[meteorite-list] It was intuition ? OK ?

From: Dave Gheesling <dave_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 12 Apr 2008 12:46:02 -0400
Message-ID: <619A1960FC3A4D7A8697450CFD13FD88_at_meteorroom>

Hi, Norbert (& All),
I realize that IMCA is doing this now as it relates to members within the
group, and this is a wonderful start. My sense is that you, as a Board of
Directors, could perhaps take some of the discussion which has unfolded here
and develop a deeper and more objective approach to establishing certain
standards which wouldn't be so dependent upon glittering generalities such
as a dealer's reputation (outside of IMCA, could a high eBay feedback rating
be perceived to be a good reputation, for example?), the willingness to
accept returns and the like. To suggest only one possible idea out of
countless, while it might be expensive to have a specimen "formally
registered" with IMCA, I also imagine it could well add to the value of the
specimen itself (and, therefore, that in at least some cases to start there
would be a market for this if the market's perception of increased value in
the specimen was higher than the cost of acquiring such a registration).
Individuals which have been well cataloged in recent falls (Svend Buhl's
terrific catalog of the Bassikounou fall comes to mind) would easily be
logged into such a system, and in the event specimens were cut it would also
be possible (at least at the outset) to track slices which came from certain
parent individuals, etc. Anyway, the point is that the IMCA is currently in
a unique position to put some teeth into the matter, and this dialogue has
been a great start. Even if a seller is outside of IMCA (which I presume
most if not all shady sellers would be, by design), these standards might
prove to be applicable in legal disputes, etc, going forward...
All best, and thanks for your service via IMCA,
Dave

-----Original Message-----
From: Norbert Classen [mailto:riffraff at timewarp.de]
Sent: Saturday, April 12, 2008 12:35 PM
To: 'Mark Crawford'; dave at fallingrocks.com
Cc: Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
Subject: [meteorite-list] It was intuition ? OK ?

Dear Mark, dear Dave, and All,

Actually, we (the IMCA Board of Directors) have been watching these
auctions, and discussing all sorts of implications during the last few
weeks. However, we can't do much if the seller is no IMCA member. If it was
an IMCA member we would have taken immediate action - be assured of that.
So, what do we learn: buy from IMCA members or from established dealers who
are willing to answer all your questions regarding the provenance of their
samples. If the seller refuses to answer your legit questions, or doesn't
listen to your concerns, just don't buy.
And, as Mark suggested, please keep as many records of your purchases as
possible, and don't be afraid of asking questions. We might come up with
something better, and kind of a "collector's guide" in the future (thanks
for bringing that up in the first place), but - as I wrote above - we're
still discussing all of the implications and facetts of this complicated
issue. If you have suggestions, and ideas, we're more than willing to listen
to you, and we are all watching this discussion with great interest.

All the best,
Norbert Classen
President IMCA Inc.

-----Urspr?ngliche Nachricht-----

One thing which I think the IMCA could do to give a lead here is some kind
of new collectors' guide. I joined about a year ago, not long after I
started collecting, as I correctly worked out that I'd want to trade on some
of my specimens at some point, and wanted to do as much as possible to 'get
it right'.

I think more by luck than judgement, my records meet the 'minimum level'
Mark G talks about - I log source and month of purchase, I keep all CoAs, I
also keep a photo of each specimen - taken from the eBay sale, dealer's web
site, wherever I've obtained it from. Despite this I know there are a
couple of mistakes for some of my earliest entries.

It may seem obvious to those who've been in the game for a while, but I had
to figure this out for myself - I didn't find any advice on record-keeping.
If I hadn't taken these steps from day one then my collection would be
substantially less valuable, but more to the point the whole chain of
provenance would have been broken while the material was under my
stewardship.

I think we all have a part to play when it comes to authenticity; some kind
of summary from IMCA to new members could go a little way to addressing
these points.

As ever, just my 2p worth...

Dave Gheesling wrote:
> IMCA BOD, are you ready to roll? Much more important than the
> question of an orientation rating system, this is a great opportunity
> for you to establish some kind of framework around which to "blow the
> whistle" with credibility when something stinks like left out fish...
> Dave
>

--
Mark's Meteorite Pages: http://meteorites.cc
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Received on Sat 12 Apr 2008 12:46:02 PM PDT