[meteorite-list] [IMCA] End of an Era - The California fall.

[David R Childs]

Amen to that Geoff!
or........C'est la Vie!

David R Childs
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Aerolite Business" <biz at aerolite.org>
To: "IMCA List" <imca at imcamail.de>
Sent: Tuesday, May 01, 2012 10:56 PM
Subject: Re: [IMCA] End of an Era - The California fall.


> Dear Guido:
> 
> As a relative newcomer to the field I feel you are basing your doom- 
> and-gloom prophesy on recent events only, without looking at the big  
> picture. You may not be aware of the fact that -- in nearly all cases  
> -- the price of meteorites has been rising *steadily* for as long as  
> there has been a market for them. There are, however, exceptions: In  
> 1998 I saw Zagami sell for $1,700/gram; two years ago I saw it (not  
> selling) for $400/gram.
> 
> In the late 1960s you could acquire a beautiful Canyon Diablo with a  
> hand-painted H.H. Nininger number for dollars a pound. In the late  
> 1990s, the few existing wholesale dealers could barely find buyers for  
> stunning sculpted Gibeons at $35/kilo. Now it's $500/kilo if you're  
> very lucky, and the price has gone up incrementally every year; a  
> result of supply and demand, not because of some sort of "media  
> sensation." The same thing has happened with space memorabilia,  
> military history artifacts, transportation memorabilia, and probably  
> every other collectible of which there is a limited supply.
> 
> While I agree with you that that there are many more amateurs out in  
> the field looking for the California fall -- no argument there, it's  
> obvious -- how much would an example of Mighei cost you today, if you  
> could find one? I wouldn't be surprised if it was pretty close to  
> $1,000 a gram. I wouldn't pay $1,000 for a little scrap of this new  
> fall; I'd much rather have a a multi-kilo Campo del Cielo, but that's  
> me. Some collectors will be ecstatically happy to pay up for a  
> witnessed fall American carbonaceous chondrite, and god bless 'em.  
> Every collector's passion is different.
> 
> There are more meteorite collectors today than at any time in history.  
> Value is primarily determined by rarity and I am quite sure you  
> appreciate how rare meteorites are. The Internet is primarily  
> responsible for growth in the popularity of meteorites, as are books  
> like the excellent "Rocks from Space," my television show, and the  
> frequent high-profile natural history auctions by I.M. Chait,  
> Heritage, and other houses. In the pre-Internet days it was extremely  
> difficult to connect with other collectors; you might happen upon  
> Blaine Reed's small ad in "Astronomy" magazine, or find a rock shop  
> that carried a couple of modest specimens, but there was no meteorite  
> community. The Internet made it possible for enthusiasts to find one  
> another, and the field blossomed -- very rapidly -- between 1997 and  
> the early 2000s. That was *way* before any significant media interest.
> 
> Increased awareness means more finds, and at least ten important new  
> meteorites (that I know of) have come to light as a direct result of  
> my TV show and other media attention. That's a good thing. New finds  
> will continue to be made and new collectors will continue to come into  
> the fold. Meteorite collecting is no longer a weird niche market that  
> nobody has heard of.
> 
> Love it or leave it, but there's no point in grousing about it. Cool  
> things become popular. That's just the way it goes.
> 
> 
> Geoff Notkin
> 
> www.aerolite.org
> www.meteoritemen.com
> www.meteorites.co