On 16 July 2025, at Sotheby’s in New York, the Martian meteorite NWA 16788 sold for 4.3 million dollars, or about 5.3 million with the buyer’s premium. It is the highest price ever paid for a meteorite at auction. The stone, weighing about 24.7 kilograms, is the largest known fragment of Mars on Earth.
How a stone from Mars reached the Sahara
The meteorite was found by a meteorite hunter in the Niger part of the Sahara in 2023. Millions of years ago, a large asteroid struck the surface of Mars with such force that it hurled debris beyond the planet’s gravity. Some of it, after travelling about 225 million kilometres, fell to Earth. The desert is the best place for such finds: a dark stone stands out clearly against pale sand, and the dry climate protects it from weathering.
How we know it comes from Mars
Only a few hundred Martian meteorites are known. They are identified by their chemical composition and above all by the gases trapped in the glass inside the stone: the isotope ratios match the composition of the Martian atmosphere measured in 1976 by the Viking landers. It is one of the most convincing “provenance passports” in all of geology.
A meteorite as a gift
Record-breaking Martian specimens are a museum-level rarity, but the world of meteorites begins much closer. A framed lunar meteorite is a fragment of another celestial body that can hang on a wall. A slice of the Seymchan pallasite glows with olivine crystals when held to the light and resembles no earthly stone. A fragment of the Chelyabinsk meteorite recalls a fall witnessed by millions of people.
A meteorite makes a fine gift because it explains itself: an extraterrestrial origin and an age in billions of years need no further words. For a desk, a slice on a stand or a specimen in a case is ideal; for a living room, a framed plate lit from behind. Every RELICTUM meteorite comes with a provenance passport.