[meteorite-list] Michael Casper

From: Mark Grossman <markig_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2008 00:33:07 -0500
Message-ID: <004501c89227$88ccc480$6601a8c0_at_QED>

Now that I've got my email settings correct, I wanted to respond to the
email sent early last week (see below). Before receiving this message, I
had already sent a message over to Cornell, and was waiting for a response.
Once I received the response, I encountered difficulties in posting to the
list.

So here is the inquiry I sent to Cornell: "Can you tell me if Michael
Casper was ever curator of Cornell's meteorite collection back in the mid to
late 1990s?"

And the response from Cornell:

"Michael was (and is, as far as I know) Curator of the Cornell Meteorite
Collection during that time".

So, just wanted to pass the information on.

Mark Grossman

----- Original Message -----
From: <mexicodoug at aim.com>
To: <MeteorHntr at aol.com>; <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 3:18 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Michael Casper


> Steve, do you mean the world's tallest?
>
> As for Michael Casper: He was(is?) the 'adjunct curator' (there was no
> chief curator) of the meteorite collection at Cornell, held by SPIF.
> Just ask Rick Kline at Cornell's Spacecraft Planetary Imaging Facility
> (SPIF). I am sure he could comment on the details of interest. Like
> whether it was an informal title or official within the University.
>
>
http://astrosun2.astro.cornell.edu/research/projects/SPIF//INVENTORY/105meteorites.html
>
> They need to do a little updating of their website...seems mostly
> dormant since 2005, but it is the University website.
>
> Can anyone tell us details of exactly how Michael Casper
> 'singlehandedly' destroyed the artificially high price level of
> diogenites (was it Bilanga because it sure sounds like it, this must
> have been a heartbreaking situation for many?) by undercutting the
> market in ca. 1999?* More detailes on the 2000 space.com articles that
> featured some of our favorite restauranteers, college students,
> plumbers, and photographers...
>
> Best wishes from the eye of the hurricane gusts - what a welcome home
> today! If you are in South Texas make sure you chain down your
> meteorites incase they become airborne - it's comin' your way.
>
>
>
> from space.com:
> *Casper's business practices occasionally irritate other meteorite
> dealers. He is willing to sell large pieces at prices well below the
> prevailing market value for that particular meteorite. He did that
> recently with a rare and exotic type of meteorite called diogenite,
> much to the irritation of other dealers who were holding large amounts
> of the rare type and seeking a price between $40 and $60 per gram.
> With one sale of several pounds of diogenite at a price that some
> report to be about half the market value, Casper single-handedly cut
> the world price of diogenite meteorites, critics say. "It just goes to
> show you, if you think you got it all, you better do some research,"
> said stalwart meteorite dealer Robert Haag. Haag is one of the few
> dealers who have been buying and selling meteorites for more than 20
> years. The people who were stung when Casper undercut the market were
> those who misjudged the availability of diogenite in light of several
> recent finds, Haag said. "The guys that held it too long blew it. They
> blew it," he said. "Because one guy had 7 kilos stashed away in
> Belgium, and he didn't want anybody to know about it. But in the
> meantime another 25 kilos has been pieced out and distributed." It led
> to a price war that ended with a buyer's market for diogenite, Haag
> said. It could ultimately help everybody who wasn't left holding a box
> of it. For Casper it was just good business: buy low, and unload fast
> for a profit. To a large degree, the meteorite market is a speculator's
> business, a fact that other dealers acknowledge is just a part of life
> in the meteorite trade. You can't count on the fact that any price will
> be kept artificially high to protect other trader's investments.
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: MeteorHntr at aol.com
> To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> Sent: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 1:02 pm
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Michael Casper
>
>
>
> And I thought Mike and Bill Jensen were the world's largest meteorite
> dealers?
>
> Steve
>
>
> In a message dated 3/18/2008 1:43:13 P.M. Central Daylight Time,
> meteoriteguy at yahoo.com writes:
> It IS NOT TRUE, he lives near Cornell, and traded/sold
> them specimens. He also came on the scene, and within
> about a week proclaimed himself the worlds largest
> meteorite dealer. People can say anything they want,
> that doesnt make it true.
> Mike
>
>
>
>
> **************Create a Home Theater Like the Pros. Watch the video on
> AOL
> Home.
> (http://home.aol.com/diy/home-improvement-eric-stromer?video=15?ncid=aolh
> om00030000000001)
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Received on Sun 30 Mar 2008 01:33:07 AM PDT