[meteorite-list] AD: West, Texas - Back From The Field!

[michael cottingham]

Hello,

What an adventure!

My son Christopher and I just made it back from West, Texas and we had  
a very lucky & bountiful trip. He found his very first meteorite there  
and his biggest West beauty was 44 grams!

A lot to be said about this wonderful event, but after 14 hours of  
driving I can not do the trip in words well enough. After 20-30 people  
searching for nearly 10 days or so the total known weight is still  
probably less than 3kg. That is with my information and observations.  
At the moment about 50% to 70% of that went into collections and will  
not be for sale anytime soon from what I can tell. The strewn field is  
rapidly disappearing under the blades of tractors and areas that could  
be hunted yesterday are gone today.  Prices in the field are going up  
and permission to hunt is being revoked in some cases.  However,  
stones are probably being found as I write this!

I have seen some people hunt for days-walking 20 to 30 miles in that  
time and still not find anything. Others get lucky and get one or two  
a day, but the "man" hours and acreage that has to be put in is off  
the scale and immense.  Think about this - some people are in the  
exact right place, but still have to walk at least a 10 mile day-10  
hours or so, just to find a 5 gram piece. No complaints here, but most  
folks will be keeping their stones and as it is now, only about ~30%  
of all the known pieces might and I say might become available.

I got lucky and I am going to sell one to three of my haul. My son  
will probably sell one of his and that is it. I will probably break  
one of my fragments into pieces for all the micro-mount collectors and  
maybe slice another fragment. I have not decided what to charge yet,  
but it will be without a doubt a realistic price based on expenses and  
effort.  More later...

TODAY:


I am offering a BEAUTIFUL 6 gram COMPLETE, 100% Fusion Crusted  
Individual. It has shape and character and it is beyond words. I will  
try and get a photo later, but if you are interested in getting a fine  
stone from this fall-make an offer.

Thanks and Best Wishes

Michael