An extraordinary auction occurred last week at Sotheby’s in New York. For their efforts, they sold the largest piece of Mars ever found on Earth for an astounding $4.3 million (£3.2 million). Scientists found this incredible monumental Martian meteorite in mid-November 2023. It comes from a distant region of what is today Niger and represents a remarkable scientific and historical treasure.
The meteorite is remarkable beyond its visceral awe of size alone. It’s super uncommon in that it’s one of just around 400 known Martian meteorites found on Earth. This specimen is an incredible 70% bigger than the next largest piece of Mars that has been returned. Its monumental importance is hard to overstate.
Among those items—more than 100 in total—this Martian meteorite became the centerpiece item for collectors and space enthusiasts during the auction’s live auction segment. And once you added in taxes and fees, the final sales price jumped up to about $5.3 million. Feted as a milestone event, this sold both space nerds and auctioneers on the concept.
Cassandra Hatton, vice-chairman of science and natural history at Sotheby’s, said that this meteorite was special in that context.
“This is the largest piece of Mars on planet Earth. The odds of this getting from there to here are astronomically small.” – Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby’s
The Martian meteorite topped the auction along with many other incredible pieces. One Ceratosaurus skeleton from the late Jurassic period sold for an astonishing $26 million, while a Pachycephalosaurus skull sold for $1.4 million. These recent high-profile sales serve as a reminder to the amazing and sometimes troubling ongoing collector interest in paleontological and extraterrestrial artifacts.
The auction shines a big light on the rich intersection of science and commerce. Here, shards of our universe’s history garner far more awe and funding. Not surprisingly, enthusiasm for Martian meteorites is at an all-time high. This recent auction has set a new standard for other-worldly memorabilia.