posted 07-02-2025 12:31 PM               

Sotheby's To Offer the Largest Piece of Mars on Earth

Discovered in 2023, 'NWA 16788' Is the Most Valuable Meteorite Ever Found

To be Sold on 16 July at Sotheby's New York

Estimated at $2-4 million

Later this month, Sotheby's will offer meteorite NWA 16788, the largest known piece of Mars on Earth. Weighing an extraordinary 54 pounds (24.67 kg), this monumental specimen is estimated to fetch between $2 to $4 million when it is offered during Sotheby's Natural History sale in New York, making it the most valuable meteorite ever offered at auction.

Discovered on 16 November 2023 by a meteorite hunter in Niger's remote Agadez region, NWA 16788 is approximately 70% larger than any other Martian fragment known today. Featuring an unmistakable Martian red hue, NWA 16788's internal composition suggests it was blasted from the surface of the Red Planet by a powerful asteroid impact — an event so intense that it turned some of the meteorite's minerals into glass. Areas of glassy fusion crust also appear on the meteorite's surface, evidence of its rapid and violent descent through Earth's atmosphere to its eventual landing place in the Sahara Desert.

Meteorites like NWA 16788 offer humanity a tangible glimpse into the elusive geology of Mars. They deliver invaluable scientific data that has significantly advanced our understanding of the planet's composition and history. Far more elusive than diamonds, meteorites are very rarely found, with North America seeing an average of only about 15 discoveries per year, mostly in arid regions where even experienced hunters can go years without success. Pieces of Mars are unbelievably rare: of the more than 77,000 officially recognized meteorites, only 400 are Martian meteorites, and many consist of only a few scarce fragments.

Widely publicized within the international scientific community and validated as a Martian meteorite by The Meteoritical Society, NWA 16788 was included in the 113th edition of the Meteoritical Bulletin, the global journal of record for meteoritical science.

Prior to landing at Sotheby's, the meteorite has also been exhibited publicly, including at the Italian Space Agency in Rome during the 2024 European Researchers' Night and at a private gallery in Arezzo, Tuscany. It will be sold during a live auction on the 16th of July at Sotheby's New York.