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
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
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
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.