[meteorite-list] Personal Thoughts, pairings, and insomniactic ramblings

From: Rob McCafferty <rob_mccafferty_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue May 9 04:20:22 2006
Message-ID: <20060509082020.86597.qmail_at_web50911.mail.yahoo.com>

The way I see it is that there are not enough people
doing analysis.

In many ways this is a good thing for those doing the
analysis.

These rocks are being harvested at a phenomenal rate
and I suspect at a far greater rate than they are
actually falling. The supply is currently outstripping
the ability to process. Is this always going to be the
case?
I envisage (oh no! now I'M having visions, shoot me) a
time when the supply becomes very thin and the
analysis guys can get to work on the huge backlog
ensuring work for years to come.

Whether this will take 10 years or 1000 years, I have
absolutely no idea.
Obviously, if it's towards the upper end I'm going to
have to put on a bit of a health blitz to be around
long enough to see the value of my collection soar.

The value tends to be more important to people who
see my modest collection (and to my wife. Actually she
just wants to know how much I'm spending. I hear
knives being sharpened).
I'm not that bothered, it's fun to own these things
and look at them under a microscope.
This is why it's important to me that I know what I've
got is what the seller says it is.

Rob McCafferty

--- Mark <mafer_at_imagineopals.com> wrote:

> Hello Herman
>
> I'd like to comment a little on this whole gathering
> of minds and a
> particular comment of yours.
>
> "I believe we need to protect our collections from
> outside unclassified
> infiltration whether intentional or
> accidental.Someday we will want to know
> the
> collection we have amassed will at least be worth
> what we invested into
> it,(money that is ) the time part is called HOBBY i
> think."
>
> I have been watching a couple dealers on ebay market
> meteorites which could
> well fall into just this situation, that of an
> influx of material which
> could drive value down. The one thing which kept
> those pieces offered
> attractive was the provenance of those pieces. The
> dealers had purchased
> pieces from another dealer who, either kept a good
> record of the piece and
> marked it accordingly, or bought it from another
> collection with an equally
> traceable history (Ninninger and Moning pieces come
> to mind).
>
> Although these pieces would not be troubled by the
> recent NWA influx, there
> is a distinct possibility that some current or
> future meteorite hunter could
> find new pieces of the meteorites they did collect
> and add to the total
> recovered weight. Will that change the value of a
> Ninninger or Moning piece?
> I doubt it. And as long as the collection
> co-ordinates are recorded of the
> new finds, and proper classification done as well,
> all it would do, in my
> opinion, is make available to the market material
> previously restricted in
> volume. These new pieces would not have the history
> though, and that history
> is as much a part of the collected item as anything
> else and they keep
> prices up on an otherwise (please forgive my base
> use of terminology here)
> common find.
>
> I like to collect, when within my reach, historic
> falls.
> I'm not impressed if they hit a house or kill a dog
> (although it makes for
> good conversation sometimes), but I am impressed by
> the fact that they were
> recognized as such during a time when science was
> very much under attack and
> struggling to establish a solid foundation.
> I also collect anything which strikes my fancy which
> could just be a great
> deal on ebay.
>
> NWA 869 is a great example of market flooding. Many
> different descriptions
> for what appears to be one big fall. Good looking
> rock and there is a lot of
> it. But the sources are drying up and prices are
> climbing, ever so slightly,
> and as time goes on, and as the findings of the
> ongoing investigation become
> published, I'm sure a new interest will emerge and
> prices will climb a
> little and those that hold large quantities of this
> rock will release a
> little at a time and make back their investment with
> a little interest as
> long as they don't count storage costs. That's the
> commercial end of it, but
> in there, there is this research as well, which, on
> the surface, is looking
> at the many facets of this stone and how it can be
> classified so many ways.
> Someday, this research might lead to the filling of
> a gap in our knowledge
> of how the solor system formed, at least in one
> region. And then, all those
> classifications of meteorites from North West Africa
> which all bear
> different names, but have full analysis behind those
> names, will get looked
> at to see how they fill in or fit into, the big
> picture. It will at least
> get some researcher a paper I'm sure. And one day,
> the Antarctic meteorites
> will will follow as well.
> But the recognized institutions which can do
> classifications will release
> the information as they can and it may well be long
> after we become history
> as well. And until we can travel to a distant proto
> star formation and study
> first hand, the formation of bodies, meteorites are
> our best and most easily
> gathered evidence of how things work. And as long as
> a good record is kept
> even on these unclassified NWA's, when purchased,
> from whom, and if we're
> lucky, who they bought from, its possible, however
> unlikely, that even these
> bargin stones might shed some light when classified,
> and that too can
> increase the value of them. If nothing more, they
> make great handouts for
> our young future scientists and also make great
> inexpensive teaching tools
> for our current students who wish to study the
> stars.
> Mark Ferguson
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <Metorman46_at_aol.com>
> To: <meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
> Sent: Monday, May 08, 2006 5:20 PM
> Subject: [meteorite-list] Personal Thoughts (Adam
> Hupe)
>
>
> > Hi Adam; I am a collector of meteorites.And as
> such i prefer to acquire
> > properly classified specimens. ( personally ).And
> in doing so i also
> > prefer that
> > the specimen be in the TKW range for that
> particular classification.I
> > think
> > your personal thoughts post covers that and
> more.If we aren't careful
> > we'll
> > have purchased a piece of x meteorite at 100g TKW
> for the higher price
> > that a
> > small TKW fetches,only to find some years later
> that for some reason
> > there
> > exists 1000g in collections and more coming on
> the market.That flood will
> > drive
> > the price down for other buyers ( which is good
> for them ) and reduce the
> > value of the original specimens when traded or
> sold.And this hobby is
> > about
> > money.Especially when it comes to acquiring the
> special specimen for our
> > collection that is unique in its TKW and
> availability.All collectors
> > eventually
> > realise that fact when one day the old bank
> account is negative or
> > worse.But that
> > is the nature of the beast,i guess.
> >
> > I believe we need to protect our collections from
> outside unclassified
> > infiltration whether intentional or
> accidental.Someday we will want to
> > know the
> > collection we have amassed will at least be worth
> what we invested into
> > it,(
> > money that is ) the time part is called HOBBY i
> think.
> >
> > Just my personal thoughts and no malice towards
> anyone,except me for
> > enjoying meteorites so much i just gotta have that
> special one.I love it!!
> >
> > Herman.
> > ______________________________________________
> > Meteorite-list mailing list
> > Meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com
> >
>
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> >
>
>
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=== message truncated ===


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Received on Tue 09 May 2006 04:20:20 AM PDT