Top 10 rarest meteorites on Earth!

For years, many meteorites have crashed on Earth, but they weren’t always as valuable as they are in the present day. Until 1946 meteorites were only placed in museums and displayed in universities, however, when Harvey H. began selling these meteorites to the public, it attracted many people and hence, meteorite enthusiasts started collecting and selling these marvelous objects.

You would be surprised to find out how much people have paid to get their hands on pieces of meteorites. All meteorites are more expensive than gold, due to their rare occurrence, however, there are yet some who stand out from the rest and have a great monetary value. Here’s a list of the top 10 most expensive meteorites present on earth. 

Want to first know more about what meteorites are? Check out space.com’s What are Meteorites?

10. Table of Contents

    The Gibeon Meteorite 

The Gibeon Meteorite, a giant metallic meteorite, isn’t an ordinary meteorite. This rare meteorite is part of a group of meteorites discovered in Namibia, which is believed to have crashed on Earth in prehistoric times. It was found on the edge of the Kalahari desert in Southern Africa. This meteorite is one of its kind due to its uncanny resemblance to a famous painting ‘The Scream, by Edvard Munch. This rare meteorite has an estimated value of €280,000. 

9. The Main Mass of Zagami Meteorite

The Zagami Meteorite to date is the biggest single Martian meteorite ever discovered on the surface of Earth. This meteorite is considered to be crystallized around 175 million years ago from basaltic magma. Originally this meteorite weighed about 18 kgs before it was cut into parts. This meteorite almost killed a farmer in 1962, in Zagami, Nigeria, as it came crashing down.  A part of the mass of this meteorite was sold for a value of more than €278,000.

8. Dar al Gani 1058 Lunar Meteorite 

The Dar al Gani 1058 Lunar Meteorite is the only lunar meteorite that was ever made available at an auction and weighed about 1.81 kgs. This amazing meteorite was found in Libya in 1998. A Meteor’s collision with the moon ejects the moon’s surface’s material onto space. More than often this material can come crashing to the surface of Earth. The rocks of the moon have often been brought to Earth with the help of space missions, but this meteorite came to the Earth by itself without any artificial help. This meteorite has an estimated value of €281,000. 

7. The Chelyabinsk Meteorite

The Chelyabinsk meteorite is the only meteorite that had injured the majority of humans on impact. It is estimated that about 1500 people required medical assistance due to the meteorite. This meteorite exploded over the city of Chelyabinsk, Russia in 2013. This meteorite has an estimated value of €336,000. The backstory of a meteorite plays a very vital role in determining its value. Similarly, a human witness of the crash of the meteorite immediately raises its value. So following the circumstances of this meteorite the fragments of the Chelyabinsk meteorite have a higher value.

6. The Zagami Martian Meteorite

The Zagami Martian meteorite crashed on earth in 1962 in Nigeria. The largest piece of this meteorite was bought for sale in the year 2006. Even before the meteorite was sold, planetariums all over the globe were requesting the collectors to give them the meteorite on loan for display. This meteorite has an estimated value of €383,000.

5. The Springwater Meteorite 

The Springwater meteorite weighs about 117 pounds and was found in Canada on a farm in Saskatchewan in the year 1931. It has the mineral olivine present in it in large amounts and is estimated to be around 4.5 billion years old. When the springwater meteorite is sliced and polished we can see olivine crystals very clearly and they are very beautiful to look at. This is one of the reasons why collectors are attracted to this meteorite. This meteorite was purchased by the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto for €511,000.

4. The Conception Junction Meteorite

The Conception Junction Meteorite is believed to be part of an asteroid whose orbit was once between the planets Mars and Jupiter.  This particular meteoroid was discovered in Conception Junction, Missouri by a farmer in the year 2006. It was identified as a pallasite, with olivine crystal, by the University of St. Louis. This meteorite has an estimated value of €724,000. 

3. The Willamette Meteorite

The Willamette Meteorite is considered to be one of the largest meteorites ever encountered by humans, on the surface of Earth. This meteorite was discovered in 1902. On discovery, it weighed more than 16 tonnes. It was offered for sale in October of 2007 in New York and was donated by the American Museum of Natural History. This meteorite has an estimated value of €851,000.

2. Brenham Meteorite 

The Main Mass of the Brenham meteorite was discovered in 2005, Kansas, and is shaped like a shield. This meteorite is an ‘iron-lace’ pallasite meteorite. It weighs around half a tonne and is valued at €896,000.

1. The Fukang Meteorite

The Fukang Meteorite, a pallasite meteorite, is one of the rarest and most meteorites. It is made of nickel-iron laced with olivine crystals which contributes to its beauty.  The Fukang Meteorite is believed to be 4.5 billion years old, which means that it is either older or the same age as Earth. It was discovered in 2000 and is one of the most expensive meteorites found on Earth. It has been named after the place where it was first found.  At the same time, it’s considered to be one of the most beautiful meteorites humans have ever come across. This meteorite is valued at €1.7 million.

The benefit of owning a meteorite is owning a piece of the universe that can never be found on our planet and might be the oldest thing to have ever existed in the universe. 

Enjoyed reading this? Consider checking out The Life of Charles Messier and 6 amazing Messier objects