Meteorite $93,000 at art auction
Meteorites Get High Prices at Art Sale NEW YORK, Apr. 12, 2006
(AP) A meteorite believed to have come from an asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter sold for $93,000 at an auction of rare space sculptures.The 355-pound chunk of iron, thousands of years old and discovered in the Campo del Cielo crater field in Argentina, was one of 10 meteorites that went for high prices at a Bonhams' New York natural history auction.
The pristine meteorite, known as "Valley of the Sky," was purchased Tuesday by a private collector in the United States who bid by phone and plans to display it as a work of art, said Thomas Lindgren, acting director of the natural history division for Bonhams auction house.
"This is art, not from man, but from outer space," Lindgren said. The auction house had expected it to sell for between $40,000 and $50,000.
"He was absolutely ecstatic," Lindgren said of the buyer. "There was no way he was going to walk away without it.
"The high bids reflect the soaring interest in meteorites not just for their scientific value but also their natural beauty. Lindgren said the bids for the space rocks come mainly from private art collectors and interior home designers.
"They have found their place in the art marketplace," Lindgren said.
(AP) A meteorite believed to have come from an asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter sold for $93,000 at an auction of rare space sculptures.The 355-pound chunk of iron, thousands of years old and discovered in the Campo del Cielo crater field in Argentina, was one of 10 meteorites that went for high prices at a Bonhams' New York natural history auction.
The pristine meteorite, known as "Valley of the Sky," was purchased Tuesday by a private collector in the United States who bid by phone and plans to display it as a work of art, said Thomas Lindgren, acting director of the natural history division for Bonhams auction house.
"This is art, not from man, but from outer space," Lindgren said. The auction house had expected it to sell for between $40,000 and $50,000.
"He was absolutely ecstatic," Lindgren said of the buyer. "There was no way he was going to walk away without it.
"The high bids reflect the soaring interest in meteorites not just for their scientific value but also their natural beauty. Lindgren said the bids for the space rocks come mainly from private art collectors and interior home designers.
"They have found their place in the art marketplace," Lindgren said.
posted by The Constant Skeptic at 9:30 PM
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