Hi Greg and list,
I really think that the price is more about who gets there first and
who is
"allowed" to hunt the field.
Meteorites are competitive and my eyes were opened to just how much so
due to
recent falls.
Please don't take this wrong. If you only knew how much work it is to
open up a new strewn field or to find the first piece. Many of the
hunters take a chance and their own money and time to bring you new
material. What is this worth? What ever price the finder wants to sell
it for. If the price is too high don't buy it. Try this, on the next
fireball, hop on a plane and check it out for yourself. What is your
time worth? Often there is a chance of coming home empty handed.
When I first got into meteorites, I thought it was a pretty open group
that
welcomed newer members/collectors and future hunters. I quickly found
out that
not many are willing to "help the competition" and its basicly dog eat
dog.
Sure, many are willing to help you build your collection by selling you
meteorites, but very few are actually willing to lend/offer first hand
teaching
and "in field" experience to those that want to learn from the people
that are
supposed to be "the best".
When I first heard about meteorites, I called and emailed many of the
top hunters with no reply's. So I did the next best thing, started
doing my own research on meteorites and hunting techniques. A month
later I found my first meteorite. Six months later I had a new strewn
field. 2 years later I had found 2 new strewn fields with many finds.
Several years later I have been able to find 2 very rare meteorites.
This just shows you that you can do it yourself with a little work and
perseverance . There are many other great hunters out there including
Ruben Garcia, Mike Miller, Geoff Notkin and Steve Arnold just to name a
few. Of course there are so many others out there that are even members
of this list (too many to mention).They have been able to build their
own collections from some of their finds. Whats to say you can't
accomplish the same thing. Get out there and give it a try! Hopefully I
will be able to buy a new find from you some day.
Good Luck,
Sonny
-----Original Message-----
From: Greg Catterton <star_wars_collec...@yahoo.com>
To: Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com
Sent: Tue, Nov 3, 2009 8:18 pm
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Ash Creek the most expensive ordinary
chondrite?
Hi to all, I thought I would add my 2 pennies...
I would have to disagree, I think the more hunters, the cheaper the
material due
to more people having material for sale and less chance for a select few
"friends" to set what they all will charge.
Look at it this way (its how I do anyway)
Compare Carancas... It sold for $100 per gram and they had to travel
from the
USA to Peru.
West... it also sold for $100 per gram and they had to travel to Texas
from the
USA (many only one or two states away)
What costs more? The travel to Texas or Peru?
Carancas had a much lower TKW then West (west TKW is more then double),
made a
crater and had a ton on media not to mention was of much more scientific
importance then west due to the circumstances of the fall, crater and
events
that surrounded it.
Thanks to Mike Farmer, the media attention around Carancas doubled.
(not really
a bad thing, but more a fact - his "escape" made for great reading and
a neat
story.)
Its my opinion, however unpopular, that new falls are about getting as
much
profit as possible as fast as possible... I also think inaccurate
reports of TW
lead to the higher price of West - I still see people clearly stating
that only
about 3 kilos were recovered when I know of many who walked away with
several
kilos themselves!
Another example of West and meteorite politics (which leads to these
high
prices)... The same people who were ready to exclude and not "allow"
people to
the AZ fall location (and used the excuse "we dont want others running
in our
backyard like they did in west") were actually the same ones doing just
that to
others backyards at West.
I really think that the price is more about who gets there first and
who is
"allowed" to hunt the field.
Meteorites are competitive and my eyes were opened to just how much so
due to
recent falls.
When I first got into meteorites, I thought it was a pretty open group
that
welcomed newer members/collectors and future hunters. I quickly found
out that
not many are willing to "help the competition" and its basicly dog eat
dog.
Sure, many are willing to help you build your collection by selling you
meteorites, but very few are actually willing to lend/offer first hand
teaching
and "in field" experience to those that want to learn from the people
that are
supposed to be "the best".
I know my thoughts on this topic are not too popular with some, but I am
honestly speaking from what I have seen looking in from the sidelines.
Greg C.
--- On Tue, 11/3/09, al mitt <alm...@kconline.com> wrote:
From: al mitt <alm...@kconline.com>
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Ash Creek the most expensive ordinary
chondrite?
To: Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com
Date: Tuesday, November 3, 2009, 9:22 PM
Hi Greg and all,
While I think there are a lot of good points on why this
meteorite was expensive, I think there is another factor in
all this as well.
The more people, meteorite hunters, collectors and so on
that descend on a fall, the more expenses that have to be
added into the cost. If you only have 50lbs (22.7 kilos) of
material (for example) and fifty hunters, the cost for
travel, motel, time and effort and payment to land owners
will make that fall higher in price. If only a half dozen
hunters search the area then the price would be
substantially less. This assumes that they all find an
average amount of material.
I realize there is no way of knowing for certain how much
material survived passage or can be found but seems if every
meteorite hunter in a two thousand mile radius heads out and
there are more hunters than material we're in for an
expensive fall.
I've heard some comments about fewer searchers then better
chance of hunters price fixing but I don't think this would
happen in most cases. I believe in the credibility of most
hunters and collectors. As I have said many times before,
ultimately it is what someone is willing to pay for an item
that will dictate the price of material. Usually about a
year after the fall is the best priced material. Well my two
grams worth.
All my best!
--AL Mitterling
----- Original Message ----- From: "Greg Stanley"
<stanleygr...@hotmail.com>
To: <oxytropidoce...@cox.net>;
<meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 03, 2009 12:18 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Ash Creek the most expensive
ordinary chondrite?
> All:
>
> I think the reason Ash Creek has a higher value is
because of the publicity. It was major news among the
meteorite community; even outside the meteorite community.
Also, it was the first fall/find that occurred in the US for
a number of years, and was captued on video. This all
created the increased interest and demand, and thus
increased the price. The Buzzard Coulee meteorite was also
much larger (TKW) and did not receive the same marketing as
Ash Creek.
>
> One thing that I do find odd is that there are NWA's
and even OC's that demand high dollars compared to others
that are the same classification. It just boils down to
supply/demand and some good marketing and publicity. I may
pay hundreds of dollars for a meteorite and be satisfied,
while someone else may think it has little value. That's one
of the things that makes it such an interesting hobby.
>
> Greg S.
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