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.

posted 07-16-2025 05:52 PM               

Largest Piece of Mars on Earth Sells for $5.3M

Becomes Most Valuable Meteorite Ever Sold at Auction * Sold Following a 15-Minute Bidding Battle

This morning at Sotheby's New York, a natural wonder achieved an out-of-this-world result.

The largest piece of Mars on Earth, the NWA 16788, sold for $5.3M, instantly setting a new world record as the most valuable meteorite ever sold at auction. Weighing 54 pounds, NWA 16788 is 70% larger than any other known Martian meteorite on Earth.

Admired by thousands of visitors during Sotheby's pre-sale exhibition this week, the specimen ignited fierce competition between bidders online and on the phone, in a dramatic 15-minute bidding battle that ended in applause.

posted 08-09-2025 11:11 PM               

...some people started asking questions about how it ended up under the auctioneer's hammer.

Not least the government of Niger itself, which, in a statement, "expressed doubts about the legality of its export, raising concerns about possible illicit international trafficking".

Sotheby's strongly disputes this, saying the correct procedures were followed, but Niger has now launched an investigation into the circumstances of the discovery and sale of the meteorite...

"International law says you cannot simply take something that is important to the heritage of a country - be it a cultural item, a physical item, a natural item, an extraterrestrial item - out of the country. You know we've moved on from colonial times when all this was okay," Prof. Paul Sereno [founder of Niger Heritage] says.

A series of global agreements, including under the UN's cultural organisation Unesco, have tried to regulate the trade in these objects. But, according to a 2019 study by international law expert Max Gounelle, when it comes to meteorites, while they could be included, there remains some ambiguity about whether they are covered by these agreements. It is left to individual states to clarify the position.

Niger passed its own law in 1997 aimed at protecting its heritage.

Prof Sereno points to one section with a detailed list of all the categories included. "Mineralogical specimens" are mentioned among the art works, architecture and archaeological finds but meteorites are not specifically named.

In its statement on the Sotheby's sale, Niger admitted that it "does not yet have specific legislation on meteorites" - a line that the auction house also pointed out. But it remains unclear how someone was able to get such a heavy, conspicuous artefact out of the country without the authorities apparently noticing.