[meteorite-list] AD- Ensisheim from Boubee Colln.

From: mail at mhmeteorites.com <mail_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:01:07 -0700
Message-ID: <20091014220107.ph5iid4jpwoscw4s_at_webmail.mhmeteorites.com>

Hi Listees:
I have just prepared 2 slices cut from my 25 gram fragment of Ensisheim. The
piece originally came from the Boubee Collection of Paris (1840 to
1960) and the
Carion Collection of Paris. The two larger slices show incredible brecciation
and are only 1 mm thick!

I also have a 1.06 gram slice from the Blaine Reed Collection.

All are priced at 650/g for list members.

Specimens:
3.8 gram slice (52 X 25 X 1mm) $2470 Boubee Colln.
image: <http://www.mhmeteorites.com/images/ensisheim_3-8.jpg>

3.0 gram slice (50 X 22 X 1mm) $1950 Boubee Colln.
image <http://www.mhmeteorites.com/images/ensisheim_3-0.jpg>

1.06 gram slice $650 Reed Colln.
image <http://www.mhmeteorites.com/images/ensisheim_1-06.jpg>

Here is the background of the Ensisheim fall. VERY historic and now very rare!

The oldest meteorite whose fall can be dated precisely. On Nov. 7, 1492, near
noon, a loud explosion preceded the arrival of a 127-kg stone meteorite in a
wheat field near the village of Ensisheim in the province of Alsace,
France. An
old woodcut depicting the scene shows the fall watched by two people emerging
from a forest. In fact, a young boy was the only eyewitness and he led
the local
populace to the field, where the meteorite lay in a hole a meter deep.
After it
was retrieved, the townsfolk, believing the object to be of
supernatural origin,
begin to chip off bits for souvenirs, until stopped by the local magistrate.
Many of these fragments ended up in museums around the world. The remaining
specimen, a rounded gray mass weighing only 55 kg and nearly without
any fusion
crust, can be seen today at Ensisheim resting in an elegant case in the middle
of the main hall of the Regency Palace built in 1535 by the emperor
Ferdinand of
Austria (Encyclopedia of Science, 2009).

Matt Morgan
Mile High Meteorites
http://www.mhmeteorites.com
Received on Thu 15 Oct 2009 01:01:07 AM PDT