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

[Lasse Lindh]

Hi Don and all

I am a collector with a tight budget, but I would still not buy a speck 
that only is identifyable buy the card that follows it. I would rather 
save money and buy a small piece or an individual.  I agree that as long 
as the tiny speck is waste from cutting it's OK, but how do we know that 
it is? The price per gram for a tiny speck is often a lot higher than a 
bigger piece. It might not be for all, but I've seen this quite often.

Regards

Lasse


Don Merchant wrote:
> 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
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