The strangest things seem to be sold at auction these days.
For example, we recently reported how a number of Star Wars items sold for six figures, including the original 65mm camera that Lucas used to shoot the film. Still, this is probably one of the most unique auction items I’ve read about in quite some time. How could a headline advertising a moon rock for over $300 Gs not grab your attention?
As GiantFreakinRobot notes, a piece of the moon is expected to fetch some $340,000 at auction. The opening bid? $170,000. According to the site, this piece of the moon goes under the name Dar al Gani 1058, and it’s also the first rock from the moon that’s up for a public auction. This piece of the moon was discovered in Libya in 1998, although scientists aren’t sure when it landed on our planet.
“This is a one-of-a kind item since the Apollo moon rocks were never for sale, but rather housed at the Smithsonian Natural Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C.,” the site explains.
Now considering I usually look into how much guitars, comics, and movie memorabilia goes up in value, I have no idea what a moon rock would go for on the open market, but it’s clearly a rare, one of a kind item, and I’d have no idea what I could try to sell one for if one landed in my backyard.
“When it comes to moon rocks, size does matter – but so does origin. For example, three seed-sized pieces of the moon brought back to Earth by a Russian robotic probe in 1970 were sold at auction 30 years later for $442,500,” explained Robert Pearlman, the editor of collectSPACE.com.
Nice return on investment, if only we could be lucky enough to have a moon rock, or be able to travel to the moon to bring them back with us. It’s got to be difficult to figure out what this could be worth because they’re not for sale on Ebay, but collectSPACE also speculated that a 1-gram sample from the moon could go for millions of dollars.
The individual putting this moon rock up for auction is anonymous, and you can bid on it until October 14. Good luck out there, and if the winner wants to tell us what it’s like to actually own a piece of the moon, you know where to reach us.
