Largest Martian Meteorite on Earth Sells for $5.3 Million at Sotheby’s Auction

A rare Martian meteorite weighing 54 pounds (24.67 kilograms) was sold for about $5.3 million at a Sotheby’s auction in New York on Wednesday. The rock, named NWA 16788, is considered the largest piece of Mars ever found on Earth and was discovered in the Sahara Desert in Niger in November 2023 by a meteorite hunter, according to Sotheby’s. The meteorite is believed to have been ejected from Mars by an asteroid impact before traveling approximately 140 million miles to Earth.

The auction house had estimated the sale price at $2 million to $4 million, but the final bid reached $4.3 million, with additional fees bringing the total to nearly $5.3 million. The buyer’s identity was not disclosed. Sotheby’s stated that the meteorite is about 70% larger than the next largest known Martian specimen and accounts for nearly 7% of all Martian material on Earth. Only about 400 Martian meteorites are known among more than 77,000 officially recognized meteorites worldwide.

Cassandra Hatton, vice chairman for science and natural history at Sotheby’s, said, > "This Martian meteorite is the largest piece of Mars we have ever found by a long shot. So it’s more than double the size of what we previously thought was the largest piece of Mars."

Scientific analysis confirmed the meteorite’s Martian origin, matching its chemical composition to samples identified by the Viking space probe in 1976. The rock is classified as an olivine-microgabbroic shergottite, a coarse-grained volcanic rock, and features a glassy surface formed by intense heat during its entry through Earth’s atmosphere. Previously, the meteorite was exhibited at the Italian Space Agency in Rome.

The auction also featured a juvenile Ceratosaurus nasicornis skeleton from the Late Jurassic period, which sold for $30.5 million including fees. The skeleton, discovered in 1996 near Laramie, Wyoming, was assembled from nearly 140 fossil bones and is believed to be about 150 million years old. The event was part of Sotheby’s Geek Week 2025, showcasing 122 items including meteorites, fossils, and minerals.