Christie’s is holding an online meteor auction from November 11-25 featuring lunar, martian and asteroidial meteorites.
The current lowest bid is US$750 for a slice of meteorite NWA 7502 that contains dust of the early solar system. The highest bid is US$14,000 for a complete slice of the imalic meteorite, “considered to be the most beautiful of all meteorite varieties.”
Here are some our favourites. See all the meteorites at Christie’s auction page:
Discovered in the Atacama Desert, Chile, 1822; modern cutting. “Imilac is a member of the pallasite group of meteorites, widely considered to be the most beautiful of all meteorite varieties.”
Discovered in Namaland, Namibia, 1836. “Gibeon is a spectacular iron meteorite from Namibia. Although familiar to the natives, who had hammered parts of it into metal weapons, the Gibeon meteorite was not known to westerners until about 1836.”
From Gibeon, Great Nama Land, Namibia. “[This] Gibeon meteorite features a naturally formed hole as a result of terrestrialization, or exposure to the elements. It is rare for meteorites to exhibit such holes, and rarer still when the hole is positioned in the matrix in such a way as to yield an aesthetic specimen.”
Discovered in Russia, 1967; modern cutting. “Seymchan is an unusual and remarkable pallasite; large portions of the rock are olivine free.”
Comments
Rayban
Seymchan . Interesting WIL. formation on the left upper edge . First I have ever seen with Olivine and Wilh. in the same stone .