[meteorite-list] Re:SOMETHING COOL IN MY CV3

[stan .]

>Some meteorite
>dealers buy only small quantities from one dealer, who has much more
>material left or different dealers buy single stones from the same material
>and each one let his stone classify elsewhere, getting an own NWA number 
>and
>then they rush the collectors into buying with the low-tkw-gimmick: Hush,
>hush - small find weight, soon all will be gone!

Sadly this is all too true. I recently noticed an auction on ebay that had a 
TKW of right under 1 kg listed for a rare type of achonderite. I emailed the 
seller informing him that the TKW was signifigantly higher than that >10 kg 
or so as I had a 2kg specimin of the same material sitting on my desk at the 
time. His response was that he know the TKW was probably around 15 kg, but 
it COULD have been much more - he said that for all he knew there could be 
tons of the material - so he just uses the TKW as published in the bulliten 
- even if he knew the official number to be much lower than it actually was.

boardering on outright deception IMHO


>But in general, I remember the times before the desert rush, the today's
>collectors can't complain as in history the prices for the rarer classes
>were never so dirt cheap than now.

Well, yes and no. It wasnt TOO long agao that millbillillie and camel donga 
were selling for 2.5$ a gram, and zagami for 100$ a gram - 50$ a gram if you 
bought a decent sized chunk of it. granted there was less on the market in 
terms of the ultra rare stuff, but it WAS moderatly priced 'back in the day 
(think haag's 10th aniversary field guide).

with regards to to todays prices - i agree that the collector doesnt have 
too much to complain about. the FedEx dude just dropped of a 600g 99% 
crusted piece of amgala this morning that has wounderfuly fresh crust and 
some of the best thumb printing I have ever seen. Not bad for 3$ a gram - 
although I would be kicking myself in the rear if i bought it at the 
original 10$ a gram price that some dealers said on the list that they didnt 
think would go down any. then again, If martian/lunar material is 10$ a gram 
and 'common' achonderites are selling for .25$ a gram in 10 years i think we 
ALL will be kicking ourselves in the rear! :) I love collecting and I love 
my purchases regardless of price but I think we would all like to see them 
retain SOME value! :)

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