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  Online auctions/sales of Chelyabinsk meteorite

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Author Topic:   Online auctions/sales of Chelyabinsk meteorite
David Bryant
Member

Posts: 986
From: Norfolk UK
Registered: Feb 2005

posted 03-03-2013 02:41 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for David Bryant   Click Here to Email David Bryant     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I'm sure the smart members of this forum have already reached their own conclusions: but don't for heaven's sake buy any of the bits of random meteorite being sold on a 'well-known online auction site' as pieces of the Russian fireball: they aren't!

The give away (if one were needed!) is that most originate from unlikely sources such as Latvia, Lithuania, China and Thailand....

arjuna
unregistered
posted 03-03-2013 06:02 AM           Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Good advice. Only purchase material from certified IMCA (International Meteorite Collectors Association) members. Note that there are many legitimate meteorite sellers on that "well known online auction site" who list their IMCA number, which can and should be cross-verified on the IMCA site itself. Of course that won't be 100% proof of legitimacy, but IMCA (of which I am not yet a member) people take their reputations pretty seriously and are careful with provenance etc. so you can enjoy a fair amount of confidence that what you're buying is what's advertised.

There are lessons here for the space program artifact collecting community as well but I'll leave that to others for now.

David Bryant
Member

Posts: 986
From: Norfolk UK
Registered: Feb 2005

posted 03-03-2013 07:33 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for David Bryant   Click Here to Email David Bryant     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Wise words, 'Arjuna'. I am, in fact, an IMCA member: No. 1898!

While any organisation can never be completely free from renegades, the IMCA does a pretty sound job of monitoring itself, the online auctions and current movement in the trade.

All times are CT (US)

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