[meteorite-list] Total Number of Meteorites?

Thu Dec 8 12:17:47 EST 2005

Frederic,
Yes, it was those unpredictable and unexplicable "feelings" that I was 
alluding to.
Why we collectors stare at and handle these rocks requires a knowledge and 
appreciation unknown to "outsiders".
I for one cherish my inclusion in such an esoteric group.
Thank you Frederic.
Jerry Flaherty
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Meteoriteshow" <meteoriteshow at free.fr>
To: "Gerald Flaherty" <grf2 at verizon.net>; <cynapse at charter.net>; "Martin 
Altmann" <altmann at meteorite-martin.de>
Cc: <Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2005 4:31 AM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Total Number of Meteorites?


> Hi Gerald, Martin, Zelimir and All,
>
> You made quite a clear expression of how we can determine the value of a 
> meteorite Gerald, as it definitely does not only depend on
> the usual rule of "offer" and "demand", which varies along a time scale as 
> well...
> Meteorites are mainly purchased by collectors, who may have some money to 
> spend after paying all their fixed charges, and this
> amount of money left available for "extras" depends on the economic 
> situation in a certain place (where the collector is located) at
> a certain time... Finally when talking about collectibles such as 
> meteorites, there is also a share of "human feeling" that is
> impossible to measure and to really forecast. I mean that sometimes a 
> meteorite collector can be so excited in front of a specimen,
> that she/he will pay a price for it that has nothing to deal with 
> reason... (I realised sometimes that it happened to me when
> bidding on ebay!).
> Therefore all those parameters make it very difficult to determine the 
> price of a meteorite, which is a mixture as Gerald mentioned,
> of "Value" and "Worth" notions.
> When selling a meteorite one has to take all these parameters into 
> consideration, and when it's not selling to review the price that
> may be too high, or keep it until the situation is more favorable.
> As a meteorite hunter now, I definitely do not consider what I have spent 
> to find my meteorites to make a price, but just hope when
> trying to sell some of them or part of them that I will cover my expenses 
> (I like to try and keep some for me as well!). Maybe
> because I'm not a "meteorite dealer" but rather a "meteorite dreamer"? A 
> dealer is supposed to have a profitable activity. Perhaps
> being a meteorite hunter & collector is not the best way to make money!!! 
> That's why I'd rather call myself a meteorite dreamer.
> Just my 2 cents!
>
> Frederic Beroud
> http://www.meteoriteshow.com
> IMCA member # 2491 (http://www.imca.cc/)
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Gerald Flaherty" <grf2 at verizon.net>
> To: <cynapse at charter.net>; "Martin Altmann" <altmann at meteorite-martin.de>
> Cc: <Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2005 12:41 AM
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Total Number of Meteorites?
>
>
>> Darren, Martin and list
>> Value is personal and subjective. Worth is social and relative.
>> If I value something am I willing to bid against others who value the 
>> same
>> thing. What I'm willing to bid, against others who value the same "it"
>> determines what it's worth because I and others who bid objectivize our
>> value of the object.
>> Down the road our "values" change and so does worth(I've got an 
>> inordinate
>> amount of Crap which is worthless because it sits unused and 
>> unappreciated
>> and I'm too lazy to try to get rid of[sell] it. But I valued it once to
>> spend $$$$$$$ to possess it.
>> No?
>> Jerry Flaherty
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Darren Garrison" <cynapse at charter.net>
>> To: "Martin Altmann" <altmann at meteorite-martin.de>
>> Cc: <Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
>> Sent: Wednesday, December 07, 2005 2:29 PM
>> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Total Number of Meteorites?
>>
>>
>> On Wed, 7 Dec 2005 19:56:35 +0100, "Martin Altmann"
>> <altmann at meteorite-martin.de> wrote:
>>
>> >I'm not a philosopher,
>> >but both of your definitions mean to me correct definitions for price, 
>> >not
>> >for value.
>> >
>>
>> Value is what worth "the market" places in an item.  As long as there are
>> people willing to pay x
>> price, than that item has x value, but if people are willing to pay only
>> x/5, then you can push the
>> x price as hard as you want, it will only have a value of x/5 if all 
>> people
>> are only willing to pay
>> x/5.  The fact that the PRICE to produce/recover item Y selling at price 
>> x
>> is much higher than
>> people are willing to pay for x is unfortunate for the producer/recoverer
>> but utterly irrelevant to
>> the value of Y.
>>
>> Let's look at this example-- realizing the dream of generations of
>> alchemists, you CAN turn lead
>> into gold.  All you need is the right kind of particle accelerators.  The
>> problem is solved.  It has
>> been done. 
>> http://chemistry.about.com/cs/generalchemistry/a/aa050601a.htm
>> But the only minor
>> problem is that it would take billions of dollars and hundreds of years 
>> (at
>> least) to get a troy
>> ounce of manufactured gold to sell.  But do you think that, after making
>> that billion-dollar gram of
>> gold, someone's going to be willing to pay a billion dollars for it?  Or
>> would they pay only the
>> current price for any old gram of gold?  The PRICE for that gram of gold 
>> may
>> be billions, but the
>> VALUE is only $520ish (right now).
>>
>> Just because something has a certain price to make/recover doesn't HAVE 
>> to
>> mean that it will have
>> that much VALUE to the potential market.  As long as there are people
>> willing to pay thousands a
>> gram for planetary meteorites, then planetary meteorites will have a 
>> value
>> of thousands of dollars a
>> gram.  But if people stop being willing to pay thousands a gram for
>> planetary meteorites, then the
>> value stops being thousands a gram, even if the recovery/seller's 
>> purchase
>> price remains in the
>> thousands a gram.
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