A few examples of appraisal values for
METEORITES FROM MARS
Search our price guide for your own treasures
- DHOFAR 019 – AN EXCEPTIONAL COMPLETE
DHOFAR 019 – AN EXCEPTIONAL COMPLETE SLICE OF A METEORITE FROM THE PLANET MARS Dhofar Region, Oman SNC - Mars Infinitely more rare than diamonds or gold, meteorites from Mars are also among the most exotic substances on Earth. This is a choice complete slice from one such example. The determination of Martian origin was the result of research conducted by hundreds of scientists throughout the world. In addition to dozens of arcane markers that suggest a Martian origin, these unique meteorites share the following fundamental characteristics: they exhibit an unusually young crystalline age (so they can't be from Earth); they contain water-bearing minerals (so they can't be from the asteroid belt - the place of origin of 99.9% of all meteorites); there is evidence of a planetary sized gravitational field on their crystalline structure (which then makes the most likely candidates of origin our two closest neighbors—Venus and Mars). The link to Mars was speculative until an analysis of the gas trapped in the vesicles of two suspected Martian meteorites matched the unique atmospheric signature of the Red Planet. Similar to the previous lot, this piece of Mars was blasted into space when a large asteroid slammed into the Martian surface. Several million years later, this chunk of Mars occupied an Earth—intercept orbit and descended on what is now Oman. This is an exceptional specimen of this meteorite. Dhofar 019, which has been authenticated by scientists of the Meteoritical Society—the foremost organization of meteorite researchers in the world—is a Martian basalt, which is to say that it's a type of lava comprised of olivine, pyroxine and feldspar that changed into the glass maskelynite—which requires a cataclysmic impact to form—an event which is consistent with explaining its delivery mechanism to Earth. With a Macovich Collection of Meteorites provenance, this is a superb specimen of Mars. 61 x 87 x 1mm (2.5 x 3.5 x 0.04 inches) and 14.664 grams.
- A SUPERB SLICE OF A MARTIAN METEORITE
DAG
A SUPERB SLICE OF A MARTIAN METEORITE
DAG 476 - Basaltic Shergottite
Sahara Desert " Libya
Discovered: May 1, 1998
The Max Plank Institute in Germany made absolute, incontrovertible scientific determination of the origin of this meteorite in 1999. There are only a handful of known meteorites from Mars in all the world, and based on the total known weight, Mars meteorites are thousands of times rarer than the rarest gemstones. The only possible explanation for their existence here on earth is a huge asteroid impact on the surface of Mars, so big that the chunks of the surface rock blasted out of the impact area, reached escape velocity and left the orbit of Mars. After millions of years adrift in space, some of these space travelers were captured in the earth's gravitational field and plummeted to our planets surface as meteorites. A shergottite is a cooled volcanic magma called basalt, proving the existence of volcanism on Mars in the past. The present specimen is a gorgeous jade-green thin slice exhibiting a highly polished surface and measuring 44mm X 44mm X 1.5 mm thick and weighing 7.7 grams.
...many more examples with full details are available to our members - Learn more