[meteorite-list] Futures Market for Meteorites?

[Rob McCafferty]

--- Michael Gilmer <michael_w_gilmer at yahoo.com> wrote:

> > Wouldn't it be interesting if there was a futures
> market
> > for meteorites?  That would add some price
> stability...
> 

The nature of meteorites is not the same. The random
nature of their arrival makes the whole thing
unpredictable. Can you imagine if a 1969 situation
like Allende and Murchison arriving in close sucession
happened today? Especially if they both happened to
come down over the eastern seaboard of the USA, oe
Europe? You can bet that would increase interest,
particularly if one was a large iron that rained
several hundred tons over a populated area.

Interest may be piqued but what'd it do to prices? 
What if I discovered a 50,000 ton vein of gold under
my croft while planting my potatoes tomorrow. That'd
not do much for the economy.

In the few years I've been collecting, I've found that
the price is high to start with, goes down as more
becomes available and then rises as it becomes
scarcer. I'm sure someone could quote me exceptions
but this is a pattern I've noticed. The prices may not
be steady but the trend seems stable. Buyer beware,
it's a question of timing. Though I wouldn't want to
be a dealer either. Collectors are sharks.

Rob McC

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