[meteorite-list] Personal Thoughts, pairings, and insomniactic ramblings

From: Mark <mafer_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue May 9 03:18:42 2006
Message-ID: <020301c67338$cbb6de80$01fea8c0_at_maf>

Hello Herman

I'd like to comment a little on this whole gathering of minds and a
particular comment of yours.

"I believe we need to protect our collections from outside unclassified
infiltration whether intentional or accidental.Someday we will want to know
the
collection we have amassed will at least be worth what we invested into
it,(money that is ) the time part is called HOBBY i think."

I have been watching a couple dealers on ebay market meteorites which could
well fall into just this situation, that of an influx of material which
could drive value down. The one thing which kept those pieces offered
attractive was the provenance of those pieces. The dealers had purchased
pieces from another dealer who, either kept a good record of the piece and
marked it accordingly, or bought it from another collection with an equally
traceable history (Ninninger and Moning pieces come to mind).

Although these pieces would not be troubled by the recent NWA influx, there
is a distinct possibility that some current or future meteorite hunter could
find new pieces of the meteorites they did collect and add to the total
recovered weight. Will that change the value of a Ninninger or Moning piece?
I doubt it. And as long as the collection co-ordinates are recorded of the
new finds, and proper classification done as well, all it would do, in my
opinion, is make available to the market material previously restricted in
volume. These new pieces would not have the history though, and that history
is as much a part of the collected item as anything else and they keep
prices up on an otherwise (please forgive my base use of terminology here)
common find.

I like to collect, when within my reach, historic falls.
I'm not impressed if they hit a house or kill a dog (although it makes for
good conversation sometimes), but I am impressed by the fact that they were
recognized as such during a time when science was very much under attack and
struggling to establish a solid foundation.
I also collect anything which strikes my fancy which could just be a great
deal on ebay.

NWA 869 is a great example of market flooding. Many different descriptions
for what appears to be one big fall. Good looking rock and there is a lot of
it. But the sources are drying up and prices are climbing, ever so slightly,
and as time goes on, and as the findings of the ongoing investigation become
published, I'm sure a new interest will emerge and prices will climb a
little and those that hold large quantities of this rock will release a
little at a time and make back their investment with a little interest as
long as they don't count storage costs. That's the commercial end of it, but
in there, there is this research as well, which, on the surface, is looking
at the many facets of this stone and how it can be classified so many ways.
Someday, this research might lead to the filling of a gap in our knowledge
of how the solor system formed, at least in one region. And then, all those
classifications of meteorites from North West Africa which all bear
different names, but have full analysis behind those names, will get looked
at to see how they fill in or fit into, the big picture. It will at least
get some researcher a paper I'm sure. And one day, the Antarctic meteorites
will will follow as well.
But the recognized institutions which can do classifications will release
the information as they can and it may well be long after we become history
as well. And until we can travel to a distant proto star formation and study
first hand, the formation of bodies, meteorites are our best and most easily
gathered evidence of how things work. And as long as a good record is kept
even on these unclassified NWA's, when purchased, from whom, and if we're
lucky, who they bought from, its possible, however unlikely, that even these
bargin stones might shed some light when classified, and that too can
increase the value of them. If nothing more, they make great handouts for
our young future scientists and also make great inexpensive teaching tools
for our current students who wish to study the stars.
Mark Ferguson







----- Original Message -----
From: <Metorman46_at_aol.com>
To: <meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Monday, May 08, 2006 5:20 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Personal Thoughts (Adam Hupe)


> Hi Adam; I am a collector of meteorites.And as such i prefer to acquire
> properly classified specimens. ( personally ).And in doing so i also
> prefer that
> the specimen be in the TKW range for that particular classification.I
> think
> your personal thoughts post covers that and more.If we aren't careful
> we'll
> have purchased a piece of x meteorite at 100g TKW for the higher price
> that a
> small TKW fetches,only to find some years later that for some reason
> there
> exists 1000g in collections and more coming on the market.That flood will
> drive
> the price down for other buyers ( which is good for them ) and reduce the
> value of the original specimens when traded or sold.And this hobby is
> about
> money.Especially when it comes to acquiring the special specimen for our
> collection that is unique in its TKW and availability.All collectors
> eventually
> realise that fact when one day the old bank account is negative or
> worse.But that
> is the nature of the beast,i guess.
>
> I believe we need to protect our collections from outside unclassified
> infiltration whether intentional or accidental.Someday we will want to
> know the
> collection we have amassed will at least be worth what we invested into
> it,(
> money that is ) the time part is called HOBBY i think.
>
> Just my personal thoughts and no malice towards anyone,except me for
> enjoying meteorites so much i just gotta have that special one.I love it!!
>
> Herman.
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Received on Tue 09 May 2006 03:18:38 AM PDT