wmartin@ALMSA-2.ALMSA (Will Martin -- AMXAL-RI) (11/14/85)
I, too, got the catalog with the meteorites for sale. It is from "Norm Thompson", a dealer who used to concentrate on African animal-related products and safari-style clothes for the armchair "great white hunter" types. I guess the rising ecological consciousness made selling elephant-hair bracelets and zebra skins a declining market, and the firm has expanded into glitzy knick-knacks and expensive clothing. The same catalog that has the meteorites has a $61,500 steam launch ($55,000 in Diesel power) and a $425 teddy bear. The meteorites are iron; they are sliced and polished, and the ad text specifically mentions the Widmanstatten pattern (using the spelling from the last posting -- I sort of recall that being "Wiedmanstatten", but don't have any source to look it up in around here). The picture shows sliced and polished-face half-meteorite chunks (prepared like geodes usually are), so that would give both the burnt outer fusion crust and the innards, though I don't recall them explicitly stating that you get that form. (I would think that larger pieces would be cut into several slices, which might mean you'd get little crust on such slices.) As far as price, it seemed high instead of low to me, but then I am frugal and miserly about decorative objects like this. However, before buying from these people, I would look in a library at recent issues of astronomy and rockhound/gem hobbyists magazines, and also at scientific supply house catalogs. I would think any sellers of meteorites would advertise in such places, and school or lab-equipment suppliers might sell these also. Happy Holidays! Will