[meteorite-list] cleaning Millbillillie ?

[tett]

I now have a much deeper appreciation for Millbillillie.

I will not attempt cleaning and will reflect on the "subtle" beauty these 
meteorites have.

Many Thanks!

Mike


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Alexander Seidel" <gsac at gmx.net>
To: "tett" <tett at rogers.com>; <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>; 
<bobl at peaktopeak.com>
Sent: Sunday, November 02, 2008 11:24 AM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] cleaning Millbillillie ?


>> I agree that there is a special characteristic that would be lost if the
>> red staining were to be removed from a Millbillillie individual. 
>> However,
>> it is also great to have meteorites pristine with no terrestrial 
>> alteration.
>> The priciest Millbillillies are those that with dark black glassy crusts.
>
> No, a meteorite like Millbillillie should be looked at in a much more 
> subtle way!
>
> It fell in 1960, and was collected no earlier than 10 years later! Talking 
> about
> Millbillillie is exciting in many respects, as it e. g. displays different 
> textures on
> cut slices, but talking about exterior surface, I would always prefer a 
> piece with
> natural (laterite) patina over a piece which was somehow "cleaned" (..if 
> this were
> possible..) or has only got some more or less glossy black crust alone 
> rather than
> the brownish-reddish surface stains that are so very *typical* for this 
> meteorite,
> and are part of its "character", so to say...!
>
> You are right insofar as, when we are talking about may be fresh Eucrites 
> or fresh
> Howardites, we are looking and longing for fresh glossy black crust in the 
> first place,
> as will be the case with e. g. the early collected pieces of a historical 
> fall like Stannern,
> or some rare other finds and falls, but things are a quite a bit different 
> with a fall like
> Millbillillie, even if it occured as late as 1960, considered a "fresh" 
> fall....
>
> Well, nothing but my two (Euro-)Cents,
> Alex
> Berlin/Germany
>
>
>