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Contraversy

Hello list. This is getting good. It is too bad that some of our
outspoken members are not on the list to add their colorful replies. One
correction. Me and Bob Haag were not told to get off of the woman's
porch. Just rapidly told that we could not see her meteorite and that we
should go. Not quite as violent as many people think but close to the
point.
     Prices are indeed out of hand but not any more so than anywhere
else. As I am one of the main holders of Portales, I am not offended but
a little agitated by the implications and hoopla going on here. Monahans
is absolutely nothing but a fiasco, I doubt anyone questions that. AHHH
the auction has been delayed yet again, no doubt to allow the
unfortunate hoopla surrounding the Portales fall to blow over. No one,
not even myself could have ever guessed that another very interesting
meteorite would fall so soon  in America.  What are the odds that it
would fall only 100 miles from Monahans??  Portales has stolen the show
from Monahans and we must let it cool off so that we can get back to the
incredible Monahans auction.

    Lets get down to the real issue here. Prices and such. Portales is
expensive first because of the press of the Monahans. As I said before
and say again, people came to my hotel room with the newspaper article
about Monahans and the inflated value and demanded to know why I was
offering so little for Portales but Monahans is worth so much. They
inflated the price and I paid like the others because Portales is
definitely a very odd beautiful meteorite.  Does anyone who has seen it
disagree? Please do not bother responding if you have not seen some
because I know the rumors about the stone portion being and H6 but I was
at the lab yesterday and nothing has been yet confirmed. Also the iron
mix and mostly iron pieces are not even yet being studied so the jury is
out for a while on this one.  We were forced to pay more and we did it.
Ill bet you anything that Steve Shoner and the others would not have
driven 10 hours and simply made an offer and then left empty handed
because the finders would not play nice and sell cheap. I too would have
preferred to pay much less believe me!  This is not an attack of any
kind, merely a reply.
    I do believe that these people are making a big mistake at this
point (the People in Portales). They have posted hundreds of No
trespassing signs, revoked all permission to hunt, and are now marketing
their finds at over $15.00 per gram for rusted plow damaged specimens.
The woman with the 37 pounder has turned down over $100,000 for hers. It
is funny that in a post I just got from one of the Farmers, he said that
" We prayed for rain and God sent us rocks from the sky"  He did indeed
send pure money from the sky but look what the finders are now doing.
The are greedy and demanding and have suddenly turned from nice to rude.
I spoke to this man last week and he was great, now he is very rude and
suddenly an expert on meteorites. Go figure. God or whatever did indeed
send them cash from the sky but they now feel that the paltry sums of
many thousands of dollars that I offer  are an insult to the treasure
they hold. Oh well, they can put it in their coffins when they go I
guess.
    As far as the question of prices are concerned, yes I am selling and
the price is high. Those who have bought their specimens are all very
pleased so far! Let us examine some other asking prices here. Shoner
works very hard and finds lots of Glorietta. That which he sells is at
full retail price and very expensive. why should it be? He found it thus
paying nothing for it so he could give it to us very cheap correct?
WRONG! He charges a fair full price for it because it is valuable and
nice and he can. Nothing at all wrong with that. It is also over $20.00
per gram. Very expensive but I guess that is normal. Portales is also
over $20.00 per gram and yet I hear many people (mostly dealers who have
none) complaining that it is too much. HMMMMMM any reasoning here? I had
to also work very hard and invest more than my yearly salary for
Portales. So I MUST charge a high price for it. Matt Morgan charged
$100.00 per gram for the new Eucrite. Over 10 times the price of
Millbillilli. I heard not one complaint and saw no reason for the
terrible price. WE all know that the new eucrite is only 6 kilos and
will be hard to get so that justifies the high price. Maybe. There are
only 70 kilos of Portales right now and every museum and collector seems
to want some. Most of them cant be chopped up and the finders still hold
over 50% and are demanding over $100,000 for several of the pieces. That
tells me that very little will be available. But I am hearing from these
other people that I should sell to them for $2 gram or something like
that. YEAH RIGHT!
Look at reality people, those complaining have been trying to get
Portales dirt cheap and could not so they are now slamming it.
As I said, this is not an attack on anyone but a simple reply to some
things that are building up right now.
Thanks and have a great day or night.
Mike Farmer
http://www.concentric.net/~farmerm
By the way, I do have 2 slices and an endcut of Portales available at
this time.

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