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One for the serious meteorite collectors!


JB80

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Some lovely specimens there :smiley:

I used to have quite an extensive metorite collection which included a number of lunar and martian specimens. Nothing like as spectacular as some of the ones that Christies are  selling though. Most of mine were about the size of my thumbnail.

It's quite thrilling to hold something in your hand that came from the moon or mars though :grin:

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They might be struggling to reach their estimates.

I have a very small 16g Sheymchan end slice bought for £35 = £2.20p per gram.

Similar to this one - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seymchan-pallasite-Meteorite-Part-slice-unique-shape-11-1-grams-/331367158753?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d270593e1#ht_327wt_1162

The auction house have a 563g sample estimated at $8k to $12k = £5k to £7.7k = £8.80p plus per gram.

It's up to £4,000 pound already - so I don't know who is bidding on this, or why.

The current bid on Ebay for a 272g slice is £127, and it might go up to £500 if they are lucky.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seymchan-Pallasite-Meteorite-very-big-great-slice-unique-christmas-gift/221604110506?_trksid=p2047675.c100010.m2109&_trkparms=aid%3D555012%26algo%3DPW.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140221143405%26meid%3D3551582ac02c49d6b23f0c1a2aaf9249%26pid%3D100010%26prg%3D20140221143405%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D24%26sd%3D400716398386#ht_600wt_1400

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Specimens that have come from a "known" collection sometimes fetch more per g than their regular market value. Also specimens that display all the tradmarks of their type particularly well can realise high prices too.

So called "hammer stones" such as Barwell, Peterskill, Park Forest etc fetch high prices because of the history behind the fall even if they are not a particularly rare type. Barwell for example seems to retail at around $100 per g despite being one of the commenest meteorite types,  an L6 chrondrite, which would fetch just a few $ per gram from a standard North West Africa find.

UK falls seem to command high prices per g simply because there are not many of them recorded.

The meteorite market took a big dive a few years ago but prices have steadilly been rising again over the past 3 years. 

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I have a very small 16g Sheymchan end slice bought for £35 = £2.20p per gram.

10g of diamond dust doesn't equate to a 50ct diamond...surely the same applies to meteorites? (beware I am no expert in this field!)

There must be literally thousands of "small" meteorites but only a handful of "large" ones.

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The larger meteroite samples are cheaper per gram.

The little-uns are more expensive due to the overhead costs of preparation, verification, shipping etc.

There was a 7.8kg chunk of "Campo Del Cielo" on astro buy and sell less than a year ago, for £725 british pounds.

http://www.astrobuysell.com/uk/propview.php?view=77525

This one is only 6.5kg, and it is up to £1,917 with 3-days to go.

https://onlineonly.christies.com/s/deep-impact/a-campo-de-cielo-meteorite-23/11768/

I just can't see what is so good about these samples.

They look to be the very best of what is available out there - but worth 3x the price, really?

I assume that the ownership of the previous collector has added some value to the stock somewhere along the line.

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The pricing is very high on the Christies listing. They have a 214g chunk of Sikhote-Alin bid to just over £700 at the moment. I paid £100 for a better shaped and featured 230g piece couple of years ago  :rolleyes2: 

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The pallasite type are beautiful looking when sliced. They can rust really quickly though :shocked:

I know collectors who have special dry cabinets for the iron and stony-iron specimens to combat this. The UK climate is not very kind to such samples.

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I'm sure that Christies go to great lengths to authenticate the goods offered for sale. As a collector, how you make sure that you are buying genuine meteorites with the history as described??

With prices like these, there must be fake's out there.

Paul

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I'm sure that Christies go to great lengths to authenticate the goods offered for sale. As a collector, how you make sure that you are buying genuine meteorites with the history as described??

With prices like these, there must be fake's out there.

Paul

I used to only buy from well esatablished dealers registered with the IMCA (International Meteorite Collectors Association). Here is their website:

http://www.imca.cc/

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