Well said, Mike!
From my point of view there is nothing that should/could be added to
your comment.
BTW: I do respect Abdelfattah as beeing a honest and trustworthy person.
Best regards from Down-Under,
Norbert Kammel
IMCA # 3420
www.rocksonfire.com
On 14/07/2013 12:35 PM, Galactic Stone & Ironworks wrote:
Hi List,
Well said Graham. I feel the same way. I think it's pretty obvious
when viewing offers from overseas wholesalers and hunters, which ones
are legit. Abdelfattah is known to many members on this List, and so
are many other Moroccan dealers and wholesalers. In fact, the legit
Moroccan wholesalers have probably handled many more meteorites and
meteorwrongs than most Western collectors or dealers. A experienced
eye can spot features that may hint at what the petrologic type is. I
think almost anyone can look at a highly-equilibrated chondrite and
tell that it's a type 5, L or H. Plentiful chondrules showing through
the matrix or outer surface hints at a type 3. Glossy, slick crust -
probably an achondrite.
How many times has a collector or dealer bought a stone at an
unclassified chondrite price, only to win the "Moroccan Lottery" and
score a planetary or other rare type. It's part of the game and the
market, although it happens less frequently now because the hunters
and wholesalers are more savvy now and can spot promising meteorites
that may be a rare type.
Self-pairing is rampant in the meteorite world. How much of the TONS
of NWA 869 on the market has been classified? How about those little
Nantan and Campo "crystals"? Are those analyzed by a lab? I could
point out a respected dealer right now who is self-pairing everything
from OC's to planetaries. I won't do it, because he's one of the most
reliable and nicest dealers around. And, I respect his judgement.
Apparently there is no problem with it, because nobody ever brings it
up and he's a long-time member of the IMCA.
The enforcement of the unspoken rule against self-pairing is arbitrary
and mean-spirited at times. If we are going to drag Abdelfattah
across the fire for offering a self-paired ureilite, then open the
floodgates and crucify everyone who is doing it. Half of the dealers
out there have self-paired at one time or another - maybe more than
that. I don't endorse that and I do not agree with that practice, but
it's a reality of the market and we turn a blind eye to some dealers
for doing it while we call out others in public. It's not
even-handed.
Blaine Reed is now enduring a crapstorm of revenge because he stood up
for the integrity of the market - frankly, that is something the IMCA
could have done. It shouldn't have been up to Blaine to go out on his
own dime and take up the cause of authenticity. Blaine now has an
enemy for life because of his stand against self-pairing or
self-classifications. Steve Curry got himself convicted of a criminal
charge for doing something that is not different than what many List
members do on a regular basis - they are just given a pass because
they are well-known to most collectors and the material they are
self-pairing is obvious unimportant meteorites like Campo and NWA 869.
All of this discussion and insults could have been avoided if either :
Abdelfattah had offered his stone as a "possible ureilite" or
"possible achondrite", but also made it clear that the stone is still
officially unclassified. Perhaps it was a language barrier at work
here. Or, if we had treated his offer like the hundreds or thousands
of others that are similar - here is my suspected meteorite, here are
some photos of it, and contact me if you want to buy it. Nothing to
get bent out of shape about.
If Abdelfattah stands behind his material, then there is no issue. If
he sells something as a ureilite, and it turns out to be something
else, then a good dealer will stand behind that deal and offer to buy
back the stone or send a refund. That is the nature of the business.
There is no need to insult the man for it.
I have seen some Moroccans on Facebook offering some obvious
meteorwrongs for sale as meteorites and they are quite pushy about it
sometimes. Abdelfattah is not one of those dealers. A measure of
good judgement and experience with the market comes into play here.
Newbies and people who haven't done their homework shouldn't be
purchasing specimens unseen from overseas sources. Period.
Best regards and الصيد سعيد,
MikeG
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