[meteorite-list] bonhams meteorite auction

From: Darryl Pitt <Darryl_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun, 28 Oct 2007 19:44:55 -0500
Message-ID: <CC90665D-E0B2-4FDC-9B22-AA5B542B13C8_at_dof3.com>

The following was issued by Bonhams.



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Meteorite Shower in Manhattan Today

Bonhams' auction brings large crowd and strong prices

Meteorite collectors, scientists, and admirers of sculptural
artifacts from outer space bid today for Historic Meteorites and
Related Americana in the first sale exclusively dedicated to
meteorites to be held by a major auction house. Auctioneers Bonhams
opened its New York City salesroom today (Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007) for
a 53-lot sale which featured important examples of intergalactic
collectibles. The sale brought $750,000, with more than half the
lots selling above their high estimates and a strong sell-through
rate (at 93%) overall.

Meteorite expert Darryl Pitt sees the international interest in the
sale as supportive of his assertion that the market is robust and
rapidly growing, the most desirable objects seeing interest from
private collectors and institutions alike. Claudia Florian, Natural
History Specialist and organizer of the Bonhams sale, stated that she
was delighted with the buoyant results -- which indicate the overall
strength of the market. "The results were stronger than anticipated
with a near-perfect result. We hope to conclude sales on the handful
of unsold lots in the next several days."

Top lot sold today was a specimen described as the epitome of an iron
meteorite. It came to Earth during the largest meteorite shower in
human history and was retrieved from Siberia, Russia. This Sikhote-
Alin brought $122,750 (estimate $55/70,000).

An interesting lot attracting competitive bids from privates and
institutional curators is the only known mailbox to have been
impacted by a meteorite. A grey-painted steel mailbox from Claxton,
Georgia, near Atlanta, was struck in December of 1984. The dented
mailbox sold for $82,750 on Sunday. A 5.5-gram slice of the
meteorite that caused the damage to the mailbox sold for $7,768. A
23-gram slice of a meteorite which hit a car in Peekskill, NY was
offered with pieces of the car, it sold for $1,673.

-More-

Meteorites and Bonhams Auction

-2-

A slice of a meteorite composed of gemstones sold for $82,750, this
example of a pallasite, dubbed the Glorieta Mountain meteorite --
found in New Mexico -- displays a wonderful array of olivine
crystals within its nickel-iron matrix. A slice of a meteorite
formerly within a London museum sold for $77,000, the shape of the
specimen is a baseball home plate, the complete mass displaying olive
and peridot clusters.

Aesthetic meteorites are extremely rare. Sculpture collectors have
expressed interest in these specimens given their eye-pleasing
forms. One of these, a Gibeon from Namibia, sold for $77,000.
Another example, described as tabletop sculpture, sold for more than
four times its estimate, bringing $26,888.

The path to Earth is not without its perils, meteorites often
disintegrate long before impact. Some examples land with thumb
prints or regmaglypts and an example with a deep scoop, referred to
as an extraterrestrial candy bowl (which weighs 68-pounds), doubled
its estimate to bring $38,838.

Bidders spanned the planet, with those in the auction room competing
with bidders on the telephones from Canada, Europe, the Middle East
and Australia, as well as many parts of the US. The illustrated
catalogue will remain online for review at www.bonhams.com/us.
Received on Sun 28 Oct 2007 08:44:55 PM PDT