Jason, Sonny, Frank and others: The definition of Rare: "thinly distributed over an area; few and widely separated"
So in its simplest form, the rarest would be a meteorite group, single type (ALH84001) or a single meteorite with a unique composition and the least amount found on earth. Just like a mineral or a rock. Are diamonds rare? not really, but they do have value. I believe rubies are more rare. I don't think the "availability" should come into the picture as it is still sitting in a lab somewhere, so it should be counted. Thus, I would say the K-chondrite would be one of the rarest "groups." But wait... there's more; the K-chondrites are actually a grouplet <5 pieces known, not enough material to be a group. But then there are "ungrouped" meteorites, so it you take one of these, that was uniquely different from any other found and was the smallest (in size and weight) - then that would be the rarest, and I do not know which one. Speaking of rare - I only can find three pictures of a K-chondrite on the entire web, now that's rare. Greg S. ---------------------------------------- > Date: Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:17:06 -0800 > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Photo of a K-chondrite / Could this be one of > the rarest meteorites found? > > Hello Frank, All, > > The trouble with that example is that it really supports both > viewpoints, due to its context. First and foremost, its type was > extremely uncommon at the time (Eucrites are now rather commonplace), > and second, there was very little available of both the type and of > the given fall. The trouble with taking into account what Ward or > Merrill considered to be the primary determinants of "value" is the > assumption that both value and rarity go hand in hand. > While there is some association between the two, well, look at the > market. You have unique meteorites like Portales Valley selling for > $20-30/g, and relatively common rocks like, say, Ash Creek, going for > the same amount. [Don't go off on me - I'm not complaining - just > pointing out an irrationality in the marketplace.] > > Price is determined by marketing and supply and demand - not rarity, > though it is a contributing factor. > Hence Ward didn't value the other "differentiated" meteorites as much, > even though they were grouped together at the time. > > When reading about meteorites in older literature, one will often see > comparisons made between such and so meteorite and a similar meteorite > that was recently found. This is because the classification schemes > at the time didn't provide adequate groupings for the number of > chemically and structurally distinct meteorites being found. They > didn't have "Eucrites," so they compared to known meteorites that were > similar...such a system of categorization would provide for skewed > senses of "rarity" (not that our current system is any better at it). > And since most modern meteorite types were grouped together, rarity > was determined rather differently at the time, with the availability > of a given fall determining "rarity," because "types" were as yet > ill-defined. > Thus what was considered rare a hundred years ago might not fit the > bill today - though, as I noted above, even Ward and Merrill appear to > have bought into the hype surrounding finds with low total known > weights, so I consider their points of view to be at least somewhat > collector/market oriented. > > Regards, > Jason > > On Tue, Nov 17, 2009 at 10:11 PM, Frank Cressy wrote: >> >> Hello all, >> >> Thought this might be of some interest concerning the rarest meteorite, at >> least from a historical viewpoint. At the beginning of the Twentieth >> Century, Henry A. Ward thought Nobleborough (1823 Maine fall) was one of the >> rarest of the meteorites he owned. At this time Ward owned one of the >> world’s largest meteorite collections that was on par with the national >> collections in Vienna, London, and Paris. The Ward-Coonley collection (now >> part of the Field Museum collection in Chicago) contained 603 different >> locations in 1904 and weighed nearly 2500 kilograms. In a collection >> catalog of the same year, Ward stated that the Nobleborough meteorite, the >> third recovered meteorite fall in the U.S., was the “rarest American >> aerolite” [stony meteorite]. At this time, there were other stony >> meteorites with a smaller preserved weight such as Deal (~30 gms.) and >> Bethlehem (13 gms.), but they were ordinary chondrites. Nobleborough was a >> rare, >> differentiated stony meteorite, and only four had fallen or been found in >> the U.S. to that time. Two were eucrites, Nobleborough (~78 gms TPW) and >> Petersburg (1.8 kg.). Frankfort (stone) (650 gms) was a howardite and >> Bishopville (5.9 kg.) an aubrite. Most of the Nobleborough mass had been >> lost and collections had only small specimens. Merrill (1934), in writing >> about valuation of meteorites, lists three main factors that determined >> their value; present known weight, petrographic composition, and number of >> owners of pieces. About Nobleborough, he noted: “The climax is reached, >> however, in the case of the stone of Nobleboro [Nobleborough], Maine of >> which there was originally from four to six pounds, but seventy-eight grams >> are now accounted for, distributed among eleven collections, seven of which >> record only ‘splinters’.” >> >> Needless to say, most curators were extremely reluctant to part with any of >> the Nobleborough meteorite from their cabinets and no doubt Ward was >> ecstatic to have acquired a 19 gram specimen for his. As for myself, I too >> would certainly like a "splinter" in my collection. >> >> Cheers, >> >> Frank >> ______________________________________________ >> http://www.meteoritecentral.com >> Meteorite-list mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list >> > ______________________________________________ > http://www.meteoritecentral.com > Meteorite-list mailing list > [email protected] > http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail: Trusted email with powerful SPAM protection. http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/177141665/direct/01/ ______________________________________________ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list [email protected] http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
