Hi Jeff and all,
I'm sure that everyone is thinking what I am thinking, and that is, if
this individual was caught on these items, how many other items were
not caught up to now?
If I had dealt with this individual, I'd be asking if my other
specimens were authentic. Some items are easy to identfy while others
are not.
As I have pointed out in the past, some people continue to do business
with some of the known frauds. While not every piece may be
mis-represented, it is hard to tell and more and more bad specimens are
going to be floating in collections. If this becomes an epidemic,
collecting meteorites may become a think of the past.
--AL Mitterling
Mitterling Meteorites
Quoting Jeff Kuyken <i...@meteorites.com.au>:
Hi everyone,
Last weekend the IMCA Board received an official complaint in regards
to an IMCA member who sold three meteorite samples to two different
IMCA members that were not what they were purported to be. This
complaint included classification test results on these reported
pieces that were confirmed by the Board with the highly reputable
meteorite scientist who completed the testing.
The first sample tested was a small 4.06g stone sold as Ash Creek
that came back as an equilibrated H-Chondrite and definitely not Ash
Creek.
The second sample was a ~1.6g fragment sold as "Zunhua". This
specimen also returned results of an equilibrated H-Chondrite which
do not match the current studies on the actual Zunhua meteorite.
While the following cannot be considered conclusive, the classifying
scientist of the fragment mentioned that "the olivine and
orthopyroxene compositions for the alleged "Zunhua" stone (as well as
its physical appearance) are consistent with available information
about stones from the Tamdakht (Morocco) fall".
The third sample was an iron slice sold as "Deport" that was clearly
too coarse to be that.
To basically sum up, these three meteorites were sold as meteorites
they were actually not. After receiving the complaint, we did some
further investigation and approached the seller. We were not
satisfied with his answer at all. On requesting a more substantial
answer and provenance of the sold samples, the member resigned before
we even had a chance to remove them. (The process for removal is in
the ByLaws.)
However at the same time, this member assured me that they would make
things right with the buyers and provide the documentation we
requested. I have also been helping another non-member who made us
aware of his problems this week with the same seller. I know his
refund request was accepted by PayPal.
I think it is important that all collectors know who this person is
that sold the misrepresented meteorites as they are a reasonably
active seller on eBay. If you have purchased any of the above
meteorites from this seller the potential is there for you to be
affected too. The seller in question is:
John (Bryan) Scarborough - #6135
eBay User ID: quietstorm2476
I find it extremely disappointing as a Board member but even more so
as a fellow member, that on trying to further communicate with this
person a couple of days ago, I found their yahoo email account had
been deleted. - "I'm afraid I wasn't able to deliver your message to
the following addresses. This is a permanent error; I've given up.
Sorry it didn't work out. This user doesn't have a yahoo.com account."
The Board will of course still continue to attempt further
communication with this individual and assist those affected buyers
in any way we are able.
On a further note, it's important for us all to remember that it is
our responsibility as collectors and "temporary custodians" of these
extraterrestrial treasures to ensure proper curation and provenance
history. This is ALL part of authenticity and whether mistakes are
deliberate or happen by accident... well both have the exact same end
result of misrepresented meteorites. There are people out there who
watch very carefully and as one IMCA member put it very well this
week, the meteorite community is very small and at some point all
cheats are eventually caught.
While this has been a disappointing episode, I am not disillusioned.
This is one member. There are nearly 400 now from around the world
who do believe in the ideals of the IMCA. To put it in perspective,
there are thousands and thousands of transactions performed with IMCA
members every year that all go without a problem. This is a learning
experience for us all and I'm sure in the long-term we can only grow
from it.
Remember that IMCA Board members are always available for any
questions or concerns you may have so please always feel free to
approach us.
Sincerely,
Jeff Kuyken
Meteorites Australia
www.meteorites.com.au
Vice President - I.M.C.A. Inc.
www.imca.cc
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