[meteorite-list] The price is too high

[Rhett Bourland]

I started collecting in 1999. Calcalong Creek was the only lunar meteorite
available to collectors and the only dealer who had any for sale wanted
$100,000 a gram. I recently picked up a 3+ gram lunar for around $150. I
remember getting into a bidding war on eBay for a piece of Lodranite that
was a few milligrams and lost to someone who paid over $200 for it. A
couple of years ago, my kid bought me an 8 gram piece of another Lodranite
for Christmas.

Yes, some pieces that were more common years and years ago have definitely
gotten more expensive but I'd say it's due much more to the fact that
collectors bought up all of those pieces back then and are holding onto
them.  That's just basic supply and demand.

I've got some pieces that were rare back then and I have no clue how much
they'd be worth now (Eagle Station. L'Aigel, Losttown. Angra dos Reis,
Burnwell, Ensisheim, Ivuna) and I have no intention of finding out. Some of
those still have incredibly rare numbers that still haven't been found in
the African deserts (Eagle Station, Burnwell) the others are only valuable
because of where and when they fell. You can still buy pieces with the same
classifications from the deserts and for a lot less money than what we'd
pay back then. I'd rather have a few grams of something unusual that was
found in the Sahara than a small speck that fell in Kansas.

-rhett

On Fri, Oct 11, 2024, 1:18 PM Mark Bailey via Meteorite-list <
meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com> wrote:

> Hi Gang,
>
> Just a few thoughts here. I’ve collected meteorites for many years. It
> started as a reaction to the beauty and wonder of the whole topic. Pieces
> from the origins of our Solar System! What a marvelous, delightful, neuron
> firing concept! You could actually come into direct physical contact with
> the depths of time—shards of time itself, in a way.
>
> I was a public school Astronomy teacher and couldn’t afford it but my wife
> was supportive and I slowly, carefully collected a nice assemblage over the
> years. I bought my first from Bob Hague. A couple of Allendes and a small
> slice of Canyon Diablo. We would occasionally visit the Tucson Gem and
> Mineral show and I’d pick up a few more. And then occasionally the Denver
> Show.
>
> But a disturbing trend has become apparent over the years. The joy and
> wonder have become second to the insatiable greed of the vender. Not all of
> you, certainly, but enough to leave an impression. This last September in
> Denver I could not find a deal anywhere. Prices were so unbelievably high I
> only got one. A small walnut-sized windowed Vaca Muerta for $400. I was
> struck by how our awe inspiring rocks from space have turned into just
> another commodity. No awe, no joy, no beauty. Just money. I’m disappointed
> and saddened it’s come to this.
>
> I’m offering no solutions. No one would listen if I tried. Just an
> observation. It might be interesting to discuss this.
>
> Mark Bailey
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