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2w ago

Largest Martian Meteorite Fetches Record $5.3 Million at Sotheby’s Auction

Authenticated through lab analysis against NASA’s Viking data, the 54-pound specimen illustrates surging market value for extraterrestrial collectibles.

The meteorite NWA 16788, the largest known piece of Mars on Earth, is displayed during the press preview of Sotheby’s Natural History auction in New York City, U.S., July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
A Martian meteorite, weighing 54.388 lbs. (24.67 kg), said to be the largest piece of Mars on Earth, estimated at $2 - 4 million, is displayed at Sotheby's, in New York, Wednesday, July 9, 2025, part of their Geek Week auction, July 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
The identity of the rock collector has not been revealed.
At Sotheby’s Geek Week 2025, a 150-million-year-old Ceratosaurus stole the show among 122 rare items.

Overview

  • It hammered at $4.3 million after a 15-minute bidding war, with fees bringing the total to $5.3 million and setting a new auction record for a meteorite.
  • Discovered by a meteorite hunter in Niger’s Agadez region in November 2023, the rock journeyed about 140 million miles after being blasted from Mars by an ancient asteroid impact.
  • Specialized laboratory tests matched its chemical fingerprint to samples from NASA’s 1976 Viking mission, leading to its classification as an olivine-microgabbroic shergottite containing maskelynite, pyroxene and olivine.
  • Accounting for nearly 7 percent of all known Martian material on Earth, the 54-pound NWA 16788 highlights the rarity of Red Planet fragments among more than 77,000 meteorites.
  • With the buyer’s identity and the meteorite’s future location undisclosed, the sale reignites debate over private ownership versus public scientific access to extraterrestrial specimens.