Re: [meteorite-list] Collectors and dealers.

[Jeannie Devon]

Hi Mike,   I sell meteorites in my store and my husband always kids me that it's only to support my own habit!  I would not really call myself a meteorite "dealer" in the true sense of the word, but rather a meteorite retailer! Whenever I buy several of the same fall, I can never really bear to part with all of them and one or two end up "disappearing" into my personal collection.  Some of my favorites are a gorgeous half stone of Camel Donga, a Sikhote Alin shaped just like a bullet, a small but fantastic piece of Willamette, and a 125 pound Gibeon with a huge cavity in it the size of a grapefruit that they will have to pry from my cold dead hands!  : )   That one is currently at a local childrens' science museum on loan because I felt too guilty about keeping it all to myself!   And of course I have several meteorites that were given to me as gifts from very special people which I would not part with for anything!   I have found that the best part about being a buyer/seller/collector is that you may think you have the perfect sample of some particular meteorite so you keep it in your collection.  Then, you come across one that is even better, so you sell the other one and upgrade your sample.  After a while the size of your collection doesn't increase as quickly, but its quality and your appreciation for it increases.  As a matter of fact, I recently purchased a nice end cut of Toluca from you which will upgrade my current piece.  So I will sell my old one, and so on and so on.   I think that some dealers end up having to think too much about their bottom line, and what other dealers are doing, and they don't have the luxury of just plain loving a meteorite for what it is.  I am glad that meteorites are not my bread and butter.  I don't feel compelled to attach a dollar figure to them, and I think that collecting helps keep me in touch with what I love about them.  I hope you enjoy being a dealer, and don't stop collecting what you love!   Regards, Jeannie www.thenaturesource.com Anchorage, Alaska ----- Original Message ----- From: Mike / flattoprocks To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2004 9:16 PM Subject: [meteorite-list] Collectors and dealers. Hello list, I do not post very often. I would guess that 90% of the meteorite people on the list rarely if ever post. Anyway I was wondering if the dealers at the top of the meteorite world still have time to collect meteorites? Do you collect each new fall and or find that you sell? Is it more fun to sell a new meteorite or to add it to your collection?  I am fairly new at collecting and selling meteorites. Each time I see or find something that is new or different I tend to collect it. I just added a Canyon Diablo to my collection that has a hole through it. It would be very easy to sell it and make a few bucks, but I would rather keep it in my collection. I found a Gold Basin that shows flow lines and has a rollover lip, I could sell it for a dollar a gram, but I would rather collect it.  I guess I am wondering if anyone is collecting meteorites or just selling them. I would like to hear about the really cool one you put in your personal collection, maybe even see a picture. I had a friend give me a 2 kilo Gibeon (the best I have ever seen) as a gift. I would not sell the piece for $100.00 per gram. I also had a friend give me a 14.5 gram iron from AZ, I would not sell it for $100.00 per gram either. Am I the only collector out there? Mike Miller  //  E-Bay  flattoprocks