[meteorite-list] Newbie question

From: SSachs9056_at_aol.com <SSachs9056_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:52:06 2004
Message-ID: <66.252121c0.2a82e0bc_at_aol.com>

Hi Fred and List,

Interesting questions. This is a case of where the buyer has to rely on the
reputation of the dealer. One could surmise that a person could easily take
on ordinary H-5 NWA, (North West Africa) and falsify it's provenance. For
example, one could take an ordinary NWA, cut into slices, call it Homestead,
and sell it to you. You then have to rely on the seller's reputation. If you
then had a doubt, it's your time and possibly money to send the "Homestead"
slice to a reputable university lab for a complete petrology report. Don't
know about you, but I have neither the time or money to do this.

Also, you need to know what the interiors look like. A carbonaceous chondrite
(Allende)interior is going to look vastly different from a Eucrite (Camel
Donga).

As far as dealers are concerned, the dealers you find on this list are honest
and reputable. With dealers, reputation is EVERYTHING.

While there may some bickering between the dealers themselves, that is never
passed along to the buyer. For a dealer to sell a meteorite, and to falsify
it's provenance----that would be the equivalent of the "death knell". Word
would soon get around and the meteorite dealer community would soon ostracize
that individual.

This has happened before to one dealer in particular (no names), and although
this person continues to sell from a catalog and online, this person is no
longer welcomed on Meteorite Central list of dealers, and is shunned by most
of the meteorite collecting / selling community. That's your best bet Fred.
Go to Meteorite Central, and go to the links. You'll have plenty of dealers
to choose from, and will avoid this person altogether. That should help you.

Best,

Steven Sachs IMCA # 9210

http://www.geocities.com/gangwise/meteorite.html
Received on Wed 07 Aug 2002 04:44:44 PM PDT