Auction today has a meteorite need advice!

[dakotagrappler]

I Am going to an auction today that has a meteorite going up for sale. I took a magnet last night to the sale preview and it did attract it. I picked it up and it has to weigh over 10 lbs, it has a crist on the outside of some of the piece. Any advice for me to try to make sure it is what they say it is. I will try to take some pics before the auction and post. I would appreciate any advice.

 

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[dakotagrappler]

Some pics

 

[dakotagrappler]

Went for $770 I think it went dirt cheap. The guy who bought it looked like he was prepared to bid forever.

 

[JohnnyFlake]

Went for $770 I think it went dirt cheap. The guy who bought it looked like he was prepared to bid forever.

That amounts to $4.82 an ounce, which is pennies per gram!!! Something is very wrong!!!

My guess is that there was no one there, other than the winning bidder, who knew anything about meteorites. In reality, 10lbs is extremely large and the size alone warrants a greater price. Or, it may not actually be a meteorite.

It's amazing that there was not a reserve, or that the minimum opening bid, was obviously very low.

 

[hvacker]

Was the name or location of the fall mentioned? Meteorites are like real estate. Location is everything. If I was paying big $$ I'd even want to know lat and long. Knowing that information would verify if it's genuine.

 

[Charl]

I think you were lucky not to win that item. I'm not the authority, but I've collected meteorites for 30 years and my money is on that not being a meteorite at all. Count your lucky stars...

 

[DolanDave]

That is not a meteorite... The guy selling at the auction made out big time !!!! 700 bucks for a regular rock.

 

[Charl]

That is not a meteorite... The guy selling at the auction made out big time !!!! 700 bucks for a regular rock.

Ain't that something? No huge surprise. Uneducated people who burn their money without knowing anything about what they are bidding on are ever present at public auctions. Very foolish....

 

[augoldminer]

One way to give fake provenance to a fake meteorite is to sell it at a auction.

The seller and a shill buyer sell the meteorite then it has auction papers that its a meteorite.
These papers are worth nothing and the seller and fake buyer can then resell it for more money as a "real" meteorite.
If the shill buyer gets out bid the seller still wins because he found a sucker.

A Meteorite is not valid unless it has been classified by a person qualified by training to do such.

AMERICAN METEORITE SOCIETY! and American Meteorite Collectors Society! are not such people.

This is a good place to start
FOUND A METEORITE?

a good sign is there is a corner cut off showing the internal grains of the meteorite.

 

[Nickleanddime]

People find slag all the time and think its meteorite. I'm not expert on meteorites but can see its not one. Slag has different forms and make ups because of the impurities in the metal, different metals different slag. That was problay brass or aluminum, to smooth for steel or iron and it doesn't have huge chunks of stuff or rock chunks. Or could have been a ancient piece of lava flow. You were wise not to buy. Better luck next time.

 

[dakotagrappler]

Thanks everybody. I am so glad there are great people/experts on this site.