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Largest piece of Mars on Earth sells for over $5M but rare dinosaur fossil makes more at auction
A rare dinosaur skeleton and a Martian meteorite rock led to bidding wars at Sotheby’s, marking new auction records.
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Sotheby’s witnessed a jaw-dropping auction on July 16, 2025, where two rare relics of Earth and space stole the show, according to NBC. A Martian meteorite, named NWA 16788, weighing 54 pounds and hurled from Mars by an ancient asteroid impact, fetched over $5 million, well above its projected price. Found in Niger’s Sahara Desert in 2023, the rock travelled 140 million miles to land on Earth. But it was a young dinosaur skeleton that made more noise, hammering in at more than $30 million. Bidders competed fiercely, turning the auction process into a high-stakes fight of science and history.
Bidding war for a piece of Mars
Reportedly, the meteorite, sold for $4.3 million ($5.3 million after fees), set a new record as the most valuable of its kind, though live bidding moved slowly at times. The real drama came with a juvenile ceratosaurus nasicornis skeleton, one of just four known and the only young specimen. With an early offer of $6 million, six bidders battled for six intense minutes. The price jumped in $500,000 and $1 million increments before slamming down at $26 million, sparking applause across the Sotheby’s auction room.
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Juvenile ceratosaurus to be loaned for exhibition
The new owner of the $26 million Ceratosaurus nasicornis skeleton plans to loan it to an institution, Sotheby’s confirmed. It now ranks as the third-priciest dinosaur ever sold, behind 2024’s record-breaking $44.6 million Stegosaurus, “Apex.” Discovered in 1996 near Laramie, Wyoming, and reassembled with 140 bones, the juvenile predator, over 6 feet tall and 11 feet long, dates back 150 million years to the late Jurassic period.
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Weighing heavy and streaked in reds and grays, the Martian meteorite NWA 16788 is no ordinary rock. Measuring 15 inches across, it is 70% bigger than any other Mars fragment on Earth and accounts for nearly 7% of all Martian material ever recovered.
FAQs
How much did the Mars meteorite sell for?
It sold for $4.3 million at Sotheby’s, minus fees.
How much did the dinosaur skeleton sell for?
The ceratosaurus skeleton was sold for $26 million.
What made this auction special?
Rare fossils and meteorites drew intense bids from collectors.
