In Soviet times, many children collected postage stamps, and in the early 2000s they collected gum inserts. These times have passed, so people's hobbies have become more serious - it's hard to verify, but at the moment there are more than 40 thousand meteorite collectors in the world. The high interest in meteorites is associated with their extraterrestrial origin, because who would not want to have with them a beautiful pebble that flew from space? Prices for meteorites can reach several million dollars, so some people search for them to sell. And there are a lot of people who want to buy them: collectors, scientists, heads of museums and jewelry manufacturers. And now, the most interesting thing is that you can find a meteorite anywhere in the world, even in the yard. But where and how is it easiest to find, recognize and sell them? In fact,the path of meteorite seekers is full of dangers.
Where to find meteorites?
According to scientists, about 2 thousand tons of meteorites fall on the surface of our planet every year. Most of them drown in the oceans and disappear in the mountains, so that searchers for space objects have to search in open and accessible areas. Usually, the facts of meteorite falls are quickly recorded by scientists - employees of the Institute of the Moon and Planets (Texas) even created a register of all meteorites that fell on our planet. Hunters for space stones are always aware of the approximate places of their fall and promptly go in search.
Experienced meteorite seekers prefer to search in rocky areas of deserts or other areas with a light surface - against the background of such land, black pebbles are most noticeable. Often, meteorite hunters go to Egypt, Morocco, Iran and other warm countries. Space objects can be found on the territory of Nigeria, but seekers do not dare to enter there - there is a very high crime rate. In theory, meteorites are easy to find in snow-covered Antarctica, but ordinary collectors cannot get there.
It is useless to search for meteorites in sandy regions of deserts, forests and fields. The fact is that wind and sand can grind the surface of a space object for thousands of years and it can simply disappear. Of course, this rule does not apply to recently fallen meteorites - they will not disappear anywhere in a short time. Although, when it comes to swampy areas, even a recently fallen stone can go underground in a few minutes. Try to find it.
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The largest meteorite is called Goba. This 66-ton iron meteorite lies in Africa - it fell to our planet about 80 thousand years ago.
In their work, meteorite seekers actively use various equipment. The simplest tool is a staff with a magnet at the end. Since most meteorites necessarily contain iron, such an instrument attracts 97% of valuable stones. Before leaving in search of meteorites, the seekers carefully select comfortable shoes, comfortable clothes and take food and water with them - the search may well drag on for several days. A meteorite can be recognized by the presence of a black crust, traces of melting, metal particles and an unusual pattern on the cut. Experienced collectors assure that they can determine the location of the museum meteorite by eye and even determine its name.
Meteorite price
The cost of a meteorite directly depends on its size, appearance, age and variety. Larger stones are more valuable because they can be split into pieces and made into jewelry. Some stones have an unusual shape, while others are interspersed with crystals of beautiful minerals - such objects are valued more than those that look like ordinary stones. The price of a meteorite is also influenced by its age, therefore, the fresher the stone, the more expensive it is than objects several thousand years old.
Meteorites fall to the Earth constantly - recently one "fresh" meteorite was discovered in the Indian city of Sanchor.
But the decisive role in the formation of the price of a meteorite is played by its variety. Meteorites are divided into three classes, which differ from each other in composition.
Types of meteorites:
- stone - make up 90% of all space objects that have fallen on our planet. They are inexpensive, but there are metal minerals inside them, the price can increase significantly;
- iron - make up 6-7% of all objects that fell to the Earth. They are rare, beautiful and of great interest to collectors;
- iron - stone - the share of which is about 1.5%. Due to their rarity, they are also in great demand among collectors and are highly valued.
Meteorites are sold by weight. The cost of a gram of a stone meteorite can even be 10 rubles. But particles of iron meteorites can cost several thousand dollars. Sometimes, fragments of the surface of the Moon and Mars fall on our planet, which are formed after other meteorites fall on them - the surfaces of other planets scatter through space and sometimes reach us. A gram of Martian soil can be $ 1,000 or more.
Most expensive meteorite
One of the most expensive meteorites in the world is Fukang, which was found in China in 2000. Its high cost is due to its external beauty - it is literally strewn with particles of the olivine mineral. At the time of discovery, the space stone weighed 419.57 kilograms and was estimated at $ 2 million. There were no people willing to buy the whole meteorite, so they sawed it up and started selling it in parts. Most of the parts of the meteorite have been made into jewelry, and one fragment weighing 31 kilograms is kept in the Museum of Natural History (USA).
Fukan meteorite shard - the most expensive and beautiful meteorite in the world.
In Russia, many people made good money on the fragments of the Chelyabinsk meteorite. It fell on February 15, 2013 and knocked out the windows of many houses with its blast wave. Cuts from broken glass affected 1,612 people, some of whom also complained of hearing problems. The largest piece of the Chelyabinsk meteorite fell into Lake Chebarkul, and while it flew 60 kilometers, its fragments scattered within a radius of 30 kilometers. Meteorite finder Alexei Vinogradov, 10 days after the incident, was able to find about 3 kilograms of meteorite fragments - after selling them, he was able to buy an SUV and a snowmobile. It turns out that searching for meteorites can be a lot of money.
In the photo - Alexey Vinogradov.
Where to buy a meteorite?
Meteorites are sold both in pure form and in the form of various decorations. In the United States, rare meteorites are actively auctioned by Christie's - in 2018, a 30-kilogram fragment of a meteorite that fell on our planet about 50 thousand years ago was exhibited there. Yes, this is far from a "fresh" stone, but its shape resembles a sculpture by British artist Henry Moore - the high cost was due precisely to the unusual type of stone. The stone was sold for a record 237.5 thousand dollars.
In the photo - one of the sculptures by Henry Moore.
In Russia, you can buy a meteorite in special stores, where they are sold both in pure form and in the form of jewelry. The price of space stones is very different and can be either 500 rubles or several thousand dollars - it all depends on the type, age and size. Also, a bunch of advertisements for the sale of meteorites can be found on sites like Avito and special groups on social networks, but there is a great risk of running into a fake.
You can buy a meteorite on Avito right now.
A real meteorite or not?
Some meteorite sellers put up ordinary stones for sale, and sometimes they themselves are not even aware of it. The authenticity of a meteorite can only be verified in laboratory conditions, but this procedure costs a lot of money. Sometimes sellers are so confident in authenticity that they ask buyers to pay for the verification themselves - they say, if the meteorite turns out to be an ordinary stone, they will return the money to them. Sometimes it works, the meteorites really turn out to be real and receive a confirmation certificate.
Minerals unknown to science are sometimes found inside meteorites.
You can check the authenticity of the meteorite free of charge by sending it by post to the Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In the letter it is necessary to write exactly where the object was found, whether the moment of the fall was noticed and what properties it possesses. Researchers will inform about the result and, if the authenticity of the meteorite is confirmed, they will offer to issue a certificate for it. In return, they ask for at least 20% of the total volume of the sample found. It seems that all this is quite fair.
Smuggling meteorites
If you buy a meteorite in another country or find it and keep it, you can pick up problems. The fact is that in some states the discovered meteorites are considered a national treasure and can only be stored in museums. If you find a meteorite in Australia and don't tell the authorities about it, you can go to jail for as much as 5 years. In India, the rules are not so strict, but if a meteorite is found in someone's home, the state will simply take it for itself and pay nothing. In Denmark or Switzerland, meteorites are also taken away, but at least reimbursing their cost is no longer so offensive.
Some meteorite seekers tell how they came to the place of the meteorite fall and walked through the territory of local residents. In retaliation, they punctured their tires.
In the UK and Canada, the storage and sale of meteorites is allowed, but they cannot be taken out of the country. In the United States, the sale of space objects is most developed, therefore, when buying a meteorite at an auction, a person receives permission to export it to other countries. It is better not to try to smuggle a meteorite through customs without a permitting document - even a small pebble can cause big problems.
In Russia, there are no special restrictions on the storage and sale of meteorites. But it is always worth remembering that the found space objects are considered cultural values and permission is still required for export to another country. In some cases, the sellers themselves help with the preparation of such a document - of course, if they are professionals in their field.
