Space rocks bring in big money at auction

NEW YORK — A meteorite believed to have come from an asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter sold for $93,000 Tuesday at an auction of rare space "sculptures."

The 355-pound chunk of iron, discovered in the Campo del Cielo crater field in Argentina, was one of 10 meteorites that went for high prices at a Bonhams auction.

The meteorite, known as Valley of the Sky, was purchased 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.

"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 for their natural beauty. Lindgren said the bids come mainly from private art collectors and interior designers.

"They have found their place in the art marketplace," Lindgren said.

The meteorites came from the Macovich Collection, considered the finest collection of aesthetic meteorites in the world. Most sold above their estimated pre-auction value.

The second-highest price for a meteorite was for one with naturally occurring, glittering gemstones. It sold for $11,950.

One of the auction's featured items was a tiny slice from the Willamette meteorite. The piece sold for $12,000.

The Willamette is North America's largest meteorite, deposited by the last ice age and discovered in Oregon in 1902. The entire 15.5-ton Willamette was purchased in 1905 by Mrs. William E. Dodge for $26,000 and donated to the American Museum of Natural History in New York.