While I more than appreciate your concern - since I am a collector
and a dealer, of course, I would share your perspective IF that were
what the center were about. However, in protracted discussions with
Marvin and Dr. Lauretta that is certainly not the sense I get, at all.
Michael,
No disrespect to you, but I would point out that your take on the goals of
the center seem to be directly at odds with what was reported as attributed
to their efforts in the media. I would always use a healthy bit of
skepticism anytime someone says one thing publically (and very publically at
that!) then tells you on the side "what i really ment was"
Now, I can tell you as a dealer there is no way (and Marvin,
having
been a dealer for years is well aware of this) I or any other dealer would
sell them material for less than they (the dealers) could get for it on the
market.
No but dealers ALWAYS sell large quanities of metorite for a small fraction
of the 'retail price' - ie the price most collectors are paying. Large
quatities of anything taken off the market tend to drive up the price for
the average collector.
So, if anyone is holding the illusion that Marvin Killgore or
anyone
else at the center is so naïve as to think they could generate the hundreds
and hundreds of millions of dollars it would take to buy EVERYTHING,
please be informed that they are not - nor is that their goal. Their goal
is
to ultimately build the largest, most representative repository and display
of meteorites in the world - that is a sufficiently large goal - owning
every gram of meteoritic material would be not only beyond any
institution's
reach, it would not be desirable.
Well I didnt think that they were going to be soaking up every last campo or
generic nwa fragment, but it would take no where near the kind of
expenditure you cite to put a major squeeze on the collectors market. an
insitution with a budget of a few million a year could easily soak up the
best of the best comming out of the deserts with money left to spare. This
might sound like an awfull lot of money but when you conisder this is
organization is related to a major university it's well within the realm of
possiblity. Will paying 30$ a pop for classifications make a diffrence? No -
but such efforts tend to have a habit of compounding. While there is good
the center can do for both the academic and private community, add good upon
good until a major benifactor signs on and the result could be downright
disasterous for the private collector.
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