[meteorite-list] AD: Excellent Ensisheim slice on eBay

From: Martin Horejsi <accretiondesk_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon Jun 19 18:09:25 2006
Message-ID: <9c2f96d20606191509h73b68083r6f94a40f340a78d1_at_mail.gmail.com>

Outstanding specimen Herbert!

Rarely has such a nice piece of Ensisheim been offered, especially on
ebay. As THE Historic meteorite, I suspect that what we are watching
in this auction right now is one of the last of the great offerings of
this famous stone.

Ensisheim has no bigger fan than myself, and to see such a great slice
in the process of exchange is like watching one generation hand the
keys of wisdom to the children of the next.

For those of us in the I-have-a-nice-piece-of-Ensisheim-club, past
membership reads like a history book of famous Who's Who. Here is a
brief excerpt about the great stone simply known as Ensisheim:

"In 1492, a meteorite fell in a field near the city of Ensisheim. Only
a young boy saw the fall at a place called Les Octrois Laubourg, south
of Ensisheim. When the inhabitants were informed of this event,
everyone wanted to keep a fragment of it, considering this as a divine
sign.. Twenty days later, King Maximilien of Austria, in conflict with
the King of France Charles VIII, heard about the stone. He used thus
supernatural phenomenon like a divine sign announcing a forthcoming
victory of his armies and ordered that the meteorite was hung in the
chorus of the church of Ensisheim. In 1794, it was transported to the
Museum of Colmar and, in 1804, the town of Ensisheim recovered its
trophy which weighed then no more that 55kg. Fifty years later, after
the collapse of the bell-tower of the church, the meteorite was kept
in the Palate of Regency. Nowadays, the block remaining, weighing
53.831kg, is protected by the "Brotherhood of Saint-Georges of the
Guardians of the Meteorite of Ensisheim". It is about the first well
documented fall ever observed."

When this auction nears its close on June 25th, I suggest we all
gather around our computers, a glass of French wine in hand, and toast
the entrusting of Ensisheim to its newest caretaker (unless, of
course, it's Dean B. Then God help us all! (;- )

Cheers,

Martin





On 6/19/06, Herbert Raab <herbert.raab_at_utanet.at> wrote:
>
> Dear fellow collectors,
>
> I have listed an excellent slice of the Ensisheim meteorite
> from my personal collection on eBay. The 3.88g slice shows
> nice brecciation features, and even fusion crust is present
> along one edgle. It's the best "small" slice I came across
> in 20+ years of collection. But I have changed the focus of
> my collection recently, concentrating on fewer, large display
> pieces, and so I let this beauty go.
>
> The reservce price is set to ~70% of what I originally paid
> for this piece some years ago at the Munich fair. I admit that
> the piece was not a steal, but well worth that. :-)
>
> Simply search for "Ensisheim" on ebay, or follow that link:
>
> http://cgi.ebay.com/Ensisheim-meteorite-excellent-part-slice-3-88g_W0QQitemZ6638814618QQihZ012QQcategoryZ3239QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
>
> Thanks for looking,
>
> Herbert Raab
>
>
>
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Received on Mon 19 Jun 2006 06:09:23 PM PDT