Washington- The largest piece of Mars ever found on Earth was sold for just over $ 5 million in an auction of rare geological and archaeological objects in New York On Wednesday, while the skeleton of a youth dinosaur was sold for more than $ 30 million.
The 54 -pound rock called NWA 16788 was discovered in the Sahara desert in Niger by a meteorit hunter in November 2023after being expelled from the surface of Mars for the impact of a massive asteroid and traveling 140 million miles to the earth, according to Sotheby’s. The estimated sale price before the auction was $ 2 million to $ 4 million.
The buyer’s identity was not revealed immediately. The final offer was $ 4.3 million. Adding several rates and costs, the official offer price was approximately $ 5.3 million.
Two early offers of $ 1.9 million and $ 2 million were presented. The live tender was slower than for many other objects that were sold, with the auctioneer trying to persuade more offers and decreasing the supply intervals from $ 200,000 to $ 300,000 to $ 100,000 after the proposals reached $ 4 million.
(Sarah Yenel)
The red, brown and gray meteorite is approximately 70% larger than the next largest piece of Mars found on Earth and represents almost 7% of all the Martian material currently on this planet, says Sotheby’s. It measures almost 375 millimeters for 279 millimeters for 15 inches for 11 inches for 6 inches.
It was also a weird finding. There are only 400 Martian meteors of the more than 77,000 meteorites officially recognized on Earth, says the auction house.
“This Martian meteor is the largest piece of Mars We have never found by far, “said Cassandra Hatton, vice president of Science and Natural History of Sotheby’s, in an interview before the auction.” So it is more than double the size of what we previously thought was the largest piece of Mars. “
It is not clear exactly when the meteorite was expelled from the surface of Mars, but the tests showed that it probably happened in recent years, says Sotheby’s.
Hatton said a specialized laboratory examined a small piece of the remnant of the red planet and confirmed that it was from Mars. It was compared to the chemical composition other than the Martian meteorites discovered during the viking space probe that landed on Mars in 1976, he said.
The examination found that it is an “Olivino-Microgabroic Shergotite”, a type of Martian rock formed from the slow cooling of the Martian magma. It has a thick grain texture and contains the pyroxen and olivine minerals, says Sotheby’s.
It also has a glassy surface, probably due to the high heat that burned when it fell through the atmosphere of the Earth, Hatton said. “So that was his first clue that this was not just a great rock on the ground,” he said.
The meteorite was previously on display at the Italian Space Agency in Rome. Sotheby’s did not reveal the owner.
The tender for the CeratoSurus Nasicornis Youth Dinosaur skeleton began with a high anticipated offer of $ 6 million, then increased with offers $ 500,000 higher than the previous one and then $ 1 million higher than the previous one before finishing at $ 26 million. The official sale price was $ 30.5 million with rates and costs. The original estimate was $ 4 million to $ 6 million.
Skeleton parts were found in 1996 near Laramie, Wyoming, in Bone Cabin Quarry, a gold mine for dinosaurs bones. It has more than 6 feet high and almost 11 feet long.
Specialists assembled almost 140 fossil bones with some sculpted materials to recreate the skeleton and mounted it to be ready to exhibit, says Sotheby’s.
It is believed that the skeleton is from the late Jurassic period, about 150 million years ago, says Sotheby’s.
Ceratourus dinosaurs were bipeds with short arms that seem similar to Tyrannosaurus rex, but smaller. Ceratourus dinosaurs could grow up to 25 feet long, while Tyrannosaurus Rex could have 40 feet long.
The skeleton was acquired last year by Fossilogic, a fossil preparation and assembly company based in Utah.
Wednesday’s auction was part of the Geek Week 2025 of Sotheby’s and had 122 articles, including other meteorites, fossils and gem quality minerals.