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Sep 13, 2007 10:50 am US/Eastern
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Meteorite Chunk Sale Could Go Sky High
Willamette Meteorite Piece Could Fetch $1.3M At NY Auction
NEW YORK (CBS/AP) ―
A 28-pound rock that is out of this world -- literally -- could fetch a stratospheric sum when it goes on the auction block in New York City next month.
A chunk of the Willamette meteorite, the largest meteorite ever discovered in North America, is being offered at Bonhams auction house in Manhattan on October 28.
Its pre-sale estimate is between $1.1 million and $1.3 million.
In 2006, a tiny slice of the Willamette, the crown jewel of such extraterrestrial objects, was sold at auction for $12,000.
Deposited by the last ice age and discovered in Oregon in 1902, the Willamette weighs 15.5 tons. In 1905, Mrs. William E. Dodge purchased it for $26,000 and donated it to the American Museum of Natural History in New York, where it remains on display.
In 1998, the museum sliced off the 28-pound piece of Willamette and traded it for a half-ounce piece of Mars, which it now has on display.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)