I am the proud owner of a piece of moon rock!

[Moonshed]

Well, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, it’s actually a 10mg tiny little flake from a lunar meteorite. Still, it’s better than nothing and because buying or selling the genuine Apollo moon rocks that were retuned to Earth by the astronauts is illegal it’s the only possible way to own a piece of moon “rock”.

The little flake is seen through a clear circle on the plastic box that contains it and is placed on what appears to be cotton wool. I bought it around 10 years ago from a local gem shop and paid £40 for it. Yes, my wife did scoff when she saw it but she does understand my hobby has affected my brain cells.

I wonder how many members also own a piece of the Moon?

 

Edited February 20, 2023 by Moonshed

[John]

I understand the lure of such specimens 😏

I have some small pieces of the Moon and Mars:

 

 

 

Edited February 20, 2023 by John

[Franklin]

59 minutes ago, John said:

I have some small pieces of the Moon and Mars:

Moon and Mars eh? That's where you been😀.

[Moonshed]

1 hour ago, John said:

I understand the lure of such specimens 😏

I have some small pieces of the Moon and Mars:

That is some collection you have there, that must make you a rock star!

[John]

1 minute ago, Moonshed said:

That is some collection you have there, that must make you a rock star!

Over the years I've had a few collections of meteorite specimens. I have around 20 small bits and pieces currently.  Nothing big though - soaks up too much of the astronomy budget !

 

[John]

I've been interested in meteorite collecting for over 20 years now and it's amazing how much more reasonable acquiring lunar and martian specimens has become. The total known weight of these meteorites has been boosted significantly by finds over the past decade so the market price has dropped accordingly. When I first got seriously interested recognised lunar or martian material commanded a price of $800 per gram at least, often as much as twice that. Recently I've seen 1 gram specimens priced as low as $100. 

The UK falls are still very expensive per gram though. We don't get many !

 

Edited February 20, 2023 by John

[Moonshed]

2 minutes ago, John said:

I've been interested in meteorite collecting for over 20 years now and it's amazing how much more reasonable acquiring lunar and martian specimens has become. The total known weight of these meteorites has been boosted significantly by finds over the past decade so the market price has dropped accordingly. When I first got seriously interested recognised lunar or martian material commanded a price of $800 per gram at least, often as much as twice that. Recently I've seen 1 gram specimens priced at around $100. 

The UK falls are still very expensive per gram though. We don't get many !

 

I am amazed at how much these specimens used to cost.
I used to enjoy watching a program a couple of years ago about two guys who were professional meteorite hunters in America, they would tow this large home made metal detector array behind their SUV over an area of land that their research indicated a meteorite had landed. Some examples they dug up were huge, they needed lifting gear, and they sold them for thousands of dollars. Not seen that program for some time now which is a shame because it was so interesting how they hunted them down.

[John]

30 minutes ago, Moonshed said:

I am amazed at how much these specimens used to cost.
I used to enjoy watching a program a couple of years ago about two guys who were professional meteorite hunters in America, they would tow this large home made metal detector array behind their SUV over an area of land that their research indicated a meteorite had landed. Some examples they dug up were huge, they needed lifting gear, and they sold them for thousands of dollars. Not seen that program for some time now which is a shame because it was so interesting how they hunted them down.

I think that was called "Meteorite Men". It starred Geoff Notkin and Steve Arnold. Here is their website:

HOME | Meteorite Men

My mars specimen, NWA 6963, was supplied by Steve Arnold.

[Moonshed]

3 hours ago, John said:

I think that was called "Meteorite Men". It starred Geoff Notkin and Steve Arnold. Here is their website:

HOME | Meteorite Men

My mars specimen, NWA 6963, was supplied by Steve Arnold.

That’s them, well done.