[meteorite-list] More on the auction

From: Darren Garrison <cynapse_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun, 28 Oct 2007 22:50:00 -0400
Message-ID: <ehiai3p28vpfe4d3honou2et24seqds598_at_4ax.com>

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/28/AR2007102801211.html

Meteorites Get Little Action at Auction

By RICHARD PYLE
The Associated Press
Sunday, October 28, 2007; 7:47 PM



NEW YORK -- Two of the world's most famous meteorites failed to attract buyers
at an auction Sunday, while an ordinary metal mailbox zapped by a falling space
rock in 1984 was sold for the unearthly price of nearly $83,000.

A 30-pound chunk of the Willamette Meteorite, which was found in Oregon in 1902
and has been steeped in ownership controversies for more than a century, was
offered by Bonhams auction house at an estimated value of $1.3 million but was
withdrawn from sale after bidding ended at $300,000.

Similarly, the 1,410-pound Brenham Main Mass, dug out of a Kansas farm field in
2005, was withdrawn by Bonhams CEO and auctioneer Malcolm Barber after it drew a
top bid of only $200,000 _ well short of the pre-sale estimate of $630,000 to
$700,000.

In both cases the sellers, who were present, said they weren't worried because
potential purchasers were known to be interested in the extraterrestrial rocks
even though they may not have joined the bidding.

"I'm disappointed, but it was not through any lack of effort," said Philip Mani,
a San Antonio lawyer and geologist who is one of three owners of the Brenham
meteorite, along with Steve Arnold, who found it, and Allen Binford, who owns
the wheat field near Greensburg, Kan., where it was discovered.

"We are in the process of putting together a plan, and we have a number of
inquiries from people expressing interest."

The entire 15.5-ton Willamette Meteorite has been owned by the American Museum
of Natural History since 1908, with pieces loaned or given to other collectors
from time to time.

The small piece was offered at auction by Darryl Pitt, curator of the Macovich
Collection, the world's largest collection of space rocks, who traded the museum
a Martian rock for the Willamette chip in 1998.

The fact that it went unsold was "not really a surprise," Pitt said, adding that
he also expected a lot of interest from prospective buyers.

Having sold several other rocks, including a Siberian meteorite _ a product of
history's largest known meteor shower _ for the day's top price of $122,750, he
called the auction "not a bad day. It shows there is a lot of interest in
meteorites."

The couple who bought the Siberian rock declined to identify themselves.

Scientists believe the huge Willamette meteorite, the largest ever found in
North America, crashed billions of years ago in what is now Canada and was
pushed southward by glaciers before it was discovered in an area occupied by
Oregon's Clackamas Indians.

The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, which includes the Clackamas, has
objected to the auction of the 30-pound fragment. The tribe believes the
meteorite is a sacred object that was sent to Earth by the Sky People; demands
for its return to the group have been refused.

"I don't know what to say about their claim," Pitt said after the auction.

Among the more than 50 meteorites, moon rocks and other items that Bonhams
auctioned off for a total of $750,000, a surprise star was a mailbox that had
sat outside the home of Carutha Barnard in Claxton, Ga., until it was blasted
one night in 1984 by a three-pound rock from outer space.

In spirited bidding, the mailbox _ somewhat the worse for the experience but
with its red metal flag still bravely in the "up" position _ went to an
unidentified bidder for $82,750 including the buyer's premium of 20 percent. A
tiny piece of the rock itself, less than an ounce, went for $7,700.

The Valera Meteorite, noteworthy as the only space rock documented to have
caused a fatality on Earth, was sold for $1,554. Its victim in 1972 was a cow in
Venezuela.

? 2007 The Associated Press
Received on Sun 28 Oct 2007 10:50:00 PM PDT