[meteorite-list] AD: Eugene Cornelius Meteorite Collection
MeteorHntr at aol.com
MeteorHntr at aol.com
Wed Mar 22 21:58:32 EST 2006
Specimens from the Eugene Cornelius Meteorite Collection for sale:
Norton County, Kansas
Coldwater (stone) Kansas
Holbrook, Arizona
Wellman (c), Texas
Odessa, Texas
Canyon Diablo, Arizona
Hello List,
Eugene Cornelius was a contemporary of H.O. Stockwell back in the 1950's.
As many of you know, Stockwell became famous when his home made metal detector
found the (now not so) big 1,000 pound Brenham meteorite in 1949. (Note to
Notkin, maybe next year we should give Stockwell a Harvey for that detector
he invented?) Even back then, Stockwell was starting to get up in years and
so he got help in digging holes.
Cornelius was Stockwells digging man at Odessa and Canyon Diablo. Stockwell
would hunt with his detector one weekend, and he would flag his targets so
that Cornelius could come in the next week and dig them up. Cornelius also
had a favorite hunting ground near Wellman, Texas where he was able to
personally locate some specimens as well as be able to purchase some from the local
land owners.
This hunting and working with Stockwell allowed Cornelius to build a small
collection of other specimens during that time. Below are the remaining
specimens I am offering now. Photos and further description is available upon
request.
A signed C.O.A. from both Eugene Cornelius' son and myself will come with
each specimen.
********************
Norton County
Kansas
Aubrite, achondrite
Fell: February 18, 1948. 16:56 hrs
28.2g
http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/norton1.jpg
H.O. Stockwell, a native of Hutchison, KS invented a homemade metal detector
the 1940s that was very successful at recovering iron meteorites from locati
ons such is Odessa, TX, Brenham, KS, Trenton, WI etc. His hunting at the
Brenham strewnfield was done mostly from 1947 to 1949. In the middle of this
time a huge bolide flew over several central states and over western Kansas.
The main mass of this specimen crossed just over the state line and landed in
Furnas County, NE. But there were more stones recovered from the
strewnfield back in Norton County, KS. Harvey Nininger and Stockwell headed for the
strewnfield. They quickly teamed up to do a massive amount of field work to
attempt to locate the specimens.
The fireball passed over at a few minutes before 5pm, and with the community
a farming one, most everyone was outside at the time to witness what was at
that time the largest stone meteorite ever to have been a witnessed fall, go
over head. I have done field work in the Norton County strewnfield, and it
is amazing, everyone, and I mean almost everyone over the age of 65 (now)
vividly remembers what they were doing and what they saw that afternoon. One
woman told me she was a young girl sitting in a ditch with a bunch of
schoolmates beside their school bus as the driver was changing flat tire, when she said
it sounded like a freight train coming over head. She witnessed the meteor
exploding and breaking up into many peices.
While it is reported that many stones were recovered, most all the attention
had been on the 1 ton main mass that was found many months later in a field
that Nininger predicted it likely should have been in. Nininger and
Stockwell (and probably along with some other private investors) attempted to
purchase it, but they were out bid at an auction beside the unexcavated impact pit
by a consortium of Lincoln LaPaz from the University of New Mexico and the
University of Nebraska (who both currently co-own the rock that is now on
display at the Museum at UNM.)
Most all of the Norton County that I have ever seen for sale on the market
has come from trades with UNM. I have seen very little of this available on
the market from the Nininger-Stockwell source. Cornelius acquired this from
Stockwell, and it comes in the original shipping box with the remnants of
Cornelius's address on the shipping sticker on the box.
http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/norton2.jpg
The specimen is a fragment, with tiny hints of rust, indicating that it
might have been on the ground for a little while before recovered. It is an
amazing specimen in both beauty as well as historically, in it's provenance. A
signed certificate of authenticity from both me and Eugene Cornelius's son
comes with this specimen.
In all this discussion, it should not be forgotten that Norton County is in
a very rare class of Achondrite Aubrite consisting of only 8 other fall/finds
(outside of Antartica). There have been NO Aubrites found in NWA or Oman.
In a field where the word "Rare" gets overused, Aubrites really are "Rare."
Price $35/g x 28.2g = $987
***************
Coldwater (stone)
Comanche County, Kansas
H5
Find 1924
TKW 11kg
Part slice 48.2g
Nininger's first strewnfield!
Everyone in the meteorite field is grateful for that walk Harvey Nininger
was taking when he personally witnessed a great fireball go over McPherson
Kansas heading southwest on November 9, 1923. He decided to chase that
meteorite, and he never stopped chasing. Unfortunately, he was not able to locate
that fall, but his field work recovered a very old iron meteorite and two paired
H5 stones from the Coldwater Kansas area. The London MNH Catalogue reports
that since 1924 more specimens have been recovered to now total 11kg in know
weight.
This specimen has the Cornelius Collection number of 12.1 painted on the
edge and came in a small manilla envelope with "Coldwater Kans", "50gr", "Rec
2-10-52", "12.1" and "Jay Reed" hand written in different locations. A hand
written note card in the envelope mentions the same info but also states
"Bought from H.O. Stockwell Hutchison Kansas.
http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/cw1.jpg
This could be an old Nininger Piece, or possibly Stockwell recovered one of
the additional specimens himself from the Coldwater area?
The specimen looks like it might be a full slice, but it is not fully
crusted. The polish is not up to today's standards, but is not bad at all for
being 54+ years old. No hint of rusting at all. on the reverse face is printed
in pencil lead "COLDWATER KANSAS" I am sure you can erase that as soon as you
buy it to clean it up a bit. :-)
http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/cw2.jpg
There is a "12.1" hand painted on the side of the slice.
http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/cw3.jpg
A signed certificate of authenticity from both me and Eugene Cornelius's son
comes with this specimen.
http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/cw4.jpg
Great Historical Piece
Price $8/g x 48.2 = $385
******************
Holbrook
Navajo County, Arizona
Fell July 19, 1912 19:15hrs
3 specimens listed below
W.M Foote and G.P. Merrill reported in 1912 "After the appearance of a smoky
trail in the sky, and detonations, a shower of stones fell, estimated to
number 14,000, of total weight about 481lb (218kg) with individuals weighing
from 6.6kg to a few milligrams."
Cornelius had two specimens numbered 4.1 and 4.2, however a small piece
broke off 4.1 but will be sold separately after the sale of 4.1 if the buyer of
it does not want them both.
There is a hand written ID card that says "4.1 - 4.2 ordinary chondrite
fell 1912 Hallbrook AZ 292 LBS total collected"
A signed certificate of authenticity from both me and Eugene Cornelius's son
comes with this specimen.
4.1 27.8g looks to be a fragmented whole specimen with about 45% crust
and the rest slightly weathered. A small window is polished on the noncrusted
surface with the ID numbe "4.1" painted on the surface. Original ID card
come with the 4.1g specimen.
Price: $7/g x 27.8g = $195
http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/holb41a.jpg
http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/holb41b.jpg
4.1b 2.1g crusted fragment broke off of 4.1, will not be sold until after
buyer of 4.1 chooses to or not to purchase it.
Price $7/g x 2.1g = $15
4.2 9.1g Fragment/individual 40% crusted with "4.2" collection ID #
painted on it.
Price $7/g x 9.1g = $63
http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/hol42.jpg
***********************
Wellman (c)
Terry County, Texas
Find 1964 (according to Huss reporting, but Cornelius recovered most in the
1950s)
H4
TKW 40kg
Various Individuals
A note in the Collection says: http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/w2-card.jpg
"Wellman, Terry County Texas
Stones Locality #2
Identified Feb. 23, 1950
from specimens in collection
of S. C. Adair which had been
given him by W.H. Carmichael
Adair retained a 2 3/4 oz Stone
Identified as Black Crystalline Chondrite Veined type CKa (sic)"
Corneilus was Nininger's supply man for this meteorite. Possibly some of
the other AML specimens in Cornelius Collection were obtained via trade with
Nininger.
Cornelius acquired several specimens most with individual ID cards of when,
where and for how much they were acquired. Several specimen cards were in the
records where the specimens had been given or sold to others such as
Nininger, LaPaz and Monnig, I have listed them below with an asterisk ( * )
A signed certificate of authenticity from both me and Eugene Cornelius's son
comes with this specimen.
http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/w2-13.jpg
http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/w2-44.jpg
*****More Photos on request*****
Prices on these graduate from $1.00/g for the larger specimens then go up to
$2.00/g for the smallest specimens. With a premium for some of the Nininger
specimens as noted below.
1g - 30g = $2.00/g
31g - 100g = $1.50/g
101g - 200g = $1.25/g
201g + = $1.00/g
ID#
2.1 174g card 2/23/1950 Org Cost $1.75
http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/w2-1.jpg
PRICE: Inflation adjusted to now = $1.25/g x 174g = $217.50
2.4 226g card 2/27/50 org cost $2.30
http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/w2-4.jpg
PRICE: Inflation adjusted to now = $1.00/g x 226g = $226.00
2.5 186g card 3/2/50 org cost $1.00
http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/w2-5.jpg
PRICE: Inflation adjusted to now = $1.00/g x 186g = $232.50
2.6 232g card 3/9/50 org cost $1.00
http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/w2-6.jpg
PRICE: Inflation adjusted to now = $1.00/g x 232g = $232.00
2.7 167g card 5/23/50 Found under a windmill, sawed in two by Nininger
Nininger # 479.7 134g THIS IS the specimen with 2.7 number now
Nininger # 479.8 25.3g
org cost $0.60
http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/w2-7.jpg
PRICE: Inflation adjusted to now = $3.00/g x 134g = $402.00
2.8* 148g "Given to Monnig 5-7-50"
NOT FOR SALE
2.9a& b "50gr" Cut in two, Card 3/23/50 org cost $0.20 Now 2.9A 28.6g
Now 2.9B 16.1g
http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/w2-9.jpg
PRICE: Inflation adjusted to now = $2.00/g x 44.7g = $89.40
2.10* 69g Card "Sent to LaPaz as gift 1/23/52"
NOT FOR SALE
2.13 301g card 4/4/50 org cost $1.00
PRICE: Inflation adjusted to now = $1.00/g x 301g = $301
2.15 310g card 4/4/50 "found by self" org cost $1.00
http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/w2-15.jpg
PRICE: Inflation adjusted to now = $1.00/g x 310g = $310
2.16* 11g card specimen "given to Monnig 5/7/50"
NOT FOR SALE
2.17 115g originally card 4/4/50 "Sawed in two 86.8g & 22.5g; 86.8g to
Nininger
#479.6
#479.5 Nininger
This specimen is the 22.5g piece w/cut face Nininger number
mostly scraped off with Cornelius # just below it 2.17
org cost $0.40
http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/w2-17a.jpg
http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/w2-17b.jpg
PRICE: Inflation adjusted to now = $5.00/g x 22.5g = $112.50
2.20 52g card 4/4/50 org cast $0.20
http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/w2-20.jpg
PRICE: Inflation adjusted to now = $1.50/g x 52g = $78.00
2.25 142g card 5/30/50 found under mail box org cost $0.90
http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/w2-25.jpg
PRICE: Inflation adjusted to now = $1.50/g x 142g = $213.00
2.26 27g card 5/30/50
http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/w2-22.jpg
PRICE: Inflation adjusted to now = $2.00/g x 27g = $52.00
2.27 33g card 5/30/50 org cost $0.20
http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/w2-27.jpg
PRICE: Inflation adjusted to now = $1.50/g x 33g = $49.50
2.30 29 1/2 oz card 7/20/50 org cost $4.00
http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/w2-30.jpg
PRICE: Inflation adjusted to now = $1.00/g x 850g = $850
2.31 262.5g card 7/20/50 org cost "nil"
http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/w2-31.jpg
PRICE: Inflation adjusted to now = $1.00/g x 262.5g = $262.50
2.33 113g card 7/20/50 org cost $0.70
http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/w2-33.jpg
PRICE: Inflation adjusted to now = $1.50/g x 113g = $169.50
2.34 27oz card 8/10/50 org cost $4.00 83g broke along vein in two
http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/w2-34.jpg
PRICE: Inflation adjusted to now = $1.00/g x 780g = $780
2.35 199g card 11/16/50 org cost $1.00
http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/w2-35.jpg
PRICE: Inflation adjusted to now = $1.50/g x 199g = $298.50
2.39 29g card 8/1951 no cost
http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/w2-39.jpg
PRICE: Inflation adjusted to now = $2.00/g x 29g = $58.00
2.40 97g card 8/1951 no cost
http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/w2-23.jpg
PRICE: Inflation adjusted to now = $1.50/g x 97g = $145.50
2.44 15g card 8/1951 no cost
http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/w2-44.jpg
PRICE: Inflation adjusted to now = $2.00/g x 15g = $30.00
2.45 8g card 8/1951 no cost
http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/w2-45.jpg
PRICE: Inflation adjusted to now = $2.00/g x 8g = $16.00
*********************
Richardton
Stark County, North Dakota
Fell June 30, 1918 22:00hrs
H5
TKW 90kg
8.7g part slice This part slice was with another specimen that was sold at
Tucson, but the buyer wasn't interested in this one, so it is for sale now.
A signed certificate of authenticity from both me and Eugene Cornelius's son
comes with this specimen.
Price $5/g x 8.7g = $43.50
***********************
Odessa
Ector County, Texas
Iron IAB
A signed certificate of authenticity from both me and Eugene Cornelius's son
comes with this specimen.
8.2 360g This specimen has a cut and polished window on it, and was
probably etched at one time however, there is a thin coat of rust over the face,
it will need to be reworked if you desire. It has Cornelius Collection
number 8.2 painted on it.
http://members.aol.com/meteorhntr/w2-17b.jpg
Price $0.20/g x 360g = $72
No # 3,242g This a very nice, Odessa with the signature sculpting to the
surface. It is clean of all but a couple small patches of caleche, and
might have had some cleaning of rust, but it is not wire brushed like many
specimens seen on the market today. Of course you can wire brush it if you would
like to.
Price $0.20/g x 3,242g = $648
***********************
Canyon Diablo
Coconino County, AZ
Iron IAB
There are two remaining Canyon Diablo Specimens from the Cornelius Meteorite
Collection found, most likely with Stockwell back in the 1950s. A signed
certificate of authenticity from both me and Eugene Cornelius's son comes with
this specimen.
4,800g Individual
Price $0.20/g x 4,800g = $960
12,000g Individual
Price $0.20/g x 12,000g = $2,400
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