[meteorite-list] Meteorite Cards - changing mass

From: martin goff <msgmeteorites_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 5 Mar 2011 16:34:46 +0000
Message-ID: <AANLkTinFzoO3oVVMR_=dBAUHVa_kQvGwFbP_LsLkLzwn_at_mail.gmail.com>

Hi all,

I appreciate the points you make Mike G and understand where you are coming
from. However i am not saying that the cards 'prove' the chain of ownership
only add to the overall picture. Of course you are right in what you say
about having trust in the person you are acquiring specimens from is
paramount. You are also correct in saying that it would be relatively easy
in to falsify and copy other peoples cards but in reality that would be
easily detectable. From my point of view when spending a lot of money on a
historical specimen i will contact previous owners to find out as much as
possible about the history of the piece in question. If the card supplied
was fake and the person in question had never owned that specimen at all
then this would be very obvious. The person who supplied false details would
never last very long as a dealer as as we all know reputation is everything!
A single post to the metlist would soon sort them out!

The amount of times i have contacted previous owners and found out
additional things about my collection piece is amazing. Really valuable and
interesting info and i have never had any dealer or collector grumble about
my enquiries. Like Martin said those dealers/collectors who go the extra
mile in supplying and researching their specimens fully are the ones who I
appreciate most and get repeat custom from me. I have recently changed the
design of my specimen cards from printed ones where i hand wrote the info on
to fully printed colour ones. Main reason for now fully printing them is
that my handwriting is absolutely awful! ;-) Peoples suggestions about
signing them are valid and a good idea. I also agree with with David and
Richard in that i really like the variety of the cards supplied by different
dealers. Black and white or colour, with photos or without, plain or fancy,
historical or contemporary design, all are good in my view and variety is
the spice of life. However given the choice between getting a pro forma
specimen card that is identical to many others or.not getting one at all
then I would definitely prefer getting one. Specimen cards are but one part
of the Provenance of specimens but an all important part and in my view
should always be supplied whether for a small Campo crystal or a large chunk
of historic real estate like Wold Cottage. I fully agree that for bulk low
cost items they are certainly less important but to me important all the
same. We have to remember that that small Campo crystal may be a new
collectors first purchase and in my view even if deemed overkill that little
card is still of value and sets a standard for future purchases. I am not
saying that for that type of specimen it needs to be an individually written
card but maybe a generic one with standard info on Campo del Cielo that
could be printed in the hundreds for all specimens of that type.

Only my personal view of course and I fully respect other peoples opinions.

Cheers

Martin

Sent from my HTC desire mobile phone.
Received on Sat 05 Mar 2011 11:34:46 AM PST