[meteorite-list] micromounts!

From: Michael L Blood <mlblood_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:00:11 2004
Message-ID: <B967C2E9.12B4%mlblood_at_cox.net>

Hi Tracy,
    A micromount is anything that will fit in a 1" X 1" plastic box. That
includes a thickly sliced iron weighing 15 grams or a "Bessey Speck"
so small you need a good pair of reading glasses to see it.
    Blaine Reed established the small fragment in a capsule routine on
very pricey stuff & I sold large numbers of SNCs that way long before
over a dozen new ones came out of africa. However, I did not invent the
really TINY fragments which showed up later.
    Some call these tiny specks "micro-minies," but "Bessey Speck" was
made popular several years ago when Dean Bessey first started out
dealing - he bought about 10 miligrams each of a few of the rarer SNCs
from me (very small frags in geletin capsules - and like Jesus and the
loaves and fishes, he broke those suckers into a seamingly infinite number
of the tiniest flecks imaginable and sold them like hot cakes on eBay. (Of
course, since then, he has become the largest exporter/importer of North
West African material in the world, selling hundreds upon hundreds of
kilos of that material).
    Huge controversy raged for weeks on end when a respected dealer
claimed any fragment too small to identify on its own was an abomination
(for a number of reasons - one being that its authenticity was impossible
to verify separate from faith in the dealer) Others maintained it actually
was a service to the scientific community by satisfying so many collectors,
leaving the bulk of the material for scientific study - others, of course,
simply pointed out the obvious, "it's a free country" argument. No real
resolution came out of that - but the point is, some people view
exceptionally tiny specimens with great disdain. Regardless - they, too,
are micromounts (the specimens, not the critics).
    So, if it fits in a 1" X1" box, it's a micromount.
    Micromount collections can be LOTS of fun, providing the collector
with a very limited budget great satisfaction. I have a rather large
micromount collection, myself, and am always looking to "upgrade"
each and every specimen - and, of course, add new ones constantly -
as it is frequently VERY inexpensive to do so - especially if they are
not already mounted with a nifty little label. (As a dealer, they are
VERY time consuming relative to price, at least for the "common"
material).
    One of the things I always look for are whole stones or whole irons
that are micromounts. One can afford to get KILLER oriented specimens -
and, sometimes, exceptionally odd shapes in micro size. No matter HOW
killer an oriented specimen is, if it is "common" & from a fall or
find of no historical significance, the price only gets just so high. I got
a PHENOMENAL oriented Zag for something like 7.50 (or perhaps 17.50?)
just because it was small - the thing is AMAZING!
    Micromount collecting is a real joy - don't let anyone tell you
different and definitely don't feel your collection is "inferior" because
this or that person has something 3,000 times bigger. Everything is
relative. Most people in the world, if they worry about COMPARING
their collection to others' would feel forever discouraged if they
visited Bob Haag's collection - and I am sure the same effect would
occur on a visit to Rob Elliott's (though I haven't had that pleasure yet).
So, just think of them - and ANY collection is small.
    Besides, some VERY good things come in small packages: I collected
everything I could put my hands on that hit something - a horse, a car,
a mailbox, a person - etc. and made what I consider an absolutely
KILLER collection (in some cases, literally) entirely of micromounts.
I haven't sold a single collection - but that little collection tickles me
silly. I also have a collection of SNCs - each and every one of them are
micromounts. Another example of zappy goodies is the pallasite
collection of micromounts I have been working on for years - it is
not easy finding a zappy example of every pallasite in micromount
size & it is very rewarding to do so. Every time I add a new pallasite
to that collection & tickles me greatly.
    So, if every specimen you own can fit in a 1"X 1" micromount box,
so what? Personally, I would love to see your collection - and I suspect
nearly every other collector would too - after all, that's the nature
of this terrible disease we have - our collections AREN'T like coin
collections - every specimen is unique, and every collection I have
ever seen has had SOME zappy piece(s) that made me go, "Ahhhh."
    So, here's to you and all micromount collectors!
    Best wishes, Michael
    
    

on 7/26/02 11:58 AM, Tracy Latimer at tracyl_at_lib.state.hi.us wrote:

> Before I make any decisions regarding some of the more exotic theories
> that have cropped up recently on this board (the Nemesis star, the sun
> being a giant ball of glowing iron, etc.) would someone (or
> someones) please direct me to some reputable sources of information on
> these subjects? Moon landing hoax websites et. al. need not apply; I have
> no trouble finding conspiracy theorists. I know the Nemesis theory has
> been around a while, I believe even Isaac Asimov talked about it, but I am
> not up to speed on the newest information. And I haven't seen anything
> but the one secondhand press release on the iron sun theory.
>
> And finally, just to make this post marginally about meteorites, is there
> a consensus on what constitutes a micromount? Mass? Lower limit? Upper
> limit? Crumbs in a gelcap? One pinhead fleck in a jewel box (my
> Chassignite)? I would love to have a saucer sized slab o' Esquel (who
> wouldn't?) but money and storage constrain me, and while I have a few
> bigger pieces, I am a micromount collector and proud of it.
>
> Tracy Latimer
>
>
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Received on Sat 27 Jul 2002 06:24:25 AM PDT