[meteorite-list] Might Something Need To Be Done Department

[Darryl Pitt]

Hiya....

Every meteorite which is sold at an inexplicably low price is the  
result of a particular "event," and the contamination that results  
from such events can take years or decades to be corrected.

The situation between Millbillillie and Allende is not really similar,  
and the story with Millbillillie is as follows:

My memory is a bit shaky, but it was around 1990 there was a  
Millbillillie price war at a Denver show.  An American dealer and an  
Australian dealer had a go at it---and there was room to go down  
because even though Millbillillie first arrived in the U.S at $10/g  
wholesale---a large shipment subsequently landed stateside for $1/g.   
I personally witnessed the price of Millbillillie plummet  
precipitously over a period of hours from $20 to less than $2, and I  
ended up buying Millbillillie at $2/g that year and the year  
following.  Millbillillie's value is still compromised as a result of  
selling so inexpensively; inordinately low prices possess their own  
"memory gravity" (unless of course there is another "event" which  
provides the correction).


All best / d,




On Feb 16, 2009, at 11:49 AM, Martin Altmann wrote:

> Hi Pat,
>
> the Bulletin Database has as tkw for Allende of 2 metric tons =  
> 2000kg.
> (And some say 3 tons).
>
> It felt at a time, where naturally there weren't such myopic laws  
> like today
> and there were less collectors than today. And it felt in a country  
> with
> good accessibility.
>
> To make it short:  Allende was the NWA 869 of the 70ies.
>
> It's a little bit similar to Millbillillie,
> Sometimes collectors ask, why an NWA-EUC can cost more than a  
> Millbillillie.
> But if you check the stats: Every second eucrite is a  
> Millbillillie :-)
>
>
> Murchison had a relatively high tkw.
> Also a few collectors and Australia was still a free country, a
> meteorite-democracy.
> I often told the anecdote, a German veteran collector told me.
> He came to know of the Murchison fall by a short note in a newspaper.
> So he wrote a letter, asking about the circumstances and what had  
> happened,
> and sent it to Murchison, Australia.
> Weeks later he received a parcel, with a nice answer, cause they were
> astonished and amazed that someone from so far away was interested  
> in what
> had happened in their little town and as a little tank you, a 100g+  
> sample
> of Murchison was included.
>
> Allende could be one of the reasons for the misconception of some,  
> who are
> bemoaning that the prices of meteorites pretendendly would have  
> "soared"
> and who have the imagination that in earlier years meteorites cost  
> virtually
> nothing.
> But Allende was always one of the exceptions, cause of its mass
> availability.
>
> Best!
> Martin
>
>
>>
>> Murchison TKW 100Kg per the Meteoritical Bulletin
>> Allende TKW >100Kg per the Meteoritical Bulletin
>>
>
>
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