[meteorite-list] Just a thought about NWA classification numbers

[STARSANDSCOPES at aol.com]

Hi list,  Naming meteorites after their  fall/find location seems to be 
working well.  If a new find is made in the  location under most circumstances, it 
is accepted as being paired to the  previously found material.  It is quite 
different with the numbers assigned  to NWA finds.

The total NWA numbers have come to represent not the  separate find locations 
and thus the different material types but rather, some  where between the 
total finds and the number of stones collected.  NWA  2965/2828/4295 and at least 
ten more numbers is a good example.  No one  knows what is paired with what 
any more and to make maters worse, some dealers  look at the assigned NWA 
number as their private property.  If they get  let's say 25 kilo out of a 250 kilo 
find and have their pile classified, there  is resistance to accepting the 
other material of the find is even the  same.  "You go get your own number and 
promote it your self" is the line  all secondary persons are meet with.  It is 
my understanding that the  assignment of NWA numbers was not developed to 
protect individual dealers  exclusionary ownership rights.

There is not an adequate system for  correction of information on NWA finds.  
If I were to have material,  seemingly paired to an existing NWA number, 
let's say it's distinctive in some  way and wanted the weight included under the 
already existing number.  Labs  refuse to retest what is likely just a pairing.

To pair a meteorite by  the original classification lab is not as involved as 
a new  classification.  If a lab performed the initial classification, it 
should  come with an obligation to acknowledge or discount pairing questions.  
This  would go a long way to help clean up the great NWA stone count.

Tom  Phillips