Historic Meteorites for Sale, H.H. Nininger Collection, Oscar Monnig, Glenn Huss, American Meteorite Laboratory

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HISTORIC METEORITES

Historic meteorites with hand painted museum numbers and old collection labels carry a provenance that increases their monetary value but, more importantly, they provide us with a tangible link to the past — to the collectors, researchers, and meteorite hunters who have gone before us. Historic specimens put us in touch with the early days of meteorite collecting. They are friendly reminders that we are only temporary caretakers of our own collections and that we ourselves will, one day, become part of the chronicled history of these marvelous visitors from outer space.

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H.H. NININGER, GLENN HUSS & THE AMERICAN METEORITE LAB

Harvey H. Nininger, American Meteorite Lab

Seminal meteorite hunter Harvey H. Nininger's extraordinary life was recounted in his thrilling autobiography, Find a Falling Star — a must-read for all meteorite enthusiasts. He authored numerous books, including Out of the Sky, and Our Stone Pelted Planet.

Dr. Nininger created the American Meteorite Laboratory, the original Meteorite Museum on Route 66 near Meteor Crater, and was a founding member of the Meteoritical Society. He recovered hundreds of meteorites and carried out extensive work at Brenham, Kansas; Canyon Diablo (Meteor Crater), Arizona; Toluca, Mexico; and many other locations across the United States and around the world. Harvey's daring, pioneering work was continued by his son-in-law, Glenn Huss, and both men catalogued their meteorite specimens with meticulous hand painted collection numbers. Specimens with Nininger or Huss numbers, or AML labels are extremely rare, come with a fascinating pedigree and are among the most sought-after of meteorites.

		BOXHOLE Iron (IIIA) Found Northern Australia 1937 10.7 gram individual with Huss number, label
		New listing Highly collectible rare Australian iron with painted Huss number H125.116, original matching label, and special color laminated Aerolite ID card. Excellent historic specimen. 29 x 11 x 11 mm $160.00

		ETTER Olivine-hypersthene chondrite (L6) First recognized 1966 Moore Co., TX 126.0 gram part slice with Huss number, label
		Large part slice with hand painted Glenn Huss number H47.129 and matching original typed American Meteorite Laboratory specimen card! A very desirable meteorite collectible. 119 x 61 x 6 mm $995.00 SALE $795.00

THE OSCAR E. MONNIG COLLECTION

Oscar Monnig was one of the greatest meteorite collectors of all time. A resident of Texas, he was a successful businessman, owned six department stores in Fort Worth was a friendly rival and competitor of H.H. Nininger. When they both showed up in the Leedey strewnfield (L6, fell November 25, 1943, Dewey Co., OK) it was agreed that they would divide the largest mass between them. Oscar and his hunting team recovered Tishomingo, Pena Blanca Springs, Atoka, and scores of other important American meteorites.

Oscar lived to the age of 99 and bequeathed his magnificent collection to Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth, where much of it is now on display in the Oscar E. Monnig Meteorite Gallery — one of America's finest meteorite museums. Glenn and Margaret Huss of the American Meteorite Laboratory cataloged Oscar's entire collection during the 1980s, and they hand painted the collection numbers ("M1.1") which we today associate with the collection. Some of the historic specimens offered here carry an official Monnig Collection number (hand painted by Glenn Huss) and a second number painted by Oscar himself! A double provenance from the collection of one of the legendary personalities in meteorite history.

		DAVY (a) 24.8 Grams L4 chondrite De Witt County, Texas Found 1940 24.8 gram polished slice with original Monnig label
		New listing Polished slice from Monnig specimen M 178.4. Accompanied by original Monnig Collection label and special color laminated Aerolite ID card. $174.00

		DAVY (a) 43.7 Grams L4 chondrite De Witt County, Texas Found 1940 43.7 gram polished slice with original Monnig label
		New listing Polished slice from Monnig specimen M 178.4. Accompanied by original Monnig Collection label and special color laminated Aerolite ID card. $262.00

		DAVY (a) Full Slice L4 chondrite De Witt County, Texas Found 1940 62.6 gram polished slice with original Monnig label
		New listing Polished slice from Monnig specimen M 178.4. Accompanied by original Monnig Collection label and special color laminated Aerolite ID card. $313.00

		DAVY (b) 19.3 Grams H4 chondrite De Witt County, Texas Found pre-1891 19.3 gram polished slice with original Monnig label
		New listing Polished slice from Monnig specimen M 141.1. Accompanied by original Monnig Collection label and special color laminated Aerolite ID card. $154.00

		ROUND TOP (b) 14.5 Grams H4 chondrite Fayette County, Texas Found 1934 14.5 gram polished slice with original Monnig label
		New listing Polished slice from Monnig specimen M 21.2. Accompanied by original Monnig Collection label and special color laminated Aerolite ID card. $116.00

		ROUND TOP (b H4 chondrite Fayette County, Texas Found 1934 35.4 gram polished slice with original Monnig label
		New listing Polished slice from Monnig specimen M 21.2. Accompanied by original Monnig Collection label and special color laminated Aerolite ID card. $247.00

		ROUND TOP (b) 39.2 Grams H4 chondrite Fayette County, Texas Found 1934 39.2 gram polished slice with original Monnig label
		New listing Polished slice from Monnig specimen M 21.2. Accompanied by original Monnig Collection. $275.00

		TULIA (a) Large Individual H3/4 Found 1917, Swisher Co, TX 1,002.8 gram half stone with two Monnig numbers
		Large half stone with polished face, lovely patina, original label & two collection numbers: M.12.8 is the official Huss/Monnig number and 12R painted in Oscar's own hand. An important historic piece. 111 mm x 91 mm x 57 mm $1,755.00

		TULIA (d) 42.6 Grams H6 chondrite Swisher County, Texas Found pre-1981 42.6 gram polished part slice with original Monnig label
		New listing Polished slice from Monnig specimen M 306.1. Accompanied by original Monnig Collection label and special color laminated Aerolite ID card. $213.00

		TULIA (d) 44.3 Grams H6 chondrite Swisher County, Texas Found pre-1981 44.3 gram polished slice with original Monnig label
		New listing Polished slice from Monnig specimen M 306.1. Accompanied by original Monnig Collection label and special color laminated Aerolite ID card. $222.00

		TULIA (d) 100.2 Grams H6 chondrite Swisher County, Texas Found pre-1981 100.2 gram polished slice, original Monnig label
		New listing Polished slice from Monnig specimen M 306.1. Accompanied by original Monnig Collection label and special color laminated Aerolite ID card. $400.00

THE WARREN TAYLOR COLLECTION

HISTORY OF THE TAYLOR COLLECTION GIBEONS
During 1971 and 1972 Mr. Taylor, a British geologist, worked in Namibia at the Tsumeb mine. He purchased a most unusual collection meteorites from the wife of a man who had been a bokkie wagter (goat herder) on one of the large livestock farms in the Brukkaros area of Namibia.

This goat herder was member of the Nama tribe. While tending goats belonging to the farmer for whom he worked, he often traveled, on foot, a great distance from home. The landowner sent out provisions for the goat herder, who made small temporary huts of stone and a grass roof for shelter at night. Every so often he returned to the main farmstead where his family lived.

While out in the field the goat herder became interested in strange pieces of iron which he found while caring for the goats. He collected some and kept them under his bed in his various bokkie wagter huts. After the goat herder died of old age his wife traveled out to his huts in order to collect his belongings. While gathering up her husband's few simple possessions, she noticed pieces of iron under his bed. With some difficulty, she carried the irons back to her home on the landlord's farm.

An engineer, and friend of Mr. Taylor's, happened to be repairing the farm's borehole wind pump. He noticed the irons, and knowing of Mr. Taylor's interest in geology and meteoritics the engineer arranged a meeting. Mr. Taylor identified the pieces as Gibeon meteorites, bought all of them from the goatherd's widow, and later shipped them back to Britain, where they remained in his personal collection for many years.

[pictured] Large Gibeon irons on display in the Namibian capitol of Windhoek. Gibeons are now protected under Namibian law and exportation is illegal. These specimens were obtained many years ago, before the ban was enforced.

HISTORIC GIBEONS COLLECTED IN THE 1960s

I was recently lucky enough to acquire some of these lovely Taylor Collection irons. These specimens were collected long before organized hunting of Gibeons began and were all found, by eye, on the surface of the undisturbed strewnfield. Some have been cleaned; some show natural patina; all are accompanied by original Taylor Collection color labels, as well as an Aerolite Meteorites identification card.

A charming story and a lovely piece of meteorite history.

[pictured left] One of my Taylor's original collection labels. Every Taylor Collection specimen is accompanied by one of these color specimen cards.

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		TAYLOR COLLECTION GIBEON IVAB First discovered 1836 Hardap, Namibia 1,252 grams Taylor Collection with original label
		Hefty individual, nearly three pounds in weight with pronounced ridges and an attractive geometric shape. With original historic Taylor Collection label. Taylor Collection number 781-G 84 mm x 71 mm x 47 mm $1,250.00

LABENNE SAHARA STONES
Historic pre-NWA hot desert meteorites with original field numbers
During the mid-to-late 1990s the French meteorite hunting family Labenne started finding stone meteorites in the arid deserts of Northwest Africa. These finds were made years before the NWA classification system was adopted, and were some of the very first Sahara finds. Each carries a unique hand painted field number. For example "99053" was the 53rd meteorite found during the 1999 expedition. Several have nice polished windows. Very collectible!
[pictured] The Labenne team with Aerolite Owner Geoffrey Notkin in 1998

		LABENNE SAHARA 99053 Unclassified chondrite Found Sahara Desert 307.8 grams Labenne find with field number
		Beautiful half fusion stone 99053 with diamond lap polished face displaying abundant colorful chondrules, black veining and brecciation. Excellent. 85 mm x 66 mm x 27 mm $308.00

		LABENNE SAHARA 99751 Unclassified chondrite Found Sahara Desert 330.6 grams Labenne find with field number
		Complete stone 99751 with some fusion crust and polished window showing abundant bright metal flakes. 81 mm x 60 mm x 34 mm $330.00

		LABENNE SAHARA 99811 Unclassified chondrite Found Sahara Desert 375.6 grams Labenne find with field number
		Complete stone 99811 with large polished window showing bright metal flakes and nice orange chondrules. 87 mm x 62 mm x 41 mm $375.00

		LABENNE SAHARA 99366 Unclassified chondrite Found Sahara Desert 715.1 grams Labenne find with field number
		Superb large complete square stone with 99366 with excellent surface features and a good amount of remnant fusion crust. A very fine specimen. 80 mm x 64 mm x 62 mm $650.00

ODESSA — Historic Draeger/Nininger Specimens
Iron Meteorite (IAB)
Captain Draeger [left] was one of the first American meteorite hunters and made many notable finds particularly at the Odessa, Texas crater. He was a friend and colleague of H.H. Nininger and also one of his suppliers. I purchased a collection of Odessas from the Draeger estate. All the irons were in one box, and several carry authentic Nininger numbers. I don't know if Draeger found them and sold or traded them to Nininger or vice-versa but these irons were certainly handled by both of those great hunters. These are my last pieces from this collection.

		ODESSA 135.5 grams IAB First discovered, 1922, Ector Co., Texas 135.5 gram individual
		New listing Triangular shaped individual with natural patina, possibly hinting at orientation. This comes with an exclusive photo of Captain Draeger and one of his largest finds. 50 mm x 42 mm x 30 mm $203.00

		ODESSA 235.4 grams IAB First discovered, 1922, Ector Co., Texas 235.4 gram individual
		New listing Attractive individual with natural patina and a pleasing shape. This comes with an exclusive photo of Captain Draeger and one of his largest finds. 67 mm x 51 mm x 27 mm $345.00

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