Telescope Reviews: Rarities, Exotics, Historicals, & Oddballs

Over the last month or so, I have been acquiring a large number of rare micromounts for my personal collection. In the coming days I hope to find time to take some photos of my new specimens and share them with the forum. Although honestly, the more rare a specimen is, the smaller it is - typically. This holds true for my recent acquisitions - they are not much to look at, but their history makes them interesting.

The best score I made was a small fragment of LA002 - Los Angeles 001 and 002 are paired pieces of a Martian meteorite found in the Mojave desert. This is the only planetary meteorite (lunar or martian) to be discovered on U.S. soil. What makes this small piece special, IMO, is that I received it directly from the man who found and owns it - Robert Verish. Needless to say, this piece now has a permanent place in my specimen drawer and will never be sold. If anyone ever sees me offering this piece of LA002 for sale, then you know ole Glassthrower has landed on hard times.

I also have a few tiny fragments of Ensisheim coming - Ensisheim is the oldest meteorite whose date of fall can be accurately determined. It fell on November 7th 1492. It's amazing to think that a meteorite that fell when Columbus was sailing to discover America is now sitting in my collection.

As far as irons go, I managed to score a lot of small fragments of Cape York - another rare historical. This particular meteorite was known to the native inhabitants of Greenland and for many years (prior to it's discovery by the outside world) and they chipped off pieces to make knives and other implements. When famed arctic explorer Robert Peary was shown the source of the iron by the locals, he came back for the meteorite which now sits in the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

Lastly, not really a meteorite, but I now have a large micromount of Libyan Desert Glass that is perfectly clear - clear like bottled water. I have never seen a piece with such clarity - it almost looks like a piece of broken window glass. If the piece did not have impeccable provenance, I would question it's authenticity - but the collector I acquired it from is above reproach and I saw several other smaller fragments of the same clarity from the same batch. Another lucky CN'er now owns those smaller clear LDG fragments.

Out of the 27 finds and 15 falls in my collection, LA002 and Ensisheim are by far the rarest and most valuable.

Ok, now that I have gloated over my recent scores, let's hear some bragging from the other collectors here - I'd love to see what kind of rarities and exotics are hiding out in the collections of my fellow CN'ers.

Regards and clear falling skies,

MikeG

--------------------
Michael Gilmer - Member of the Meteoritical Society & Collector of Falling Stars.

Galactic Stone & Ironworks - Buy/Sell/Trade Meteorites, Moon Rocks, Mars Rocks, & Celestial Irons

Gear : Astro-Tech 66ED on custom GEM, assorted binoculars, RKE & UO Ortho eyepieces.