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Re: Prof. Archie Roy

Dear Tom & List,
	RE below: Several FACTS are relevant to this topic:
	1) Each and every new find or fall is commercially WITHOUT VALUE until
it has been classified by a leading institution. This INVARIABLY puts
the material in the hands of AT LEAST one institution - WITHOUT FAIL.
(See also # 5 on this point)
	2) The institution that classifies the meteorite is ALMOST ALWAYS given
a portion of the specimen(s) exceeding any research needs they might
have.
	3) I do not know of any dealer who does not or would not trade material
of one fall/find to an institution for other material, of which they
have an abundance (A fine example is Norton County. Almost every gram in
private hands came as a result of dealers trading with UNM. UNM
certainly has far more than they could EVER use for research - not to
mention the exquisitely beautiful main mass (wonderfully displayed in
their "showroom"). 
	4)I do not know any dealer who would not give a substantial discount to
ANY institution (including those NOT doing research, per se) when
selling meteorites. (IE I even give a good break to GRADE SCHOOL teacher
- and High School T.s who say they are going to use the material in the
classroom {I KNOW it will spend the vast majority of its time in the
private collection of the educator, in most instances, but WILL be
brought into classes on a regular basis})
	5) Did you all know that Bob Haag GAVE AWAY nearly 1/2 of Calcalong
Creek (Sp?) (to institutions, of course)? And this is a lunar meteorite
he has been offering for sale at a price of $2 MILLION per gram! (Only
recently did it lose its unique status as the ONLY non-Antarctic lunar
meteorite)
	6) The other point is so transparent it boggles the mind anyone could
fail to grasp the basics - 80 to 90% of ALL material institutions get
there hands on comes from the work of field searchers and dealers -
without which the scientists would not even know of the existance of
many of these falls/finds. Without a collecting public, NO ONE would be
looking for meteorites, except those rare occasions when a spectacular
fall is witnessed, as recently in Tx & Az - when lab researchers and
students MIGHT make a ONE SHOT attempt at finding a fall. With no
financial incentive they certainly won't get any "locals" to help. 
	(For a greater in depth analysis of this topic, see my article, "The
Four Sectors of the Meteorite Community" in METEORITE! magazine, Nov.,
1997, pp10-11)
	Best wishes, Michael
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