[meteorite-list] Speck Issues - Reply to this subject

[Don Merchant]

Hi List. My thoughts on specks with a little funny story about them. I 
realize not every collector out that has unlimited funds and so many 
collectors with budgets and families alike have just so much to spend on 
their treasured specimens. Lets face it meteorite collecting can be very 
addicting and can get many collectors in a financial bind if not careful, 
much like the out of control compulsive gambler so to speak. With so many 
available meteorites to choose from and in many different sizes and weights 
as well as new finds every year, this can make any collector especially the 
novice, feel like a kid walking into a candy store for the first time! I 
think it is fantastic that dealers like Mike Farmer, Greg Hupe, Mike 
Cottingham, Dean Bessy and others can offer small milligram size meteorites 
for what I feel is the majority of collectors with budgets out there. I take 
my hat off to these men as they have open up a new world to meteorites and 
collecting that 10 years or so ago was unheard of. Specks......I agree with 
others that to own a piece of a super rare hard to acquire meteorite 
especially under a budget that sometimes that speck in one's collection can 
look like a boulder! Is that Speck really the type of meteorite that was 
said it is? I always felt that buying from top name dealers was the safest 
way to go because as Mike Farmer said money is not the issue. When your at 
that level of the game as a dealer, selling false type specks is not even in 
ones vocabulary. There will always be cutting losses when cutting meteorites 
Period. So why not sell those cutting losses to collectors who can't afford 
say the 1/4-3/4 gram of ultra rare sub type of whatever meteorite. Not 
everyone can own a 1943 copper penny but give me a steel 1943 penny to put 
in my collection and I'm happy. I have made a habit over the years of only 
buying from a certain group of dealers and if I run into something that 
catches my eye from a non-regular dealer I will do my homework before I buy. 
Most specks will never get that huge price tag. It is true in meteorites 
that bigger is better or simply put you get what you pay for. I prefer to 
say I buy what I can reasonably afford. Forgive me List but I always look at 
a piece of meteorite I buy as what I would be able to get back on it for 
resale. I say this because of my last statement "bigger is better" and maybe 
I cannot afford that 1/2 gram of rare meteorite today but I will buy a 1/4 
gram of it and then later catch a deal on that 1/2 gram and sell my 1/4 gram 
to "step up" so to speak. Ok I'm rambling on. My speck story.....I remember 
years ago when I started out collecting meteorites and of course with family 
and all, I was under a microscope watched eye budget by my wife! I really 
wanted a Martian meteorite so I could brag to myself and friends that I had 
an actual piece of stone from the Planet Mars. I'll never forget when my 
speck came in the mail, of course bought from a famous well known dealer (I 
did my homework) and I could hardly contain my self as I opened up the 
package! I don't know about many of you List members out there but I have 
this habit of removing the specimen from the gem case into my own brand new 
gem case, gem jar whatever you want to call it and then into my collection 
cabinet. Well, I am in my office and all ready to make this delicate surgeon 
type transfer. I have gone to great lengths to make sure all goes smoothly. 
No FANS are on, door in office is closed, 1,000,000 candle light of light 
power is on! My first though looking into the gem jar was, DAMN that sure is 
a speck!! I have to admit I was somewhat disappointed BUT, I had a piece of 
MARS right in front of me and so I'm easily pleased! I continue on to making 
the transfer by ever so gently opening up the gem jar cap. BOING!!!!!!!!!!!! 
That #%$!&%#$#%!#^!%$# speck sprung out of that DAMN gem jar like a Martian 
on a Mission back to MARS! The fibers on the felt pad actually acted as a 
spring board when I relieved the pressure of the gem case cap! The speck 
fell on the thick carpet below (I think) which was my next problem and 
mistake. I searched for that DAMN speck for over an hour! It NEVER made it 
to my collection! I couldn't believe that I could be more disappointed then 
when I first saw the speck in the gem jar as I was on my hands and knees 
searching for it on/in the carpet, but I was! That's when I knew I loved 
meteorite collecting and never looked back or for that matter never looked 
for that speck again. Since then I have my own scale of size minimum for 
meteorite purchases. I remember using a pencil to part the carpet fibers 
looking for this speck. I was using the eraser end. The eraser fell out of 
the pencil and I had no problem finding the eraser. So I never buy anything 
smaller then an eraser size meteorite specimen, no matter how rare. I will 
save up till I can. I have never forgotten the feeling of loss that day, 
even for a speck. That speck taught me something that day! It taught me to 
get rid of my wife because I could of avoided that DAMN disappointing day if 
I had spent more on a bigger piece!!
Sincerely
Don Merchant
IMCA #0960