[meteorite-list] AD: Special - New NWA 5471 - a Brachinite at 65$/g ? Yes we can.

From: Martin Altmann <altmann_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2008 22:24:09 +0100
Message-ID: <004c01c94443$d62e83c0$177f2a59_at_name86d88d87e2>

Dear collectors,

the Munich fair is over and as always so many friends and collectors deeply
regretted, that they were not able to attend the show,
because Munich is to far for them or other circumstances don?t allow them to
come.
To solace you a little bit, we want to give you the opportunity to partake
in our bestseller to the specialized visitors of the show,
cause every year we compass a very special delicacy for Munich at a rate,
which can be understood as a little tribute to our collector-friends
and which should help, that they will say: Yes, it was well worth to come to
Munich.

Well, the title of our today?s special is so self-explanatory, that most
probably some already will jump on the pieces, while you?re still reading
these lines, so where to start


This year you had learned in our Specials, that meteorites from Mars are the
embodiment of rarity,
and we learned that Moon is rarer than Mars;
even more rare than Moon are the Rumurutis,
but, you know, what will follow now ? exactly, the apogee of rareness are
the brachinites.

The Database currently lists 18 names and numbers,
though there are pairings among the Antarctic finds, the Australian
brachinites and of course the NWAs,
so that we're possibly talking about less than 10 different meteorites.

If one reads the specifications of the NWA-brachinites and the suggested
pairings in the descriptions,
it seems that the 8 numbers could maybe condensed to 3 different finds.
Where to sort NWA 5471 in, we don?t know yet.
Its specifications are a low shock level and a moderate weathering grade.

The combined weights of all known brachinites is less than 10kg.

Or to express it more vividly: Such a brachinite is 70,000 times rarer than
the legendary Koh-I-Noor diamond in the British crown jewels, housed in the
Tower of London.


The brachinites rank among the most enigmatic and discussed classes,
challenging the researchers with tough nuts to crack.
In short words
. Their mineralogical bulk composition is very simple ? they
almost completely consist of olivine, 90% and up,
the rest is mainly diopside. On Earth we call that type of primitive rock,
typically originating from the mantle, a dunite.
But their isotopes vary remarkably. Some of them show evidence to be related
to the acapulcoite/lodranite group, while others are closer to the
winonaites and the silicate phases in the IAB irons, and again some show
values plotting in the HED-field and in the angrites.
Also their petrology is not uniform, allowing different theories for their
formation, low temperature and high temperature scenarios, crust or mantle,
metamorphic and cumulate, large parent body versus small

Another interesting result is, that brachinites are quite the oldest
differentiated meteorites of all, with formation ages of only a few dozens
of million years younger than the CAIs as first solid matter of the solar
system.

Therefore so far the question can?t be answered yet,
whether brachinites are messengers from a Lost World,
a single, but very heterogeneous body, or whether they represent a variety
of different parent bodies,
even an origin from Venus was suggested.

There are only so few single finds - those questions can be answered only
with the recovery of new brachinites.

To get a sample of a brachinite into ones collection is and was always a
highlight in a collector?s career
and once again we recognise the fantastic possibilities the NWA-rush
disclosed to science and collecting,
as all other brachinites are tiny stones and even worse, all of them were
found in Australia!
Not so long ago it was the highest of the highs, costing endless patience,
energy (and money), for a collector to get hold of a few atoms of an Eagles
Nest or a Reid 013




and here we finally arrived to the strongest and most trivial argument for
the speciality of our Special,
convinceing even those, who may not share our enthusiasm for that meteorite
type to the same extend:
the price.

The few brachinites ever offered, you found them starting not below 200$/g

We say, thank you for this year?s support, and say: ?65$ a gram.

No kidding.

Here the data:

NWA 5471
Morocco 2008
Tkw. 538 grams
Brachinite
Shock Stage: low
Weathering Grade: moderate

And finally, after your patience, here they are!


http://www.chladnis-heirs.com/special-nwa5471.html


Happy St.Martin?s Day!

Martin Altmann & Stefan Ralew
Chladni's Heirs
Munich - Berlin
Fine Meteorites for Science & Collectors
http://www.chladnis-heirs.com/
Received on Tue 11 Nov 2008 04:24:09 PM PST