[meteorite-list] NWA meteorites, TO BE OR NOT TO BE?

From: Shawn Alan <photophlow_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2010 18:25:17 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <153651.21257.qm_at_web35401.mail.mud.yahoo.com>

Hello Listers,
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I was doing?an Internet search today on meteorites?and came?across?a write up?about NWA meteorites. I would have to say it was a good write up considering there isn't much about the history of NWA's on the Internet. The write up?covered topics from?the NWA gold rush, to how this affected sales and peoples desert meteorite collections, and how NWA meteorites?by some can be seen as?inferior to?other meteorites. All these points do bring?up some interesting view?points in the meteorite?community. I wonder what peoples take is on?NWA meteorites and how the classification?works or doesn't work with some finds?
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Why I ask this is because?some of the NWA meteorites on eBay are NWA xxx meteorites, meaning those meteorites haven't been classified and probably wont. Now to me for every NWA meteorite excluding the Lunar and Martian meteorites could be almost unique in its owe if there is only a select few people that get these stones classified, making the NWA meteorite market confusing and regulated by only classifying certain meteorites and disregarding others. And as for selling?NWA meteorites how does one determine the price point when?the TKW and location is unknown??
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Is it to be or not to be when collecting NWA meteorites..... this draw back could affect the classification and make it more confusing compared to finds in the US and Europe. If I went to the Muffin strewn field and found some meteorites, I wouldn't have to get them classified? because of the documentation of a fall being there. But on the other hand, if I went to Africa and found some meteorites I would be SOL and the only way I could know what the meteorite was is if I got it classified, which I am not sure how much that costs, but I bet it can be a pretty penny depending what your getting done on it.
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Now could this be a problem in some peoples eyes why they think NWA's might be questionable because locations cant be accountable? And from a collectors stand point what features does one collect NWA's? From my take it seems like that?some?NWA meteorite are unique in its own way by rarity or uniqueness cause of lack there of, and because of the way NWA's are collected, cant this affecting price point and investment for ones collection?
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Here is an abstract from the write up about NWA's
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NWAs: Second Class Meteorites?

By Norbert Classen, May 2003

On the collector's market, the prices of most Northwest African meteorites are still dropping while witnessed falls and historic specimens are getting more expensive. Are NWA meteorites less valuable, or is it a subliminal form of chauvinism making some people treat them like second class meteorites?

The NWA Dilemma

In the late 1990s, an increasing number of meteorites from the hot deserts of northwest Africa hit the market, most of them having been recovered by so-called "nomads", i.e. by native people from Morocco and Western Sahara. After having acquired several meteorites at the local markets, the French fossil hunters, Bruno Fectay and Carine Bidaut, started to educate their local team not only to look for fossils, but also for meteorites - with great success.
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link
http://www.meteorite.fr/en/news/feature.htm
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NWA, to be or not to be?
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Shawn Alan
IMCA 1633
eBaystore
http://shop.ebay.com/photophlow/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p4340
Received on Mon 30 Aug 2010 09:25:17 PM PDT