NANTAN METEORITE — COLOSSAL ¾ TON IRON METEORITE
Medium Octahedrite
Alsace, France

The magnificent, oversized meteorite offered here was found in the Hechi Prefecture in Guangxi Province near the southernmost part of China. This is among the finest Nantan meteorites recovered and among the largest meteorites available. Enormous meteorites like the example seen here have become exceedingly difficult to acquire. The supply was never plentiful—perhaps fifteen meteorites in excess of 1500 pounds have been recovered in the past twenty years—and every one of those meteorites are in museums, private collections or have been subdivided. With the advent of the surge in the popularity of meteorites, the supply of large meteorites has been exhausted. The fate of most large Nantans is lamentable. Most have been immersed in liquid nitrogen to render the metal brittle before an explosive charge would shatter the meteorite along its crystalline planes. The resulting fragments have then been misleadingly sold as “complete meteorites.”

The only explosion this meteorite experienced is part of its ancient extraterrestrial history. Like all iron meteorites, this meteorite originated from the molten iron core of a planet, between Mars and Jupiter, which broke apart during the formation of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago and whose remnants are referred to as the asteroid belt. What were to become Nantan meteorites were nudged from the asteroid belt into an Earth-intersecting orbit. Worthy of any natural history museum—and most do not have a Nantan (or any meteorite) as large as this awe-inspiring example. Covered in a silvery bronze to black patina, this mass contains patches of fusion crust and accents of bright oxidation. In addition to its Macovich Collection provenance, this world-class specimen is accompanied by a custom armature created by Bill Stender, designer of display systems for clients ranging from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City to the Bellagio Casino in Las Vegas. An extremely noteworthy offering of a monumental meteorite. 721 kilograms (1588 pounds).

Estimate: $85,000 - 115,000