An upcoming Christie’s auction has collectors starry-eyed: Deep Impact, featuring 65 of the rarest meteorites to ever hit Earth runs until February 23—and prices are expected to be astronomical. The only non-meteorite, the Aguas Zarcas Doghouse, which was struck by Carbonaceous chondrite rock in April 2019 (and just barely missed hitting its resident, a German shepherd named Roky) has a pre-sale estimate of $200,000 to $300,000.
Meteorites and other extraterrestrial objects have always attracted the attentions of Earthly stars—Elon Musk, Steven Spielberg and Nicolas Cage are reportedly collectors—but now a growing number of crypto investors are entering the market.
“Last year, a lot of people were cashing out of crypto and going into meteorites,” says Christie’s specialist James Hyslop, head of the Scientific Instruments, Globes & Natural History department. A February 2021 Deep Impact sale became the most successful meteorite auction ever, according to Christie’s, with all lots selling—and 72 out of 75 going for above their high estimate.
“These really appeal to anyone who has looked up to the night sky in awe,” he adds. “There are museums buying, there are collectors, but we also have clients that are bidding in antiquity sales, post-modern art…The fascination of these objects really is universal.”
With many lots listed with no reserve, meteorite auctions typically draw a much younger, more international crowd than an average Christie’s sale. There is also a more even gender balance. According to the auction house, 73 percent of last year’s bidders were first-timers.
Part of the rocks’ appeal is in their rarity. “If you took all the meteorites on earth and put them on a scale, it would weigh less than the annual output of gold,” said Hyslop. Once sold, they’re often kept private: Of the 64,000 meteorites in the world’s collections, it’s estimated about two-thirds will never be available to the general public.
Values are calculated from previous sales, as well as a meteorite’s size, shape, scientific makeup and story, says Hyslop. And while stunning specimens such as Lot 62, a Gibeon meteorite, which he likens to a Henry Moore sculpture, are likely to draw the eyes of museums and private investors alike, it’s the doghouse that’s drawing much of the attention in next week’s sale.
While the current bid is well below the $300,000 estimate—it’s at a down-to-earth $1,600—the price is expected to soar. The actual meteorite that struck Roky’s home is also up for auction. It has a pre-sale estimate of $40,000 to $60,000 and the current bid is $2,200.
Star-crossed items such as this are rare, which makes them lucrative: A mailbox from Claxton, Georgia, sold for $83,000 in 2007 thanks to the meteoric damage it sustained in 1984. And a 1980 Chevy Malibu with a crater in its trunk from the 4.4 billion-year-old, 26-pound meteorite that smashed into it in 1992 turned into quite the investment: The owner sold the car, originally purchased from her grandmother for around $400, for $69,000 after the collision—and in 2010 it went for $230,000.
“Despite our huge imprint on the planet, manmade structures are a pretty small target for a meteorite falling from space,” says Hyslop. “There are only a handful of objects impacted by these falling rocks that are available to collectors.”
By Isabel Lord, Forbes Staff