Prepared slices of stable pallasites such as Imilac ( Chile), Glorieta Mountain (New Mexico, USA) and Esquel (Argentina) are prized for their colorful gemstones and long-term stability, and will fetch between $20 and $40/gram. Pallasites are stony-iron meteorites packed with olivine (the gemstone peridot) and are particularly desirable when cut and polished because of the alluring color and translucency of the crystals they contain. A premium Sikhote-Alin specimen will carry a price tag of $2 to $3/gram. The Russian iron Sikhote-Alin (fell February 12, 1947) is the largest single meteorite event in modern recorded history and individuals - meteorite specimens which landed as one intact piece, rather than exploding on or near the ground - are coveted by collectors because of their marvelous sculptural qualities and surface features. Attractive stones from the Gao-Guenie witnessed fall ( Burkina Faso, Africa, March 5, 1960) can be purchased for about $1.50/gram and a top quality one-kilogram specimen of the Campo del Cielo iron meteorite from Chaco Province, Argentina can be yours for about $400. Unclassified stone chondrites picked up by nomads wandering in the Sahara Deserts are readily available for about $0.50/gram. Meteorite prices vary from one source to another but the numbers quoted here are typical of retail values in today’s marketplace. The process of acceptance into the official scientific literature actually adds commercial value to a meteorite. Once a meteorite has been analyzed and classified by academia, surplus specimens find their way onto the commercial market. It is important to note that new and noteworthy meteorite finds should always be made available to the scientific community for study. The meteorite collecting community uses the metric system so weights are measured in grams and kilograms, and dimensions in centimeters and millimeters.Īs is the case with most collectibles, the commercial value of a meteorite is determined by a number of factors including rarity of type, provenance, condition of preservation, and beauty or aesthetic appeal. Photograph by Leigh Anne DelRay, copyright Aerolite Meteorites. Imilac is a particularly stable pallasite and examples such as this one, with clear and colorful crystals, are highly prized by collectors. Pallasites are believed to have formed at the core/mantle boundary of large asteroids and are among the most sought after of meteorite collectibles. This meteorite has been sectioned and polished to reveal beautiful translucent olivine crystals. Half slice of a pallasite meteorite: A 67.9-gram half slice of the Imilac pallasite from Chile's Atacama Desert. There are a number of people, like myself, who work with meteorites full time, and a multitude of collector/dealers who operate part time meteorite-related businesses in order to help underwrite the cost of expanding their own personal collections. Today, space rocks are readily available from many different outlets and the quarterly Meteorite magazine caters to the space rock enthusiast, as does the monthly online publication Meteorite Times and the Meteorite Mailing List (online listserve). The magazines Astronomy and Sky & Telescope would occasionally publish articles on meteorites sometimes a small ad for "Meteorites" could be found among the back pages of those publications and the early dealers mailed out newsletters and handmade catalogs to their small customer bases. In the pre-Internet days, with no popular print publication aimed at the budding space rock collector, it was difficult to meet fellow enthusiasts. A few of the natural history supply companies such as Ward's Natural Science were also a source for meteorite specimens but, for the most part, space rocks were the domain of academia and a few eccentric collectors.ĭuring the 1970s and early '80s bold enthusiasts such as Robert Haag, Allan Langheinrich, Marvin Kilgore, Blaine Reed and Edwin Thompson began turning their passion for space rocks into legitimate businesses and the modern world of meteorite collecting was born. Nininger opened his Meteorite Museum next to Route 66 in Arizona in 1946 and was one of the first people to start offering meteorite specimens for sale to the public. The pioneering American meteorite scientist Harvey H.
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