[meteorite-list] Provenance

[Darren Garrison]

Looking at some of the big prices for small chips of rock from the auctions
makes me wonder-- how much provenance do you bidders look for before you bid on
a high-dollar item?  Do you look for a "chain of possession" stretching back to
the fall (or when the piece was cut from the fall) or is a collection card from
an established collection enough, even if that card is years past the
fall/cutting date?  I ask because I, personally, would always wonder in the back
of my mind if what is supposed to be X actually was X if there were gaps in it's
history, at least for meteorites not distinctive enough to be visually
recognizable as being "the real deal".