So how fares the meteorite market in these recessionary times? The supply is very low and the demand has really been going up in the last few years, says Farmer. Prices have quadrupled on certain items just in the last year. He is currently working on a $1.5 million sale of a 120-pound meteorite. He once negotiated in a similar price range with the Russians for a whopper weighing 3.5 tons. Having been burned investing in less rock-solid opportunities, Farmer says he's learned to keep his money in his inventory.
The phonograph, invented in 1877 by Thomas Edison, sent music on the sharpest tangent in its history. Mark Coleman writes about how the phonograph changed the music listening experience in his book, Playback: from the Victrola to MP3, 100 Years of Music, Machines, and Money.
The playing time of a phonograph record depended on the turntable speed and the groove spacing. At the beginning of the 20th century, the early discs played for two minutes, the same as early cylinder records. The 12-inch disc, introduced by Victor in 1903, increased the playing time to three and a half minutes.