[meteorite-list] looking to trade for very rare canada piece

[AL Mitterling]

Hi Mark and all,

As a dealer I appreciate your comments and I think it is a good subject 
and it has been covered to some degree here through out the years. I've 
always kept every receipt for every item I have ever sold so I could 
prove that the material was authentic.
I do believe it all comes down to dealing with honest dealers and 
individuals who you can trust to supply you with authentic material.

One problem that some dealers may have with telling you where they get 
their material is telling you where their sources are they buy from. I 
am sure they don't want to get bypassed up after setting up a deal to 
sell material only to have someone buy it out from them. I as a dealer 
might offer the pedigree of the material only after I have secured the 
material that I want and have offered it up to my customers.

I know that I have traded for specimens from various institutions, 
directly or indirectly or direct from the finding sources. I am also 
quite choosey about who I buy from and unless they have an outstanding 
reputation, or I can positively identify material they are selling, I 
simply buy from direct sources or from those I can trust. Lets face it, 
museums can misplace and mislabel items and I have seen that on a few 
occasions.

There was a question on the list a while back about material that was 
being sold and the provenance. One other item they were selling, I 
haven't seen ever for sale and it really makes me wonder if the buyer 
got taken. Since I have some of that material and since I know the 
buyer, I'll compare my piece which came out of a museum to try to help 
authenticate. I'd be interested in hearing what others have to say on 
this and their comments.

--AL Mitterling

Mark Grossman wrote:

>This brings up a question that comes up time and time again, having nothing
>in particular to do with Steve's sample, which troubles me somewhat.
>
>I have seen all sorts of sales where dealers don't know the of provenance
>the samples other than they just obtained them from other dealers, or
>dealers who don't know where they obtained the samples from, or dealers who
>think they know where the samples came from, and then when you check out the
>information, it turns out that the information is false - this happened to
>me once when I was considering purchase of a historic sample.
>
>Some dealers are certainly able to provide detailed provenance - they either
>have copies of the museum labels or records, or found the samples themselves
>and have all sorts of detailed information.  Other dealers who don't know
>the provenance are completely upfront about it and will let a sale pass them
>by rather than give out misinformation.
>
>In any event, I would be interested in other people's thoughts - as well as
>stories about provenance of samples - both good and bad stories -about what
>provenance should be provided and expected when one puts up a historic or
>rare samples for sale.
>
>Seems that there should be some sort of established criteria for evaluating
>provenance as well as confirming identity - museum label, other
>documentation, physical/chemical examination against a definite standard (an
>established specimen, etc.).
>
>Right now, it appears that provenance is a side issue in many sales, when at
>least in my opinion, it should be on the top of the list.
>
>In any event, I have only been a collector for a little more than a year, so
>these are my impressions to date, which may or may not be correct.
>
>Thanks for any feedback!
>
>Mark Grossman
>
>PS - Again, I did not bring this issue up because of Steve's sample.  Just
>presented the latest opportunity to bring this ongoing question up.
>  
>