Fine Octahedrite Group IVAGan Gan, Argentina

Lot Description:
The exterior surface of the meteorite rims the perimeter of this complete slice. The shimmering crystalline habit of this sample is rendered in shades of gray and silver. A large troilite nodule punctuates the left margin. A portion of a second troilite straddles the lower right perimeter in what is a choice display of Gan Gan’s fine crystalline fingerprint. Modern finishing.
162 x 241 x 4mm (6.33 x 9.5 x 0.1 in.)
1.087kg (2.33 lbs)

Provenance: Dr. James Schwade Collection of Meteorites

In 1983 in southern Argentina about 750 miles north of Patagonia, a man collecting pinecones came across an 83kg. iron mass, later determined to be a meteorite. As meteorites are named after the places to where they are “delivered”, this meteorite was named “Gan Gan” as it was found in proximity to the tiny village of the same name. Gan Gan exhibits a robust Widmanstätten structure — an unearthly metallic grid of two different alloys of iron-nickel seen in most iron meteorites. As this pattern does not appear in terrestrial iron ores, its presence is 100% diagnostic in the identification of iron meteorites; pattern variations frequently are indicative of different meteorite subtypes (see lot 8). This is a choice specimen of the Gan Gan iron meteorite.

Christie's would like to thank Dr. Alan E. Rubin at the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles for his assistance in preparing this catalogue.

Dr. James Schwade Collection of Meteorites, Kankakee, IL
Blaine Reed Meteorite Collection, Delta, CO