[meteorite-list] bonhams meteorite auction

[Darryl Pitt]

The following was issued by Bonhams.



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Meteorite Shower in Manhattan Today

Bonhams' auction brings large crowd and strong prices

Meteorite collectors, scientists, and admirers of sculptural  
artifacts from outer space bid today for Historic Meteorites and  
Related Americana in the first sale exclusively dedicated to  
meteorites to be held by a major auction house.  Auctioneers Bonhams  
opened its New York City salesroom today (Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007) for  
a 53-lot sale which featured important examples of intergalactic  
collectibles.  The sale brought $750,000, with more than half the  
lots selling above their high estimates and a strong sell-through  
rate (at 93%) overall.

Meteorite expert Darryl Pitt sees the international interest in the  
sale as supportive of his assertion that the market is robust and  
rapidly growing, the most desirable objects seeing interest from  
private collectors and institutions alike.  Claudia Florian, Natural  
History Specialist and organizer of the Bonhams sale, stated that she  
was delighted with the buoyant results -- which indicate the overall  
strength of the market.  "The results were stronger than anticipated  
with a near-perfect result.  We hope to conclude sales on the handful  
of unsold lots in the next several days."

Top lot sold today was a specimen described as the epitome of an iron  
meteorite.  It came to Earth during the largest meteorite shower in  
human history and was retrieved from Siberia, Russia.  This Sikhote- 
Alin brought $122,750 (estimate $55/70,000).

An interesting lot attracting competitive bids from privates and  
institutional curators is the only known mailbox to have been  
impacted by a meteorite.  A grey-painted steel mailbox from Claxton,  
Georgia, near Atlanta, was struck in December of 1984.  The dented  
mailbox sold for $82,750 on Sunday.  A 5.5-gram slice of the  
meteorite that caused the damage to the mailbox sold for $7,768.  A  
23-gram slice of a meteorite which hit a car in Peekskill, NY was  
offered with pieces of the car, it sold for $1,673.

-More-

Meteorites and Bonhams Auction

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A slice of a meteorite composed of gemstones sold for $82,750, this  
example of a pallasite, dubbed the Glorieta Mountain meteorite --  
found in New Mexico --  displays a wonderful array of olivine  
crystals within its nickel-iron matrix.  A slice of a meteorite  
formerly within a London museum sold for $77,000, the shape of the  
specimen is a baseball home plate, the complete mass displaying olive  
and peridot clusters.

Aesthetic meteorites are extremely rare.  Sculpture collectors have  
expressed interest in these specimens given their eye-pleasing  
forms.  One of these, a Gibeon from Namibia, sold for $77,000.   
Another example, described as tabletop sculpture, sold for more than  
four times its estimate, bringing $26,888.

The path to Earth is not without its perils, meteorites often  
disintegrate long before impact.  Some examples land with thumb  
prints or regmaglypts and an example with a deep scoop, referred to  
as an extraterrestrial candy bowl (which weighs 68-pounds), doubled  
its estimate to bring $38,838.

Bidders spanned the planet, with those in the auction room competing  
with bidders on the telephones from Canada, Europe, the Middle East  
and Australia, as well as many parts of the US.  The illustrated  
catalogue will remain online for review at www.bonhams.com/us.