What do you collect as a hobby?

[Rafterman]

Barq My Friend:

I love my meteorite collection. It is enshrined in my bedroom in a series of two lighted display cases. My Chelyabinsk meteorites have their own case and I value them greatly (and not just because I spent so much $$ on them).

There is a large listing of meteorites on eBay. Try to buy from an IMCA certified seller if you can. I suggest starting with the most popular iron stone from Russia known as Sikhote Alan. There were many, many meteorites generated from this fall and some can be had for very reasonable prices. It's an easy way to see if the hobby appeals to you.

PM me if you want to discuss meteorite collecting in more detail.

Hi Raven,

It is extremely interesting to hear about. I can absolutely understand the attraction, but if I started collecting anything else I think I'd run out of space and money! ;-) Still it is tempting to have something that came from outer space...

The closest I have to a meteorite, is a sample of "trinite" which is from the very first a-bomb test (called Trinity, hence the name). The test in 1945 New Mexico caused the sandy ground to fuse into a glass type substance. It has a green tinge, possibly from all the copper wiring, and is mildy radioactive. Soon after the test it would have been dangerously radioactive, but that decayed over the years and it is now just a weak alpha emitter, so being in a plastic box is quite sufficient to protect it and me.

You can buy it on ebay, but there are a lot of fakes.

Hey B,
How did I know that you would have the coolest hobby on earth?