If you’re looking for an out-of-this-world gift on Valentine’s Day, auction house offers rare meteorite pieces from moon, Mars and beyond – for as little as $ 250.
In an online sale starting Tuesday, Feb. 9, Christie’s auction house sells 72 meteorites – solid pieces of debris from square objects like comets and asteroids that reach Earth as hunting stars, somehow manages to survive through their journey through our atmosphere to lie on the surface.
“Each known meteorite weighs less than the world’s annual gold product, and this sale offers amazing examples for every collector, available at estimates ranging from hundreds to hundreds of thousands of dollars,” wrote the auction house on his website.
The collection includes a meteorite containing 7 billion year old stardust, iron-covered space jewelry and the fourth largest chip of the moon. A large part of Martian Rock, valued at about $ 30,000 to $ 50,000, holding bubbles of the planet’s atmosphere locked inside.
Christie’s
According to Christie’s, there are a dozen samples from the moon and Mars, and a dozen other former world-famous museums.
“Everyone has an image of what a meteorite should look like – an outer body sensitively heated as it punctuates through the Earth’s atmosphere,” said James Hyslop. , Christie ‘s head of science and natural history, in a statement. “Things rarely survive this fiery descent as that kind of shared thinking seen in this meteorite. It is amazing to see and honored to have sold a trust. “
Nothing in the collection has ever hit the ground – a young boy in Morocco found the meteorite in the branches of a tree a day after fras meteor – worth around $ 15,000 to $ 25,000. Another came in from the largest U.S. meteorite shower in Odessa, Texas, expected to fetch $ 40,000 to $ 60,000.
“If ever there was time to be overwhelmed by the instability of the night sky, we live in it, but if you want to stimulate eyes and see it expand – a touch of a meteorite,” said warden Darryl Pitt.
Christie’s
The auction house said one of the best selling items was a “stone meteorite with a very elegant weight,” which is estimated to sell for $ 50,000 to $ 80,000.
“Unlike 99% of the other meteorites, this meteorite did not sink or collide as it fell to Earth but maintained steady direction throughout its descendants,” the auction house said. . “The surface that was facing the Earth shows long flight signals that emanate in this strong, external aerodynamic form.”
The meteorites have been found all over the world, from the Sahara desert to Chile to Russia.
The “Deep Impact: Martian, Lunar and Other Rare Meteorites” auction runs until February 23, and interested buyers in New York can see them in person, by order.