[meteorite-list] Auction Update

From: martinh_at_isu.edu <martinh_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri Jan 28 13:09:37 2005
Message-ID: <8fbab98fe23e.8fe23e8fbab9_at_isu.edu>

Howdy Folks,

DNA Dave brings up an interesting point in his request for a large stone in Michael Blood?s Tucson Auction.

As the largest single contributor of non-NWA pieces in Michael?s auction, I put considerable thought and effort into both what I would offer and the reserve price if any placed on the piece. My choices were based upon the belief that the auction format works best when material is offered that cannot be readily acquired from other sources. Large unclassified stones are, for meteorites anyway, somewhat common with one Canadian dealer recently offering ?Humongous? pieces at rather low prices.

While the largest piece I have in Michael?s auction is only 272g, I did try to include a variety of pieces covering many of the collecting threads pursued by those who fancy meteorites. Here are some statistics for the 38 pieces I have in Michael?s auction:

10 Witnessed falls
11 Specimens with notable collection numbers and/or labels
6 pieces with Nininger numbers
2 E
ucrites
2 Howardites
1 Diogenite
1 Ureilite
2 Mesosiderites
4 irons
1 Silicated anomalous iron
1 Enstatite chondrite
3 Carbonaceous chondrites including two type 3.0 specimens!
21 Ordinary chondrites including an LL4 fall
2 stones with a total known weight of ~200g or less
5 Other stones with at TKW of 5kg or less
1 Historic Nininger Star
7 Pieces that fell or were found in the 1800s
2 Pieces that fell or were found in the 1700s
14 Pieces with no reserve
$50 is the lowest reserve
$7000 the highest reserve
6 Specimens are half or complete individuals
4 Specimens are end sections
4 Specimens are fragments
22 Specimens are complete or partial slices

So in a nutshell, while I cannot please everyone, I did make a conscious effort to please as many people as I possible. It is my hope that the rarity of most of these pieces will be recognized before or during the auction instead of after. Often when I review old auction outcomes whether the King Auction or Darryl?s auctions, I kic
k myself saying, ?What was I thinking? I cannot believe I let that piece go!?

Cheers,

Martin


----- Original Message -----
From: DNAndrews <DNA1_at_cableone.net>
Date: Friday, January 28, 2005 1:11 am
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Auction Update (AD)

>
> >) I am surprised I don't have a good many more.
> > I will be leaving Monday, so, absentee bids will be
> accepted up to
> >midnight Sunday, Jan. 30th.
> >
> Michael,
> I'll be there and will have more money than I usually have to
> indulge
> in. What I notice this year, is there is nothing BIG. No big
> stones,
> no big irons, just little piddly "rare stuff"...eucrites,
> howardites,
> achondrites, luanites,....etc. I am looking for a BIG
> meteorite....unclassified....classified....I don't care. Like the
> one I
> scarfed last year...very nice. I want something I can display to
> non-meteorite folk and have them go "WOW!" So, if there are some
> late
> seller with some decent sized stones or iro
ns...let them in please!
>
> Maybe that HB oriented piece looks good to me, but I'm sure I'll
> get
> outbid on that one.
>
> Sorry to bitch,
> Dave
>
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Received on Fri 28 Jan 2005 01:09:35 PM PST