Hi Larry, Mike and list. Yes, at first this sounds like good advice,
however this can lead to numerous problems as well. For instance I
obtained a beautiful large chunk of NWA 482 in a trade with you Mike,
and I know that numerous other dealers also have NWA 482 for sale. If we
were only to purchase from the dealer who had the meteorite classified
then this would pretty much eliminate such trades as all such traded
pieces would become worthless. Another example is Dhofar 019. There must
be 20 dealers all legitimacy selling this shergottite, which they
themselves purchased wholesale. Now if everyone were only to buy from
the individual that had Dhofar 019 classified (Serge), then Serge would
be stuck with around a kilo of Martian rock with no market for it except
for the retail market. He would be relegated to selling off 200 mg here
and 300 mg there for the next forty years. This would make the
acquisition of large, rare rocks retarded unless someone wanted to spend
40 years recouping their initial investment. The same can be said for
hundreds of other meteorites. This also screws the collector who may
want to sell one of his expensive meteorites to buy something else. If
everyone only purchases from the person that originally had the
meteorite classified then the resale value of these meteorites would be
zero. I don't think that the collectors are going to appreciate paying
top dollar for some expensive planetary meteorite and then being told
that "Oh yeah, by the way don't try to sell that expensive meteorite
that we just sold you because you are not the one that had it classified
and no one will buy it from you." This would really piss me off if I
were the collector that had spent my hard earned money on an expensive
and rare meteorite specimen. The best thing for dealers to do is to get
their meteorites classified by a legitimate research institution, and to
use their own numbers. If they want, they can say "my NWA XXX is
probably paired to NWA YYY" or "my NWA is paired to NWA ZZZ" depending
upon the provisional or final classification respectively. For those
buyers that want to be sure they are getting properly classified and
named specimens, they should keep track of which dealers do follow the
Nom. Com. guidelines and avoid those that do not. Fortunately the
overwhelming majority of dealers are honest and play by the rules.
Unfortunately, there is a lot of BS being put on the meteorite-list by
certain meteorite dealers of the "my meteorite is better than yours"
sort. Don't be fooled by this non-sense either-it is just a transparent
attempt at self promotion. There are a lot of very reputable meteorite
dealers out there that do not engage in these types of sales tactics,
and I would prefer to support these honest, reputable dealers.
Cheers
-John
Arizona Skies Meteorites
http://www.arizonaskiesmeteorites.com
Michael Farmer wrote:
Larry, this is the problem I was getting at.
I will tell you the simple solution, buy the meteorite from the dealer
who had it classified, then there can be no error.
Mike Farmer
----- Original Message ----- From: "Larry Harrison"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Wednesday, November 24, 2004 9:54 AM
Subject: [meteorite-list] NWA's
Greetings List,
I am but a small time collector (>200 specimens). However, I cherish
my small example of the evolution of the solar system. I am also an
astronomy educator. I always include meteorites in my lectors AND I
am always asked "how do you know if it is really a meteorite? My
answer: Irons are simple to recognize, and I explain the
widmanstatten figure and how it forms. Stones on the other hand
require analysis especially when chondrules (I explain chondrules)
are not easily visible. In those cases it is very important to know
your source. I have always made it clear that I only deal with
reputable dealers.
The posts of late have put a very large question in my mind about who
is reputable. The saddest part is that many reputable dealers are
being scamed by the Nomads. I prefer to collect the rarest of the
rare. And this is where most of the scams are being made. My
absolute certainty of the authenticity of my collection is now in
question! I do not question that any piece in my collection is or
isn't a meteorite, but that it is not the specimen type that I think
it is. I have always been more than excited about the immense number
of new and rare meteorites coming out of the Sahara. If not for these
finds I could never afford as many representations of the early solar
system or of the achondrites of lessor differentiated bodies. I am
crushed, uncertain and totally confused! What to do? Since I am not a
big time buyer, my reluctance to purchase further NWA's will not hurt
any of you. However, I feel that I am Mr. Average. If this mess curbs
my desire to purchase more meteorites, I assure you it is doing the
same to many more. This is the saddest moment in my 20 years of
meteorite collecting.
Thanks for letting me vent,
Harrison
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