[meteorite-list] Fwd: 1, 400-pound Pallasite Meteorite Goes On Auction

From: csaconn at triad.rr.com <csaconn_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2007 18:43:11 -0400
Message-ID: <26007473.202471190673791471.JavaMail.root_at_hrndva-web07-z02>

Here's a link to the auction list so far:

http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/pubweb/publicSite.r?sContinent=USA&screen=Catalogue&iSaleNo=15648

---- Darryl Pitt <darryl at dof3.com> wrote:
>
>
> as the following is now circulating outside of steve's hometown,
> please note the writer was informed that steve's oriented brenham is
> the largest available intact pallasite and the largest oriented
> pallasite known to exist. it was also mentioned that steve's
> meteorite, as everyone on this list is well aware, would be a
> centerpiece at any of the foremost natural history museums. only when
> i said goodbye to this fellow, after several minutes of answering
> questions, did i make any mention of homeboys ringing bells.
>
> shame on me.
>
> all best/ darryl
>
> p.s. the sale on october 28th features several lots without
> reserves, which is to say that according to the laws of the state of
> new york specimens of siena, ensisheim, weston, tatahouine and canyon
> diablo--among others--will sell for as little as the market bears.
>
> the first contemporary auction to offer a collection of meteorites
> was in 1995 as part of phillips' first natural history auction. the
> offering in which steve's meteorite is featured is the first auction
> devoted to meteorites by a traditional auction house, and will
> hopefully prove worthy of such a benchmark.
>
> d.
>
> Depth of Field Management
> 1501 Broadway Suite 1304
> New York, New York 10036
> 212.302.9200
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> > From: Ron Baalke <baalke at zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>
> > Date: September 24, 2007 5:50:47 PM EDT
> > To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com (Meteorite Mailing List)
> > Subject: [meteorite-list] 1,400-pound Pallasite Meteorite Goes On
> > Auction
> >
> >
> >
> > http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/202352/
> >
> > Auction to settle question of worth
> > BY MARK MINTON
> > Arkansas Democrat Gazette
> > September 24, 2007
> >
> > After Steve Arnold finally found the big one, buried seven feet
> > deep in
> > a Kansas wheat field, he hoisted his treasure into the bed of his
> > pickup
> > and hauled it back to the Ozarks.
> >
> > Two years later, Arnold's discovery, a rare meteorite that is the
> > biggest of its kind ever unearthed, will go to the high bidder at an
> > auction scheduled for next month in New York. Also on the block:
> > Choice
> > chunks of the moon and Mars, a smattering of meteorites decommissioned
> > from the Smithsonian Institution and London's Natural History Museum,
> > and a rock billed as "the sexiest meteorite on earth."
> >
> > There is even a crumpled mailbox felled by a meteorite that hurtled
> > down
> > one night in 1984, crash-landing outside a mobile home in Georgia.
> >
> > Bonhams & Butterfields, the auction house staging what it calls the
> > first sale devoted to "fine meteorites," says the Oct. 28 event is
> > historic because it includes a piece of the famous "Willamette
> > meteorite" exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History in New
> > York. But Arnold's cone-tipped space rock - "the most important
> > American
> > meteorite discovery of the past 50 years" - is the headliner in the
> > Bonhams announcement.
> >
> > The 1,430-pound chunk of the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars
> > already has brought fame to Arnold, a 41-year-old professional
> > meteorite
> > hunter who lives near Kingston in Madison County. His Oct. 16, 2005,
> > discovery landed him an appearance on NBC's Today show, among other
> > media notices.
> >
> > But only the auction will answer the question that has consumed him
> > since he dug up the stone: What's it worth?
> >
> > No one can say with precision. Prize meteorites reportedly have
> > sold to
> > collectors for six-figure sums. A rock this big, however, may be
> > beyond
> > the reach of all but a couple of collectors, said Darryl Pitt, curator
> > of New York's noted Macovich collection, which has about a dozen of
> > its
> > own pieces in the auction.
> >
> > The priciest meteorite ever sold at public auction went for $ 135,000.
> > "And that was just a slice," Pitt said.
> >
> > "Your homeboy there, he rang the bell on this. It's truly off the
> > charts.'
> >
> > Arnold discovered his meteorite, which is the size of an engine block,
> > on farmland near Brenham, Kan.
> >
> > About 100 miles west of Wichita, the location is wellknown to
> > meteorite
> > hunters. A big one crashed there thousands of years ago, scattering 3
> > tons of fragments, according to the American Museum of Natural
> > History.
> >
> > The Brenham site was presumed to have been tapped out long ago.
> >
> > But Arnold, who had been hunting for 13 years without a big score,
> > decided to gamble on new technology and an informed hunch.
> >
> > He re-plotted the presumed path of the Brenham meteorite after
> > concluding that an impression believed to be an impact crater was
> > actually a "buffalo wallow," a low spot where the beasts would roll
> > around in mud and water. At least, that's how the Macovich collection
> > put it in a promotional release.
> >
> > Arnold was coy.
> >
> > Asked just what persuaded him there was more to be had from the
> > site, he
> > drummed his fingers nervously on a tabletop. Gaps stretched between
> > his
> > words.
> >
> > Arnold, who wears a "Meteorite Recovery Team" cap depicting a falling
> > star, was equally circumspect about his current meteorite hunt.
> >
> > "Top secret," was all he said.
> >
> > Arnold and Phil Mani, a San Antonio lawyer and meteorite collector who
> > bankrolled the Kansas search, bought the meteorite rights to several
> > sections of farmland to protect any finds.
> >
> > Then Arnold started sweeping the field.
> >
> > Dragging a frame-mounted metal detector behind a fourwheeler, he
> > listened through headphones for the telltale screech.
> >
> > His custom detector is sensitive to depths of 15 feet - sometimes too
> > sensitive. Working his way through the wheat, he had to stop every 100
> > feet or so to dig.
> >
> > He unearthed a coyote trap, horse shoes, pliers and a ring for a
> > bull's
> > nose before he found his stone.
> >
> > On the heels of his discovery, scientists from the Houston Museum of
> > Natural Science descended on the site. Using a ground-penetrating
> > radar
> > system developed to search for water on Mars, the team found a 154-
> > pounder.
> >
> > The museum plans to feature it in its planned "Great Balls of Fire !"
> > exhibit, said Carolyn Sumners, vice president for astronomy and
> > physics.
> >
> > Arnold has had his meteorite on a tour of museums and exhibitions
> > between Fort Worth and Kansas City during the two years since his
> > discovery. Dragging it in a U-Haul behind his bright yellow Hummer,
> > he's
> > also made two trips to Tucson's annual gem and mineral show, a must-go
> > for serious collectors and dealers.
> >
> > Arnold also has returned to Kansas. But the tornado that swept down
> > the
> > prairie last spring, killing 10 people and leveling Greensburg,
> > damaged
> > the house that he bought for his extended hunts. Then the city knocked
> > it down as part of the cleanup.
> >
> > "My house survived the F-5 tornado," Arnold said, "but it didn't
> > survive
> > the Caterpillar D 5 bulldozer." As a full-time meteorite hunter,
> > dealer
> > and broker, he has traveled as far as the deserts of Oman. In the last
> > year, he said, he prospected five new destinations. All were dry
> > holes.
> > "I'm at a crossroads," Arnold said. "A lot depends on what happens at
> > the auction. Hopefully, it will fund me to do some other exotic
> > stuff."
> > Who will put up cash for a 1,400-pound meteorite? "I think many
> > people, for the right price, would buy that rock," Sumners said.
> >
> > Derek Sears, director of the University of Arkansas Space Center, said
> > museums have plenty of Brenham pieces already. But he agreed that
> > Arnold's meteorite is "a very rare and very interesting type." Fewer
> > than 1 percent of meteorites are pallasites - chunks of iron-nickel
> > alloy containing olivine, the mineral that produces the
> > semiprecious gem
> > peridot.
> >
> > Pallasites have been selling between $ 5 and $ 20 a gram for small
> > samples, said Max McCoy, an author who teaches journalism at Emporia
> > (Kan.) State University and has followed Arnold's discovery for a book
> > he's writing about the Brenham meteorite. It's impossible to
> > extrapolate
> > per-gram prices to a piece that weighs more than half a ton.
> >
> > "But what is indisputable," said McCoy, who plans to use the
> > auction as
> > the last chapter of the book, "is that these pallasites are worth
> > quite
> > a bit of money."
> >
> > Although Arnold has the largest stake in the meteorite, he is not the
> > only one awaiting the auction with high hopes.
> >
> > Mani has a share, as does Allen Binford, the 78-year-old farmer who
> > sold
> > the rights to hunt for meteorites on his farm.
> >
> > Binford has thought he was close to a big payday before. At one of the
> > Tucson shows, he recalled, "We had a meteorite guy there who looked at
> > it, and he said, 'That's worth $22 million.' We told him we'd take a
> > check anytime," he said, chuckling.
> >
> > Bonhams & Butterfields estimates the value at $ 630, 000-$ 700, 000,
> > according to a release posted on the Macovich collection's Web site. A
> > spokesman for Bonhams & Butterfields did not return calls for comment.
> >
> > Early on, Arnold embraced $ 1 million as a satisfying price. But he
> > admits his shopping of the rock hasn't produced tangible results.
> >
> > "Suffice it to say, nobody's had an offer we were willing to take," he
> > said.
> >
> > But he's confident it will find a buyer next month. Arnold has no idea
> > who it might be. He's just hoping something big comes out of the blue.
> >
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Received on Mon 24 Sep 2007 06:43:11 PM PDT