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Steve writes:

NWA 4734 is an extensively shocked lunar mare basalt (an extrusive volcanic rock that cooled from magma extruded onto the lunar surface). A very fresh meteorite with a debated monzogabbro sub-classification, it has a mixture of glossy black and duller black/brown fusion crust with an interior texture described as shergottite-like by some and by others as eucritic. One of the few unbrecciated lunar basalts, it is compositionally and texturally identical with the Antarctic LaPaz Icefield meteorite basalts and is likely launch paired from the same source crater. All have crystallization ages around 3.1 billion years ago - younger than those associated with the Apollo and Luna basalt examples - and while they also share very similar bulk compositions, mineral compositions, textures, and age with NWA 032, the latter is not felt to belong to this group.

NWA 4734 consists of several pieces, two totaling 477 grams that were purchased by A. Habibi in October 2006, and several additional ones totaling 895 grams acquired by M. Oumama. Around that same time, an additional piece was sold to E. Thompson and sent for separate classification. Then in February 2016, a 350 gram piece now thought to be one of the original 895 gram group was purchased and given the name NWA 10597.

The piece shown in Photos 1 and 2 is from the first sets of recovered stones. Because it's thin and irregular, it doesn't provide a particularly good idea of the texture of this meteorite. Conversely the larger 35.9 gram, 50 x 44 x 13 mm piece in Photos 3 and 4 was cut from Thompson's stone and gives a better idea of the meteorite's characteristic (in Photo 4, one can also see where the classification piece was cut from the back side). It's fun to pass this one around when my wife and I give meteorite talks at the local schools - that way when the kids leave they can say they actually touched a piece of the moon!