Any meteor collectors out there?

I fancy collecting meteors as a new hobby and was wondering if anyone on the ATS does this already? Do you have any pics of your finds and what's the most money you made from a sale? I know some small rocks can be worth thousands.What sparked my interest was a walk in a public park years ago. Sitting on the lawn beneath some trees was this solitary black rock, totally out of place. It was like a cone at one end, very smooth and quite like a volcano in shape. The other end was very lumpy like someone had moulded it with deep fingerprints. The whole thing was black, (fusion crust?) . I thought "wow, a meteor" but not knowing anything about them and because I'd just started my walk, I didn't want to carry this big heavy thing with me and I threw it away into some long grass on the park perimeter and, I've regretted it ever since. I've done some reading on the subject and now I'm sure it was a genuine rock from space and worth at least £1000. I've read a good way to find the iron ones it to attach a strong magnet to the end of a walking stick and just walk around. Anyone tried this?

Hi wigit,

I've tried a few times. I use a metal detector. I have yet to find anything.
I know it can be done, and it has been done in my area, which is desert, without any of those pesky trees and plants that can hinder a find..LOL

I was inspired by some folks that were out on their ATV's, metal detecting.
they found a pretty large one.

Worth a try wigit!
They are worth a fair whack I think,so maybe there is a market for them in museums and places like that.

Some are so collectable they buy them in slices. There's a nice big complete one on ebay at the minute, starting price is something like $2050 and it's not as nice as the one I found. My one had a cone at one end and big regmalypts ( thumbprints) all over the other half. I'm still kicking myself at not keeping hold of it. It was about the size of a pair of mens fists and very heavy, I needed two hands just to pick it up. Maybe I'm wrong about it, maybe it was just a rock someone threw there. There are big maple trees in that park though and I assumed straight away that it had crashed through a tree before dropping onto the lawn. There's a guy who lives not far away from me who travels all over the world collecting meteorites, if I ever find one again I'll take it to him for advice. Trouble is when you study all the pics you start to think every other rock is one from space, lol.

There's a bunch of threads for meteors on ATS -- HERE is the general search inquiry results.

i've always fancied the thought of collecting meteorites.

but the prices cut off that fantasy,

instead i walk the beaches for sharks teeth,
the rarely found tooth or spine vertibrea from those extinct Mastadons, even a spear point from a 'clovis culture' spear point maker - and my
favorite- - a megladon tooth that evidently washed south from the N.C.
Cape Fear rover basin during a infrequent winter 'nor-easter' back in the
middle 1970's


i have happened upon several heavy and pock marked, weird stones or metallic objects that were not in my experience ~'normal'~
but that was long before the 'web' was part of our lives,
so i was no able to research those rare finds, so my diligence & ardor faded

BTW, i reside in the Carolinas, where the 'Carolina Bays' are a real feature
as they are made from meteor impacts (a folklore issue)
so there can be meteorites washed up on the beach in this meteorite 'alley'




[edit on 20-10-2007 by St Udio]

Originally posted by St Udio


i have happened upon several heavy and pock marked, weird stones or metallic objects that were not in my experience ~'normal'~

Have a look at my weird stone. Not a meteorite but weird and rather nice.[IMG]http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z53/wigit_photo/SV201689.jpg[/I MG]