, 1956. Tkw = 8.165 kilograms.
I know there has been a bit of controversy over what is really this fall and misidentified pieces of Gao. This piece does have a different appearance than most of the Gaos I have seen. This is far fresher (showing a light matrix with only a light amount of overall brown staining whereas most Gaos are quite brown) and this has a very uniform H5 texture (whereas Gaos are brecciated and usually show at least some fragmentation, even in fairly small specimens). Though it would be impossible to be absolutely certain (with out detailed research lab analysis) that this is not simply a mislabeled Gao, I am quite comfortable calling it a real Nadiabondi specimen.
7.2 gram end piece - 26mm x 21mm x 6mm - $35

NWA (065): (H5). Found August 6, 2000. Tkw = 5094 grams.
This is different looking stuff. It is very porous (it likely suffered little shock in its life) looking more like a piece of sandstone (though one that has a good number of obvious chondrules) than a meteorite at first glance. It has weathered some such that it has an interesting reddish-brown color (but still shows a fair amount of metal. These are nearly complete slices. They each have one 35mm cut edge with the remainder being natural.
a) 18.4 gram slice - 50mm x 35mm x 5mm - $35
b) 25.4 gram slice - 53mm x 37mm x 6mm - $48

NWA (096): (H3.8). Found summer 2000. Tkw = 2510 grams.
Wow. This one is for breccia collectors. It is lightly weathered (somewhat brown stained over all but still shows lots of metal). It has several obvious lighter clasts in a slightly darker matrix. This also has a couple 5mm to 8mm sized dark inclusions (shock melt pockets?). The larger one even appears to have some vesicles!
14.4 gram slice - 43mm x 27mm x 4.5mm - $70

Blaine Reed Meteorites LIST #87

2010-05-04T08:44:00.000-07:00

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
……………………………………………………………………LIST 87

May 4, 2010

Dear Collectors,
Here is an e-mail version of my recently mailed paper list (those of you on my mailing list should be receiving this today).
I have been out of touch a lot as I have been a bit pre-occupied with other issues lately. My mother just passed away after a difficult battle with cancer (as if there really is any other kind). Last minutes visiting and now dealing with cleaning up an estate (my second in the last few months now - I lost my Aunt in December and got done with her estate mere days before leaving for the Tucson show) has left little time for the usual stuff lately. This list (that should have gone out a couple weeks ago) may seem a bit "thrown together" because it kind of is. I generally have a lot of things sitting around in various stages of readiness to sell. Unfortunately I found, on closer inspection, that many were not as ready as I had imagined (and I had no time to get them ready either). Anyway, I think that I was able to pull together a fairly nice selection of things (mostly named no less!) to offer none the less. Please be patient if you do not hear back form me right away if you call (please: leave a message if I don't answer. I will set aside things you ask for and call back as soon as I can). I will be needing to make many trips to Denver over the next couple months so there may be some delays in my usual response times from time to time. But I will respond when I get the chance (and ship specimens as soon as possible).

CAMPO DEL CIELO: Argentina: Coarse octahedrite (IAB).
I generally try to have a selection of the various major types of meteorites on my lists, but could not come up with anything for an iron this time. Linda came up with it for me. She asked if I had ever offered any of my Campo nuggets. I have been offering them for years at shows (where they have proven to be very popular) but I don't recall ever putting them on a list to collectors. These are shiny, angular metal chunks that are created by freezing a large Campo piece in liquid nitrogen and then breaking it apart. It generally breaks apart along the crystal structure making for an unnatural but interesting quasi - 3D view of Widmanstatten (Thomson) structure (I say quasi as this meteorite's structure is coarse enough to not show real clear in these relatively small pieces). These have also been tumbled to remove sharp edges. Not natural, but these make great little carry in your pocket or gift specimens. I also have these as pendants. These have a small loop soldered to them so they can be easily hung on a chain for wearing.
1) Fragments "as formed":
a) 4.1 grams - 12mm x 8mm x 5mm - $4.00
b) 8.3 grams - 22mm x 12mm x 6mm - $8.00
c) 15.1 grams - 25mm x 13mm x 11mm - $15.00
d) 25.2 grams - 26mm x 18mm x 15mm - $23.00
e) 34.7 grams - 25mm x 25mm x 14mm - $30.00
2) Pendants:
a) about 3grams (about 15mm x 10mm x 6mm) - $5.00
b) about 6 grams (about 17mm x 13mm x 10mm) - $10.00
c) 14.7 grams - 20mm x 14mm x 13mm - $20.00
d) 26.9 grams - 28mm x 23mm x 13mm - $30.00

HOWE, Texas: (H5). Found 1938. Tkw = 8.63kg.
A single stone was recovered, as reported by A.D. Nininger in 1940. Most of this (about 7.2kg according to my old Catalogue of Meteorites) ended up in museum and research institute collections. These few pieces (and I do mean few - I have only a little over 100g total of this available) were cut from a specimen in the Monig Collection at TCU. I have been told that there are no intentions to cut any more of this, so get it while you can. This is somewhat weathered material (has some cracks) but is still fresh enough to show lots of fine metal grains in a dark gray/ green matrix.
1) Slices:
a) 4.6 grams - 26mm x 17mm x 4mm - $37.00
b) 10.3 grams - 36mm x 19mm x 5mm - $82.00
c) 18.7 grams - 50mm x 27mm x 5mm - $145.00
d) 23.3 grams - 52mm x 30mm x 5mm - $175.00

JUANCHENGE, China: (H5). Fell February 15, 1997. Tkw = about 100 kilograms.
This is one of those super popular "hammer stones" as one piece of this fall fell through a roof and landed in a pot on a stove. I thought all I had were broken fragments of this remaining. I came across a small bag of beautiful individuals while doing inventory in December. Actually, they were individuals that had adhering dirt and such until Mike Martinez did a truly wonderful job of giving them a GENTLE air blasting for me (it is very easy to mess up a good stone by over doing this or using the wrong cleaning material). These are all complete (there are some very minor natural dings and areas of secondary crust on some) stones showing fresh fully textured (this is a big part of the proper cleaning) black fusion crust.
1) Complete individuals:
a) 4.0 grams - 15mm x 14mm x 10mm - $20.00
b) 8.5 grams - 22mm x 17mm x 12mm - $40.00
c) 16.1 grams - 24mm x 20mm x 15mm - $75.00
d) 25.0 grams - 31mm x 23mm x 18mm - $110.00

NWA (2970): (H6). Found before September 2005. Tkw = several hundred kilos ?.
This is some stuff I have had sitting in a couple buckets for many years. Adam Hupe and I both got a good amount of this when we both decided to buy up fairly large quantities of "cheap" Moroccan stuff while it could still be acquired. We noticed that a bunch of the boxes we got looked to be the same material. Cutting open numerous pieces (along with the confirmation from the seller that it did come from one source and likely one strewn field) also showed that it was all likely one fall. Later research showed that it was all an (H6) regolith breccia. Unfortunately, this is fairly weathered stuff (most pieces are relatively solid but fairly cracked, the reason I have not cut any yet, but I do hope to offer some cut pieces of this in the future), but it is very cheap for a studied meteorite. Definitely not real pretty, but quite interesting scientifically.
1) Fragments as found:
a) 21.0 grams - 38mm x 27mm x 16mm - $5.00
b) 48.5 grams - 50mm x 30mm x 17mm - $10.00
c) 111.5 grams - 43mm x 41mm x 29mm - $22.00
d) 205.4 grams - 77mm x 52mm x 26mm - $40.00
e) 476.5 grams - 90mm x 75mm x 40mm - $90.00
f) 857.0 grams - 110mm x 80mm x 80mm - $150.00
g) 1365.6 grams - 120mm x 110mm x 60mm - $225.00

ZAG, Morocco: (H3-6). Fell August 4 or 5, 1998. Tkw = about 175kg.
I got these wonderful pieces from Al Mitterling during the last Denver show. He had been cutting up a couple blocks and brought slices for me to sell on consignment (I ended up buying them). These are very nice. Most (larger specimens in particular) show both the light (H6) and dark (H3) textures to varying degrees. Many of these pieces also have some black fusion crust along parts of their edge as well. This is very special stuff scientifically. It is the second meteorite (after Monahans, Texas which fell in March of 1998) that was found to contain crystals of Halite (salt) that show liquid water was present at some point on the parent body of these meteorites. A highly important meteorite at a really low price.
1) Part slices:
a) 8.4 grams - 32mm x 17mm x 4mm - $21.00
b) 12.9 grams - 31mm x 24mm x 4mm - $32.00
c) 26.3 grams - 41mm x 33mm x 6mm - $65.00
d) 54.8 grams - 64mm x 56mm x 5mm - $130.00
e) 89.1 grams - 92mm x 70mm x 4mm - $200.00

NWA (2824): (Diogenite, Ibitira parent body). Found 2005. Tkw = 485 grams.
This was one that took some work to even show it really was a meteorite. It was a smooth, rounded dark gray/brown lump that even showed a few milky white blobs (that really looked like quartz) on its exterior. I hacked (hard to get a good smooth cut with too small of a saw while holding, by hand, such a round rock) a piece off and sent it off for a look. It did turn out to be a meteorite! It took many years to nail down just what it was though. It is primarily orthopyoroxene (making it a "Diogenite") , but yet the rest of its chemistry (including the large plagioclase crystals - the things that superficially looked like quartz) was all wrong for this being a diogenite. Oxygen isotope work was eventually done on this strange rock. It revealed that its origin was not Vesta but likely from the same parent body as the strange vesiculated Ibitira "eucrite". Further work revealed that this also contains (though rare) vesicles that are lined with vapor phase deposited mineral crystals.
1) Slices:
a) .12 grams - 7mm x 4mm x 1.5mm - $20.00
b) .25 grams - 9mm x 7.5mm x 1mm - $40.00
c) .56 grams - 13mm x 8mm x 1.5mm - $85.00
d) 1.2 grams - 15mm x 15mm x 1.5mm - $180.00
e) 2.4 grams - 32mm x 17mm x 1.5mm - $400.00 - shows light through 2 plagioclase crystals!
f) 4.8 grams - 37mm x 28mm x 1.5mm - $700.00
g) 9.9 grams - 63mm x 42mm x 1.5mm - $1350.00
h) 13.4 grams - 55mm x 52mm x 1.5mm - $1900.00 - complete, several light passing crystals!

Please include postage: a couple dollars on small U.S. orders and $10 on large items for first class (insurance is extra, if desired). On small overseas orders, $3 to $5 is generally plenty (I'll have to custom figure the rate for large items). Registration is also recommended on more valuable overseas shipments - an extra $12.00.
If you are sending a fax, simply begin transmitting when my line is answered. My fax will turn on automatically to receive (or I will start it if I answer) when you begin transmitting.

brmeteorites_list] List 86 - even more "after Tucson" stuff

2010-03-12T09:51:00.000-08:00

brmeteorites_list] List 86 - even more "after Tucson" stuff
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 3:20 AM
From:
"brmeteorites"

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
……………………………………………..LIST 86

March 9, 2010

Dear Collectors,
Here is my last consigned items from the show list (I think, more might turn up as I dig around a bit more later). I know that this is supposed to go out next week, but I plan on being on the road next week. I may be leaving as early as Tuesday (but more likely Wednesday) so, obviously, I would not have any time to take and ship orders. I don't know exactly how long I will be gone (I hope to schedule a short meteorite hunting trip along the way) but I should be home by the 24th.

CALDWELL, Kansas: (L - impact melt breccia). Found 1961. Tkw = 12.9kg.
I got this from Steve Arnold of "Meteorite Men" fame. He said that Nininger and Monig (I think, it might have been Dupont) tried for years to get this from the finder. They had no luck as was the case with Steve and I (we had tried to buy it a couple times over the years). The family finally decided to let it go a couple years ago (under consignment, I believe). I have a few small slices here. I don't know who cut these, but they are a bit wedged, unfortunately. They are fairly nondescript in appearance; a mottled mix of dark green and brown matrix with no real visible metal. Interesting though in its history and the fact that L-melts are generally quite rare (particularly named ones) and expensive (I have heard that this stuff has been offered typically for $12+/g).
a) 2.1 gram part slice - 28mm x 17mm x 1.5mm - $15
b) 3.0 gram part slice - 30mm x 14mm x 3mm - $21
c) 4.5 gram part slice - 32mm x 17mm x 2mm - $31
d) 6.7 gram part slice - 34mm x 17mm x 4mm - $45

NOYAN BOGDO, Mongolia: (L6). Fell September 1, 1933. Tkw = 250 grams +.
The total known weight of this is officially reported as only 250grams. I know that this is wrong as I have nearly that much sitting right here. These slices were obviously cut from a fairly large stone. They are quite fresh. The interior is mostly white with some pale brown/ orange spotting. The crust along the edges of these is black and fresh (and the largest piece has a small spot where it is also bubbly, leaving me to wonder if this large stone was not oriented). The large slice showed up with a small amount of shipping damage. A small corner got broken off in transit too me. I put it back with a small spot of glue (that could be easily removed if someone absolutely could not live with a "repaired" specimen) as the specimen is too nice a display piece to risk having these two pieces not remain together.
a) 86.8 gram 1/4 slice - 70mm x 60mm x 6mm - $600 - crust along 2 sides.
b) 147.9 gram 1/2 slice - 120mm x 70mm x 6mm - $1000 - only 1 cut edge (remainder crusted).

NWA (1906): (R4). Found 2003. Tkw = 560 grams.
One stone was recovered and, judging by the shape of these pieces, must have been nearly as round as a marble. This could not have been easy to cut (and this may show in the fact that both of these are slightly wedged, but nicer than some of the results I have gotten when trying to cut nearly round meteorites). This is fairly dark (unlike the other R - chondrites I have had), showing lots of chondrules in a dark brown and gray mottled matrix. Both slices are complete and show crust around the whole edge (aside from a couple minor chipped areas).
a) 22.7 gram complete slice - 55mm x 50mm x 2.5mm - $230
b) 28.5 gram complete slice - 60mm x 58mm x 3mm - $285

MOAPA VALLEY, Nevada: Carbonaceous (CM1). Found 2004. Tkw = 699grams.
A single black stone was found. After cutting it revealed a nearly featureless (to the naked eye) dark black interior, almost resembling a charcoal brickette (both internally and externally). Many (including the finder) wondered if it really was a meteorite at all. However, it does show some really obvious (to me anyway) fusion crust on some pieces (the 4.18g piece below has a nice 15mm x 6mm patch along its edge, for example). I was told that this is the second known (CM1) from outside of Antarctica, but I could find no records of another officially reported (it may be that the supposed other - a small 30g or so NWA stone, has not made it through reporting yet). This is an important opportunity for those of you collecting all the different meteorite types (the owner is not sure if and how much of the remaining material he will cut. He is hoping the bulk of it will go to a museum). I know I got my piece.
a) .012 grams of small fragments (each 1mm to 2mm in size) - $12
b) .093 gram cut fragment - 5mm x 4mm x 2mm - $75
c) .127 gram cut fragment - 6mm x 5mm x 3mm - $100
d) 4.18 gram slice - 28mm x 12mm x 6mm - $3150 (some crust along edge).

Blaine Reed Meteorites #85

2010-03-02T08:24:00.001-08:00

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
……………………………………………..LIST 85

March 2, 2010

Dear Collectors,
Here is another batch of "after Tucson" material. Please let me know fairly soon if you would like to have anything from this offering (or the last one for that matter) as I do need to start returning some of these things to their owners (not a problem to set things aside for a later if you need, so don't hesitate to ask).

CANYON DIABLO, Arizona. Coarse octahedrite (IAB).
Here is a beautiful complete slice that is etched on both sides and shows a really large roughly tear-drop shaped troilite inclusion (about 60mm x 20mm). I don't get many slices of Diablo as few people like to risk more saw blades on cutting it (anybody that has cut much of this stuff eventually ends up trashing an expensive blade or two on the occasional diamond found in this meteorite). This is a particularly nice piece.
518.4 gram complete slice - 190mm x 120mm x 4mm - $500

GLORIETTA MOUNTAIN, New Mexico: (Pallasite). Found 1884. Tkw = about 300kg.
This is a beautiful complete slice from the 135 kilogram main mass that was found May 19th, 2007. It is etched on both sides and shows one of the strongest and best etch patterns available. This is a real museum quality specimen.
1252.3 gram complete slice - 300mm x 185mm x 3mm - $4000

SEYMCHAN, Russia: (Pallasite). Found 1967.
Now here is a real museum piece. It is a 110 kilogram (roughly - it is way too heavy for any of my scales, and this is the weight that it was originally sold as and I have no reason to doubt it) complete slice! This is a thick piece so it could be cut into many nice thinner gigantic slices if one has the right equipment (which I definitely do not, unfortunately) . It is currently in Phoenix with its owner (who bought it a few years ago when such huge pieces could be found - no more of these are available from the sources now). It is simply (probably not so "simply" done in reality) polished on both sides at this point, but I have never seen a piece of this stuff that does not etch up beautifully. I will have a couple photos available of this monster soon for those of you interested.
110kg complete slice - 56cm x 35cm x 11cm - $25,000

HOLBROOK, Arizona: (L/LL6). Fell July 19, 1912.
Here is a nice complete individual that was a relatively recent find. Even though it has been on the ground for nearly 100 years now, it still looks quite fresh. The crust (completely covering the specimen) is still black with some mixed dark chocolate brown spots and shows some nice super fine contraction cracks.
2.36 gram complete individual - 17mm x 10mm x 7mm - $80

NUEVO MERCURIO, Mexico: (H5). Fell December 15, 1978.
Here is an assortment of the more typical fragments and chipped edge individuals (though a couple of these are quite complete) from this popular fall. These were picked up a bit after the fall (as the majority were) so they show some very minor brown spotting, but still have predominantly black crust. I do still have the unusually large and nice specimen offered last week if anyone out there has decided that they want something a bit larger than today's offerings.
a) 9.7 gram complete individual - 30mm x 16mm x 10mm - $65 - truly complete but shows lots of secondary crust - interesting!
b) 10.6 gram individual with broken end - 20mm x 15mm x 14mm - $70 - Thick crust except 20mm x 15mm natural break at one end.
c) 18.4 gram individual - 27mm x 20mm x 15mm - $120 - has the usual chipped edges (very Allende like).
d) 21.3 gram individual - 30mm x 22mm x15mm - $140 - Nice thick crust except a roughly 25mm x 6mm chipped edge. A very nice piece.

NWA (2086): (CV3). Found November 2003. Tkw = about 33kilograms.
This is one of my favorite meteorites (and one of my customer's favorites as I have quickly sold out of all the pieces of any meaningful size I had). This material shows one of the best chondrule-rich CV3 structures available at any price. It has loads of chondrules and CAIs in a generally light background. This looks very similar to Axtell, but at 1/10th the price! This is a fantastic thin complete slice.
48.2 gram complete slice - 135mm x 75mm x 2mm - $500

DHOFAR (007), Oman: (Eucrite). Found December 4, 1999. Tkw = 21.2 kilograms.
This is a fantastic display piece of this strange meteorite (I am getting one prepared to keep for my collection). It is a complete slice from a large mass. It shows lots of fragments of varying textures and a good number of fine black shock veins between many of them. This looks generally similar to other eucrites but the chemistry of this thing indicates that it is not from Vesta (as are most eucrites), but possibly from the parent body of mesosiderites.
33.6 gram complete slice - 125mm x 110mm x 1mm - $750

NWA (5000): Lunar feldspathic leucogabbroic breccia. Found July 2007. Tkw = 11,528 grams.
Here is a nice 1/4 slice (2 cut edges others are natural) that has the classic moon rock look (lots of angular white to light tan fragments of all sizes up to about 5mm in a dark gray matrix. This is in a fancy glass topped display box (that looks to be black leather) and comes with a folder full of info about the meteorite in general and this specimen in particular.
1.73 gram part slice - 22mm x 16mm x 2mm - $1700

DALGARANGA, Australia: (Mesosiderite) . Found 1923. Tkw = 10+ kilograms.
I have not seen any of this stuff in a long time. These are "typical" specimens of this meteorite from what I remember. They are generally angular fragments that are orange to dark brown colored. They stick to a magnet very well, but my recollection is that most of this material did not show a lot of metal when cut (the reason, aside from the fact that these are not mine, that I didn't make end pieces out of some of these). Anyway, this is a good chance to add a rare (but affordable) mesosiderite to your collection.
a) 4.3 gram fragment - 20mm x 11mm x 9mm - $17
b) 6.2 gram fragment - 19mm x 15mm x 14mm - $25
c) 9.4 gram fragment - 21mm x 19mm x 12mm - $38
d) 40.5 gram fragment - 40mm x 35mm x 15mm - $150

Blaine Reed Meteorites List #84

2010-02-23T18:45:00.000-08:00

Blaine Reed
P.O. Box 1141
Delta, CO 81416
Ph/fax (970) 874-1487
……………………………………………..LIST 84
February 23, 2010

Dear Collectors,

I am back from the show and attempting to get caught up (being gone for nearly three weeks leaves a LOT of work to be caught up on). Having huge amounts (for Delta anyway) of wet heavy snow that has required many, many hours out shoveling (the down side of having acreage and a 500 foot long driveway has become exhaustingly clear lately) has not helped any either.
Anyway, the show went quite well. Visitor traffic was quite slow (similar to last year, maybe a bit higher), but then those that came were serious about spending money. I made the rent and then some (better than I expected anyway). None the less, I managed to come home material rich and cash poor from doing my own bit of stimulating the show economy (as if $3350 JUST for the room wasn't stimulating enough for the Tucson economy) - a pretty typical situation with shows for me. The items below (and for the next few lists) are a combination of things I picked up at the show and consignments that were left with me that I would prefer to find a home for rather than simply send back to their owners.

FRANCONIA, Arizona: (H5). Found October 31, 2002. Tkw = about 100kg.
This is a nice little individual that has a small window polished into it to show the chondrules and fresh metal inside.
25.8 gram individual - 26mm x 24mm x 18mm - $40

NWA (5717): Anomalous chondrite (type 3.05). Found 2006. Tkw = 7.31kg.
A single fresh crusted stone was found of this strange meteorite. This almost made the hallowed 3.00 mark and is the lowest petrographic numbered meteorite I recall ever offering. It shows lots of chondrules of all sizes, from very tiny and hard to see (there is almost no real matrix in this thing - just ever smaller chondrules) up to 4 or 5mm in size. Though it has a look similar to many H3 meteorites (aside from the low amount of metal but high amount of sulfides often found surrounding the chondrules as armor rims), its oxygen isotopes show that it is really from a different and new parent body.
a) 2.782 gram part slice - 34mm x 8mm x 3mm - $280 - small 1/2 slice.
b) 6.078 gram part slice - 26mm x 22mm x 3mm - $600
c) 8.204 gram part slice - 39mm x 20mm x 3mm - $820 - 20mm edge crusted.
d) 16.37 gram part slice - 57mm x 33mm x 2mm - $1600 - 40mm of edge crusted.

NWA (unstudied stones). These are a couple nice stones that were left with me at the show. I sold pretty much all I put out for sale at the show from this batch, but forgot that these two were still lurking in the drawer.
a) 64.8 gram 1/2 individual - 45mm x 32mm x 29mm - $65.
Even though it does not show distinct flow lines, I have no problem calling this one oriented. It has an almost perfect 1/2 of a charcoal brickette shape. It has really thick crust (over about 60% or so of the specimen) that is a mix of black and dark brown in color, shows contraction cracks and lots of bubbling (particularly strong on one side - likely the back side of the mass as it fell).
b) 171.1 gram complete individual - 48mm x 39mm x 38mm - $150.
This is completely covered with dark brown crust that is lightly shiny (wind-polished a bit). This piece is interesting in that it shows many levels of crust development; from smooth primary to rough tertiary, and everything in between.

NUEVO MERCURIO, Mexico: (H5). Fell December 15, 1978.
This is a nice complete (except for a small roughly 7mm x 15mm end break that likely happened when it hit the ground) individual. It has thick, highly textured crust that is mostly black with some dark brown patches. This piece is particularly nice for its unusual size (most Nuevos were quite small) and completeness (most Neuvos were quite chipped up).
59.7 gram individual - 45mm x 33mm x 25mm - $450

MILLBILLILLIE, Australia: (Eucrite). Fell October 1960. Tkw = 330kg.
This is a complete individual and rare as such. After the Calcalong Creek moon rock was found in a batch of Millbillillies, every one that did not already have a natural broken area large enough to reveal a white eucrite interior (instead of the dark gray lunar interior) had an opening ground into it. This never suffered either fate. It is completely covered with crust. Much of it does have the usual orange coloration from the soil it fell in, but there is a good amount (30% or more) that is still fresh shiny black. This stone more than makes up for any loss there by having lots of heavy flow lines and ridges completely surrounding it
59.6 gram complete individual - 50mm x 35mm x 28mm - $750.

NWA (1929): (Howardite). Found 2003. Tkw = 15+kg.
This is a beautiful super thin slice that shows lots of breccia inclusions of different textures and colors (including one orange/brown one about 12mm x 15mm or so that appears to be a large hypersthene (diogenite) crystal). This (like Seymchan below) may look "expensive" on a price per gram level, but is a fantastic deal on a price per surface area calculation. A great display piece!
24.3 gram complete slice - 135mm x 87mm x 1mm - $480

HUCKITTA, Australia: (Pallasite). Found 1937.
Here are a couple nice, solid, large slices of the oxidized material from this find (pretty much all that is available from this meteorite). These show lots of angular dark yellow-brown olivine crystals in a blue-gray hematite/magnetite matrix. These are polished on both sides and are guaranteed not to rust (try and find another pallasite at this price range you can say that about!). Neat display pieces!
a) 84.8 gram complete slice - 90mm x 76mm x 4mm - $200
b) 215.0 gram complete slice - 155mm x 90mm x 5mm - $475

SEYMCHAN, Russia: (Pallasite). Found 1967.
Here is a fantastic super thin slice of the all metal portion of this meteorite. This is basically rectangular (cut on all edges) but shows a wonderful etch on both sides. Knowing a bit about the losses and costs of preparing things like this, I find it difficult to call this anything but a real bargain. Even if the "cost per gram" seems a bit high, the cost per surface area is incredibly cheap..
25.6 gram etched slice - 82mm x 53mm x 1mm - $70