Re: [meteorite-list] a little collector advice........

[Michael Cottingham]

Title: Re: [meteorite-list] a little collector advice........

Hello, Martin and All,   I actually bought my first piece of Zag from Al Lang for about $3.50 per gram....this was when it first came out. It was not until Edwin Thompson traded the Chico main mass to Al Lang for almost all of the Zag that he had at the time. It was Edwin Thompson who basically discovered that Zag had salt crystals in it. After that the price shot up....... (I believe that is how it went?)   Your right though one should be a collector for the shear excitement of it......but sometimes a better deal comes to those that can temper that excitement a bit.....   Best Wishes   Michael ----- Original Message ----- From: Martin Horejsi To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, March 12, 2002 12:42 PM Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] a little collector advice........ Michael Cottingham kindly wrote: “When Zag first came out it was $3-$5.00 per gram and then it shot up to $11.00, and now you can buy Zag for $1.00 to $5.00 per gram......” Hello Michael and All, When I was doing research on my article about Zag for Meteorite Magazine several years ago, I found the first offering of it was at $18 per gram (if I remember correctly). The skyward shot in price was more a reaction to the science and its similarity to the unobtainable Monahans, TX chondrite. There are always risks when purchasing meteorites, Sahara or not. Even some of the more notable US meteorite finds have yielded many more kilograms years after the initial discovery. On the third side of this coin is the possibility that not all of the fall is of the quality that Rob and Dean were able to photograph. Examples of this phenomena include Kora Korrabes, Portales Valley, and even Zag. There were vastly different regions within the meteorite making numbers like TKW and price per gram less important. One piece might be a dud, while another is stunning. My suggestion is to buy out of the pure excitement of collecting. You win some, you loose some. But in the end, it should all be fun. Right? Cheers, Martin