[meteorite-list] Just how Willamette is it?

[Darren Garrison]

Don't settle for partial Willametteness!

http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news/autocodes/countries/united-states-america/meteorite-auction-underway-$1157767.htm

Meteorite auction underway 
Sunday, 28 Oct 2007 18:25 

Some of the universe's most expensive rocks are going under the hammer in the
United States today.

Bonhams and Butterfields of New York are hosting the auction of
out-of-this-world objects, some of which are expected to sell for millions of
dollars.

Among the items on offer at the Historic Meteorites and Associated Americana
sale is a 1,400lb Brenham meteorite with naturally occurring gemstones, the
Claxton Mailbox meteorite whose "special delivery" made quite a dent and other
specimens from the Moon and Mars.

Bonhams' Ed Beardsley said: "It is a great privilege to host the first auction
ever devoted to meteorites, and we could not be more thrilled given the
spectacular offerings included in this sale."

The top attraction, however, is the missing section of the extremely Willamette
meteorite which sits – without its missing section – in the American Museum of
Natural History.

This 30lb section has an estimated value of up to $1.3 million (£0.63 million).
Slivers of the rock have sold at auction before at prices exceeding five times
the value of their equivalent weight in gold.

Bovine fans with lesser spending power may be interested in a chunk of the only
known fatal meteorite, which killed a Venezuelan cow. This is valued at as
little as $3,000 (£1,461).

"This could well be the first and last of such sales—you just can't top this,"
Darryl Pitt of the Macovich Collection commented.