Rare Meteorite For Sale: Elmshorn's 3.7kg Space Rock Sparks International Interest

2024-01-22 14:40:53

A homeowner in Elmshorn shows one of the meteorites that landed in the town. The largest of the stones is now about to be sold.

Daniel Bockwoldt/dpa

In April, a meteorite landed in the Sahin family’s garden in Elmshorn (D). Now father Mahmut is said to be close to concluding negotiations for the sale. The meteorite brings a tidy sum.

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Several meteorites rained down on the German town of Elmshorn. The largest ended up in a family’s garden.
It weighs 3.7 kilograms and is 4.5 billion years old – and is worth a lot.
According to father Mahmut Sahin, the stone is now about to be sold. It is said to be worth around 200,000 euros.

On April 25, the Sahin family received a gift from heaven in Elmshorn, a town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. During a rare meteor shower over the town, a 3.7 kilogram rock from space landed in her garden.

This is not only interesting for scientists, but also for collectors, as father Mahmut reveals to “Bild”. «When we became aware of the meteorite impact, I received various offers for the stone. Even a dealer from India contacted me. Then it should be auctioned in Qatar. Once we even had interested parties from America come to our door.”

But it was important to the family that the meteorite remained in their home country of Germany: “If we hadn’t gotten an offer from Germany, we would have kept it.” Fortunately, that was the case: “We are in concrete negotiations that are about to be concluded.”

Largest meteorite ever to fall in Schleswig-Holstein

The 46-year-old does not want to reveal exactly how much the Sahin family receives for the valuable meteorite. According to the newspaper, the offer is close to 200,000 euros.

At 3.7 kilograms, the stone is the largest meteorite ever to fall in Schleswig-Holstein, as expert Carsten Jonas from the “Meteor Working Group” reveals to “Bild”: “In 1962, one hit a roof in Kiel and weighed about a kilo . In 2019 we had an impact, but it only weighed 28 grams. The Elmshorn meteorite comes from an asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. He has traveled several million kilometers.”

Before the Sahin family put the meteorite up for sale, they made parts of it available for research. It was also exhibited at a trade fair in Munich. It is currently lying in a bank safe deposit box – ready for a new owner.