[meteorite-list] Valera - documentation?

From: MexicoDoug <mexicodoug_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2011 03:35:26 -0500 (EST)
Message-ID: <8CE763FA73EB9A1-1678-2E5_at_web-mmc-m02.sysops.aol.com>

Thanks you Darryl, I wouldn't say 'Valera revisited' as this addition
has never appeared in public to my knowledge and shed a lot of
additional light on the subject. Is there any newspaper article of the
time of the fall vintage to your knowledge, or did the consigner ever
write a report of his findings to your knowledge? Or does it all
basically hinge on his word as a gentleman and researcher?
Specifically the documentation of where the 'clavicle' information came
from would be key.

Again Darryl, thanks and it sounds like there could have been a better
way to do this, but I fully understand that in the heat of the moment
lots of things get sticky when such a prize changes hands and the
stakes are high.

Kindest wishes
Doug


-----Original Message-----
From: Darryl Pitt <darryl at dof3.com>
To: MexicoDoug <mexicodoug at aim.com>
Cc: Meteorite-list <Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Mon, Nov 21, 2011 2:07 am
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Valera - documentation?



VALERA REVISITED

Hi,

While not among my favorite stories, as you'll soon discover---I have
no doubt
whatsoever Valera killed a cow. In brief, there was far more data
collected
than the affidavit (which was one person's mere summary of events).

Here's the story:

Shepherded by Marty Zinn---the impresario of the Tucson Mineral and
Fossil
Shows---Valera was first offered at the Macovich Auction 11 or 12
Tucson's ago.
Professor Ignacio Ferrin---a Venezuelan astronomer...and quite the
gentleman....acquired the meteorite after word of its existence wound
its way to
him. Marty heard from Professor Ferrin who directed him to me, and he
consigned
Valera to our auction.

For those who are unaware, the clavicle of an otherwise healthy cow was
shattered and odd stones---only much later determined to be
meteoritic---were
found near the carcass. The sonic phenomena associated with a meteorite
fall
were experienced. Two large fragments from one mass were recovered
(~35 and 7.5
kg), and left outside, one of which was used as a doorstop over a
period of
years---I imagine the lighter of the two. A third smaller specimen
which I
vaguely recall as being pretty much complete had been brought inside
and was
quite fresh. The specimens in circulation come from the larger
fragments.

Professor Ferrin gathered far more information other than his
procurement of the
affidavit. He has long been exasperated by the ongoing questioning of
Valera's
"killer" provenance by the meteorite collecting community, and has gone
on-record addressing this topic more than once.

There are two important points worth mentioning here---both of which
are rather
ironic.

1. It's important to recall that Ferrin was informed that the farm
owner on
whose property the meteorite fell, physician Argimiro Gonzalez, didn't
think
anything at all of this event. Dr. Gonzalez was well aware that rocks
fell out
of the sky, and so it seemed entirely reasonable to him that such
impacts would
occasionally result in fatalities. Without the rocks ever having been
analyzed,
Gonzalez, and later his family, considered the rocks as
extraterrestrial
curiosities---a conclusion which resulted from a dead animal which had
been
pulverized by blunt force trauma whose instrument rested nearby. It
was the
simplest explanation and somewhat a different tack than would be taken
by the
meteorite community: simply expressed, Gonzalez concluded as a result
of a
death that what he had must be a meteorite. It was many years later
that Ferrin
heard the story, confirmed Gonzalez's hypothesis and facilitated
Valera's
classification.

2. Every few years I have to admit to having undermined Valera's
exceptional
provenance, and here's how:

The larger of the two massess did not sell at our auction (it was a big
rock and
pricey---while extremely inexpensive on a per/gram basis) and Ferrin
suddenly
found himself in an unexpected financial bind. He did not have
particularly
high expectations for how much it should sell---but he absolutely
expected it
would sell, and now he was stuck---and he didn't want to take 40+ kg of
rocks
back to Venezuela. I felt badly as I was confident it would sell, and
informed
Ferrin of the same prior to his decision to bring Valera to Arizona.
So I
decided I would purchase it---but by doing so I now put myself in a
huge
financial pinch. So what did I do? The most foolish thing I've ever
done in
meteorites: while I don't recall the precise numbers, I sold a portion
of the
rock to another dealer for about my cost...perhaps a dollar a gram, as
I recall,
and then we both sold Valera super-cheaply. Percentage-wise we made a
nice
return, but the fact is that by having offered it so inexpensively, a
perceived
valuation was created for a meteorite that should be selling today for
easily
$250+/g.

If you have a specimen of Valera---treasure it. If you don't have
one, you
might consider getting some from somewhere as the price has been
rapidly
escalating of late. This past June at a Heritage Auction, a 309 gram
specimen
sold for $5,975 or about $20/g. I'm informed that small specimens
today
typically sell for $25/gram and more---and as you know, getting from
$2.50/g to
$25/g is the hard part.

I'll never forget when I was on the exhibit floor at a Bonhams sale a
couple of
years back and someone declared, "I don't think Valera killed a
cow---it's
selling for MUCH too little for having done so." That was such a funny
notion
to me...how MY screw-up fueled an inaccurate impression. (I did not
mention my
role to the fellow ;-)


All the best / Darryl




On Nov 20, 2011, at 12:51 AM, MexicoDoug wrote:

> Dear List;
>
> I have a question about the cow killing incident.
>
> The meteorite fell in 1972. I understand from rumors that it is
absolutely a
confirmed cow killer. But the document doesn't read as an absolute
fact, but
rather circumstantial evidence (which as a meteorite collector
appreciating the
size of the mass I want to believe quite strong).
>
> The affidavit was signed in 2001, after the Doctor on whose property
the
meteorite landed had died.
>
> Yet when I heard this, it was explained to me that a doctor had
pronounced the
cow dead and there was injury visible on the cow caused by the falling
mass (a
50 kg stone). I always thought that a Doctor actually swore to the
wound on the
cow and was convinced it was caused by the stone, since a doctor would
be
expected to have a good idea of what such a wound would look like.
>
> This thread just prompted me to me read the affidavit. It doesn't
say
anything about wounds on the cow.
>
> The affidavit was by the Doctor's visitor, and specifically does not
even
mention that the doctor made any opinion about the meteorite killing
the cow.
But does mention the doctor had owned the property and passed away
subsequently.
No one from the Doctor's family, just the visitor, Juan Dionicio,
commenting 30
years later says it "appeared" (presumably him since he doesn't mention
the
doctor) the cow was killed by the rock when he saw it the next day. It
does not
mention any injuries or wounds to the cow at all. Just "it appeared
the cow had
been killed by the rock" and also that "the cow then eaten".
>
> Yet I heard at the time I bought this that the cow had sustained a
mortal
injury the injury I recall being described at one point. Why this is
not in the
document? ... has me thinking something must be missing?
>
> Is this the only document that discusses the claim of a cow being
killed?
Because it seems to me people have much more information than is
contained in
the affidavit. (But I've run up enough against rumors to believe that
it's
easily possible for the rumors to just be taller tales down the line).
Was
there a newspaper article in the 70's or anything predating this, or
were there
any other witnesses besides Juan Dionicio, the mysterious guest who it
sounds
spent several nights on the good doctor's ranch? I'd really like to
know.
>
> Kindest wishes
> Doug
>
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Received on Mon 21 Nov 2011 03:35:26 AM PST