[meteorite-list] Speck Issues - Reply to this subject

From: Michael Farmer <meteoriteguy_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 3 Mar 2008 15:58:48 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <519193.29128.qm_at_web33105.mail.mud.yahoo.com>

Ok, there is potential for fraud, but hey, if you eat
a hamburger, perhaps it will be contaminated with
E-COLI, you could die, but I bet most of you will
continue to eat hamburgers. There is no solution to
this problem, so buy from trustworthy dealers.
Michael Farmer
--- MeteorHntr at aol.com wrote:

> Hello Walter, Frank, Mike and All,
>
> I agree, there is a potential problem with fraud.
>
> I would say, that a lack of ability to confirm
> certain meteorites as being
> what they are, is one of the factors that is keeping
> the hobby from exploding
> (even more so) in popularity.
>
> Of course on the rare items, if they are large
> enough, anyone can go through
> the trouble to get their own third party testing
> done if they really want
> to. The Ordinary Chondrite Hammer stones are a bit
> different, no matter what
> the size, but especially with the smaller ones.
>
> I think there is room for extra value to be added to
> certain hammers (or
> other historical OCs) if the seller(s) will go
> through the extra effort to
> document what they have is from where they say it
> is.
>
> Maybe this requires (microscopic?) photographic
> documentation, with notary
> public documentation on the dealer's signature(s)
> for some? Who knows?
>
> If an unknown buyer knows that he or she can buy and
> then later resell a
> certain specimen, with the integrity of that
> specimen intact, then I think more
> people will want to risk buying them, and that will
> only help their values.
>
> We are still in the "Wild West" age of meteorite
> collecting. If a collector
> is educated, and thus more self sufficient, it is
> still a great time to jump
> in and build a great collection. As the hobby
> matures, some of these things
> will be ironed out, and values will rise (and some
> may fall).
>
> I think Frank's observation about this is very valid
> from a collector's
> point of view. No doubt if a dealer has two part
> slices, (or two crumbs) of
> equal quality, from a meteorite that hit a house,
> but one had the specimen
> photographed on a signed ID COA card, and the other
> one didn't, and both were put
> on Ebay, one would be sell for more than the other
> one would.
>
> If the dealer also had a notarized copy of the
> exchange agreement with a
> major museum, where the specimen came from, that
> would only help that much more
> to add to the provenance and thus to the value.
>
> In this electronic age, making a 1 min video of the
> hammer hitting the slice
> and the crumbs being immediately identified could be
> enough to satisfy most
> people.
>
> Entrepreneurism is great. As needs arise, watch the
> solutions that will
> emerge. Frank has pointed out a valid need.
>
> The best is yet to come.
>
> Steve Arnold
> Arkansas
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> In a message dated 3/3/2008 5:08:18 P.M. Central
> Standard Time,
> waltbranch at bellsouth.net writes:
> >Guys, there is no problem here.
>
> There is a potential problem. When a dealer buys
> say,
> a collection, who is to say that the seller has not
> substituted one specimen for another. For example,
> Claxton, in the size of a speck, looks like any
> other L6.
> A well intentioned, well meaning, completely honest
> dealer
> has to trust that the seller is being honest with
> them
> and of course, on down the line.
>
> -Walter Branch
> (going home now. I hear a chillie cheese dog (or
> dawg, as we say here)
> calling my name.)
>
>
>
>
> **************It's Tax Time! Get tips, forms, and
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Received on Mon 03 Mar 2008 06:58:48 PM PST