Goldberg Coins and Collectibles

Sale 124

November 3-4 Winter Collectibles Auction

Meteors

Lot	Photo	Description	Realized
Lot 618		Large Stony Meteorite End Cut with a Polished Face. This huge 8 X 7X 2¾ inch 7 pound stony Meteorite end cut is designated as an unclassified NWA (North West Africa) stony meteorite and was found by nomadic Berbers in the sands of the Sahara desert of Morocco. It is an ordinary chondrite which means that it consists of round silicate grains that formed at the very beginning of the solar system 4.55 billion years ago. This stony meteorite is medium brown in color with a 5 3/4X 2 3/4 inch polished end revealing some medium and dark brown irregular shaped chondrites and flecks of ireon-nidkel which makes it magnetic. Estimated Value $1,200 - 1,800 View details and enlarged photo	Realized $870
Lot 619		Martian Mini-Meteorite Complete and Uncut. Meteorites from the planet Mars are so rare that only small fragments are available for sale. These rare meteorites have been identified as being from Mars because of their chemical analysis and age. They are younger than most of the meteorites from the asteroid belt that were formed at the same time as the solar system 4.5 Billion Years Ago. In 2007 in the Sahara desert a number of small individual meteorites with a total weight 82 grams were found and submitted for analysis. This Martian meteorite (named NWA 4880 was found to be a rare achondrite basaltic (volcanic) Martian Shergotite and represents one of the freshest Martian Shergotites found. This specimen is 11mmX10X5mm weighing 1.172 grams and has about 40 percent of its original dark brown fusion crust from burning in the Earth's atmosphere on its top side. The U.S. rover currently on Mars hopes to gather some small Martian rocks to be returned to the Earth in about 5 years. You can acquire your own Mars rock right now with a Hupe Collection guarantee card included. Estimated Value $1,000 - 1,500 View details and enlarged photo	Realized $840
Lot 620		Campo del Cielo 5 Pound Iron-Nickel Meteorite. First recorded by the Spanish in 1576, the huge fall of Campo del Cielo (Valley of the Sky) iron-nickel meteorites occurred thousands of years ago in Argentino. This 5 x 2 1/2 inch 5 pound Campo del Cielo iron-nickel meteorites has an esthetic shape with its iron-nickel surface covered with desirable regmaglypts (thumbprints) that formed when the meteor passed through Earth's atmosphere and the troilite in the meteorite melted. An excellent desk top example of an iron-nickel meteorite. Estimated Value $950 - UP View details and enlarged photo	Realized $840
Lot 621		Esquel Pallasite Slice with Beautiful Olivine Crystals. Discovered in 1951 by a farmer in Chubut, Argentina, the single 680 Kg meteorite known as Esquel has been in great demand as the most beautiful of the rare type of meteorites known as pallasites. There are three major types of meteorites, iron, stony and stony-iron. Pallasites are stony-iron meteorites that originate from the core-mantle boundary of large planetary size asteroids that were destroyed early in the formation of the solar system. This rare type of meteorite consists of iron-nickel from the core of the asteroid as well as olivine crystals known as peridot from the mantle. Peridot crystals (the gem state of olivine crystals) are the only known gem stones from space found in meteorites. This 2.7 X 1.25 inch section of Esquel has been polished on both sides to get the maximum reflection of the iron-nickel matrix as well as displaying many beautiful translucent lightly shocked green olivine crystals including a very large 15 mm crysta. It weighs 18.56 grams and is displayed in a 5 ½ X 4 ½ inch Ryker mount. Estimated Value $750 - UP View details and enlarged photo	Realized $480
Lot 622		Esthetic 235 Gram Sikhote-Alin Meteorite with Regmaglypts. This 235 gram 3 X 2 inch Sikhote-Alin iron nickel meteorite that fell on Feb.12, 1947 in Siberia is the rarer of the two types possessing regmaglypts, small crater-like impressions that formed by ablation of Troilite (Iron Sulfide) when the meteorite was streaking through the sky at high temperature. The large meteorite body broke up twice during its fall to earth with only the higher breakup creating the meteorites with the regmaglypts, the lower breakup creating the shrapnel type meteorites. The shape of this meteorite is special covered with various sized regmaglypts including one large regmaglypt and a beak-like shape on the upper left side. Sikhote-Alin meteorites are becoming rare to find as the Meteorite field in Siberia has been well searched with very few meteorites left to find. A magnetic Plastic display stand included. Estimated Value $750 - UP View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 623		Campl del Cielo Complete 366 Gram Slice with Widmanstatten Pattern. The famous iron-nickel meteorite Campo del Cielo fell to the earth over 4,000 years ago in mountainous region of Gran Chaco, Argentina, 500 miles north-northwest of Buenos Aries, in one of the largest and undoubtedly most dramatic falls in the last 10,000 years. Meteorites from this fall were scattered over hundreds of square miles of inaccessible terrain. This 366 gram 5 ½ X 3 1/4 inch complete slice has been polished and etched to show its coarse octahedrite Widmanstatten pattern which results from two alloys of Nickel, Kamacite (the light bands which are low in nickel) and Taenite (the dark bands which are high in nickel). Estimated Value $700 - UP View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 624		Large 433 Gram Shrapnel Type Sikhote-Alin Iron Nickel Meteorite. On February 12, 1947 a series of loud explosions over the Sikhote-Alin mountain range in Siberia announced the arrival of the most recent large Iron-Nickel meteorite to strike the Earth. These meteorites are the best preserved of all the known major falls. There are two different types of meteorites from this fall, meteorites with regmaglypts and shrapnel type meteorites that resulted from a second explosion much closer to the ground. This 3 X 2 inch 433 gram (nearly one pound) light silver meteorite is a splendid representative of the shrapnel type with sharp edges, signs of melting around the edges and many parallel flow lines from the melting metal caused by the high temperatures passing through the Earth's atmosphere. Parallel flow lines are seldom found on iron-nickel meteorites that fell hundreds or thousands of years ago do to rusting on the Earth's surface. Estimated Value $700 - UP View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 625		Large Complete Slice of Howardite Meteorite From Vesta. NWA 1914 is a rare howardite achondrite meteorite from the asteroid Vesta. Only a single stone weighing 628 grams was found in the Sahara Desert. A howardite is a regolith or surface rock containing fragments from rocks that were mixed by impact on Vesta. This 24.2 gram 61X45X5 mm meteorite has a fresh thick black fusion crust and a light gray matrix with various colored rock fragments interspersed within the matrix. Estimated Value $600 - 1,000 View details and enlarged photo	Realized $780
Lot 626		Popular 318 Gram Canyon Diablo Iron-Nickel Meteorite. This 318 Gram 2 ½ X 2 1/8 inch Canyon Diablo iron-nickel meteorite is an excellent shaped palm sized specimen with regamaglypts of one of the most sought after iron meteorites by collectors. Most currently available Canyon Diablo meteorites are flakes that weigh just a few grams. The nearly one mile in diameter crater near Winslow, Arizona was created over 50,000 years ago when a 50 foot in diameter meteorite exploded high over the Arizona desert. Since no specimens are available from the source at Meteor Crater, the only way to acquire a specimen is when specimens are made available from collections. Estimated Value $500 - UP View details and enlarged photo	Realized $360
Lot 627		Famous Chelyabinsk Meteorite Complete Individual. At 9:20 A.M. on the morning of February 15, 2013 a large 8-10 ton 50 foot long meteor exploded 10-15 miles above the ancient city of Chelyabinsk, Russia with the force of over 500,000 tons of TNT 10 times the force of the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in 1945. More than 1,500 people were injured from flying glass and debris from the resulting shock wave. This was the largest meteor event in the last 100 years since a large meteor exploded over a remote area of Siberia in 1907. This beautiful fresh 45 X 28X 8 mm complete specimen weighs 24.1 grams which is much larger than the vast majority recovered. It has a fresh dark brown fusion crust covering the entire top half of the meteorite with the bottom side offering a window inside of the meteorite with some glassy black fusion crust just starting to from and displaying its light gray matrix mixed with specks of iron and rust orange chondrules. This stony chondrite is designated as LL5 SR4 meaning that it is of low iron even for a stony meteorite with the total iron content to be about 10 percent. Comes housed in a 8X6 inch Riker mount with a photo of the explosion. Estimated Value $500 - UP View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 628		Canyon Diablo Iron-Nickel Meteorite Slice with Widmanstatten Pattern. This 178.1 gram 4 ½ X 2 ½ inch Canyon Diablo iron-nickel meteorite slice has been polished and etched on both sides to show its Widmanstatten pattern. Widmanstatten patterns result from acid etching the polished surface of an Iron-Nickel meteorite. The low nickel (5%-15%) Kamacite iron-nickel alloy and the high nickel (up to 50%) Taenite iron nickel alloy etch at different rates in the acid. This Widmanstatten pattern is not found in any Iron-Nickel alloys since it only forms when the alloy cools very slowly only a few degrees over a million years. Estimated Value $300 - UP View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 629		Shergotite Martian Meteorite Fragment of NWA 1068. These rare meteorites have been identified as being from Mars because of their chemical analysis and oxygen isotopes. In 2001 in the Sahara desert of Morocco a single 1 Kg meteorite was found. This Martian meteorite(named NWA 4857) was found to be a rare Basaltic (volcanic) Martian Shergotite. This specimen is 10 X 7mm weighing .42 gram and has interesting brown and gray pebbly surface. The U.S. is spending billions of dollars to return a sample of pebbles from the surface of Mars. You can own your own small pebble from Mars for far less. Presented in a 5 1/2X 4 1/2 inch Riker mount with a Michael Farmer authenticity card. Estimated Value $300 - UP View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 630		One Billion Year Old Stromatolite from Russia. Stromatolites are the fossils of laminated rock formed from layer by layer buildup from microbial mats of cyanobacteria over thousands of years. Stromatolites formed the very first macro fossils found in the fossil record going back several billion years. This stunning polished 7 X 5 inch1/2 dark greenish-gray slab is completely covered with irregular sausage shaped gray stromatolites varying in length from one inch to over four inches. Over one Billion years old, it was found in Russia. Estimated Value $300 - UP View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 631		Meteorite from Biggest Meteor Strike Since 1907. At 9:20 A.M. on the morning of February 15, 2013 a large 8-10 ton 50 foot long meteor exploded 10-15 miles above the ancient city of Chelyabinsk, Russia with the force of over 500,000 tons of TNT 10 times the force of the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in 1945. More than 1,500 people were injured from flying glass and debris from the resulting shock wave. This was the largest meteor event in the last 100 years since a large meteor exploded over a remote area of Siberia in 1907. The official name of this meteorite is Chelyabinsk. This beautiful fresh 40X18X10 mm complete stony meteorite designated as a LL5 SR4 weighs 14.1 grams LL5 SR4. This meteorite fragment is very interesting in that it has two different fusion crusts. The top has a thick dark brown fusion crust that formed high in the earth's atmosphere when the meteorite first broke up and the bottom side has a much thinner black fusion crust that started to form after the final tremendous explosion. The small sections that are not covered by fusion crust offer a window inside of the meteorite displaying its light gray matrix mixed with specks of iron and brown chondrules It is not possible to obtain a fresher meteorite. Estimated Value $300 - 500 View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 632		Lunar Meteorite Fragment from NWA 5000. NWA 5000 is considered to be one of the most valuable and beautiful of all of the Lunar meteorites. One large 11,528 gram meteorite was found in July 2007 in Southern Morocco It has been classified as a Lunar feldspathic impact-melt breccia from the Lunar highlands which means that it is a mixture of several different types of moon rocks rich in Feldspar. The Lunar highlands are the features on the moon that appear to be bright when viewed from the Earth but are actually heavily cratered areas. This white fragment with a dark periphery is 8 X 6 mm and weights .276 gram This valuable Lunar meteorite comes with a 4 1/4X31/4 inch Riker box and an authenticity card from the Hupe Collection. Estimated Value $275 - UP View details and enlarged photo	Realized $443
Lot 633		690 Gram Nantan Iron-Nickel Meteorite. The Nantan Iron-Nickel meteorite is one of the earliest meteorites that was an observed fall. It was recorded that it fell May 11, 1516 in the Nantan County of Guangxi Province of China. The meteorite fall was described as "stars falling from the northeast direction, five to six fold long, waving like snakes and dragons". It is a seldom offered meteorite composed of 92.35% iron and 6.96% nickel. This unusual 4 X 3 1/2 inch 690 gram meteorite has a dome shape with a central peak tapering down to flat edges. Estimated Value $200 - UP View details and enlarged photo	Realized $132
Lot 634		American Brenahm Pallasite 32.5 Gram Slice. The Brenham pallasite fell to earth some 1,000-2,000 years ago in Kiowa County near Haviland, Kansas. It is the most famous of all American pallasites and was perhaps the largest fall of a pallasite in recorded history with over 6 tons of recovered meteorites. Although the local Indians knew of this meteorite, it was not officially discovered until 1882 and designated a pallasite which is a mixture of an iron-nickel matrix with crystals of olivine. This 2 X 1.4 inch 32.5 gram section has been polished on both sides showing several dark olivine crystals in the iron-nickel matrix. Estimated Value $200 - UP View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 635		Detailed Model of 1976 Mars Viking Lander on a Meteorite Base. The 1976 two Viking landers were the first landers to land on Mars and took the first pictures of the red planet. This highly detailed 3 X 2 inch model is centered on a 4 x 4 inch wooden base that is covered with both powder and small nuggets of the Campo del Cielo Iron-Nickel meteorite. Estimated Value $200 - UP View details and enlarged photo	Realized $456
Lot 636		Colorful Slice of Dhofar 316 L6 Stony Meteorite. Dhofar 316 is a L6 (low iron) Ordinary Chondrite stony meteorite that was found in 2001 in Oman. Only 3.22 Kg were recovered. This colorful brown and silver slice with specks of iron is 75X75X3mm weighing 51 grams and has been polished on both sides to enhance its beauty. Presented in a 4X6 inch riker mount. Estimated Value $200 - 400 View details and enlarged photo	Unsold
Lot 637		2012 Fiji $10 Silver Brenham Meteorite Coin. Only 999 minted of this 20 gram pure silver $10 Proof coin of Fiji with actual pieces of the Brenham meteorite. The coin commemorates the famous Brenham Pallasite meteorite found in 1882 in Kiowa County, Kansas. Original case. Estimated Value $200 - 400 View details and enlarged photo	Realized $120