Largest Piece of Mars On Earth Fetches $5.3 Million At Auction (apnews.com) 10
At Sotheby's Geek Week auction, the largest known Martian meteorite on Earth sold for a record-breaking $5.3 million. The Associated Press reports: The 54-pound (25-kilogram) rock named NWA 16788 was discovered in the Sahara Desert in Niger by a meteorite hunter in November 2023, after having been blown off the surface of Mars by a massive asteroid strike and traveling 140 million miles (225 million kilometers) to Earth, according to Sotheby's. The estimated sale price before the auction was $2 million to $4 million. The identity of the buyer was not immediately disclosed. The final bid was $4.3 million. Adding various fees and costs, the official sale price was about $5.3 million, making it the most valuable meteorite ever sold at auction, Sotheby's said.
The live bidding was slow, with the auctioneer trying to coax more offers and decreasing the minimum bid increases. [...] The bidding for the Mars meteorite began with two advance offers of $1.9 million and $2 million. The live bidding slowly proceeded with increases of $200,000 and $300,000 until $4 million, then continued with $100,000 increases until reaching $4.3 million. The red, brown and gray meteorite is about 70% larger than the next largest piece of Mars found on Earth and represents nearly 7% of all the Martian material currently on this planet, Sotheby's says. It measures nearly 15 inches by 11 inches by 6 inches (375 millimeters by 279 millimeters by 152 millimeters). It was also a rare find. There are only 400 Martian meteorites out of the more than 77,000 officially recognized meteorites found on Earth, the auction house says.
The live bidding was slow, with the auctioneer trying to coax more offers and decreasing the minimum bid increases. [...] The bidding for the Mars meteorite began with two advance offers of $1.9 million and $2 million. The live bidding slowly proceeded with increases of $200,000 and $300,000 until $4 million, then continued with $100,000 increases until reaching $4.3 million. The red, brown and gray meteorite is about 70% larger than the next largest piece of Mars found on Earth and represents nearly 7% of all the Martian material currently on this planet, Sotheby's says. It measures nearly 15 inches by 11 inches by 6 inches (375 millimeters by 279 millimeters by 152 millimeters). It was also a rare find. There are only 400 Martian meteorites out of the more than 77,000 officially recognized meteorites found on Earth, the auction house says.
So, is this better than Tulips ? As an investment (Score:2)
So, is this better than Tulips ? As an investment i mean.
Re: (Score:1)
It's a status symbol for the rich and spoiled, investment value means shit to them.
Largest possible piece of Mars (Score:3)
Re:Largest possible piece of Mars (Score:4, Informative)
There's a lot of debate over whether so-called SNC meteorites (shergotites, naktites, and ... the other one) are from Mars or not. It's sort of assumed that they probably come from Mars, although others disagree.
Wikipedia: [wikipedia.org]
There are three groups of Martian meteorite: shergottites, nakhlites and chassignites, collectively known as SNC meteorites. Several other Martian meteorites are ungrouped. These meteorites are interpreted as Martian because they have elemental and isotopic compositions that are similar to rocks and atmospheric gases on Mars, which have been measured by orbiting spacecraft, surface landers and rovers.
Reminds me of gold (Score:3)
This reminds me of the people who are impressed that there are (potentially) asteroids made of gold, and how much that would be worth.
Well, here you are, proof that Mars is worth about twice as much as gold! Just build a railgun on Mars and keep shooting rocks down to earth! We'll all be billionaires!
Rock named NWA. (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Niger With Altitude, a hard-rock band.
Old story already (Score:2)
Well done slashdot, as always, days behind all other tech/science sites.
gosh thats expensive (Score:1)
What about Mars itself? (Score:2)
Isn't that the largest piece of Mars? Somebody should try to sell that. Maybe use NFTs. It could be a land grab before Elon arrives.