You'll need a lot of space... huge slice of Seymchen meteorite could bring $80,000

As we've reported, I M Chait's upcoming Natural History auction will include a selection of meteorites and highly impressive fossils.

However, the full details of the likely top lot from the meteorite section have only just been revealed.  It is a very large slice of the Russian Seymchen Pallasite and this fantastic heavy slice represents a complete section of the meteorite, levelled off at the base for upright display.

Seymchen meteorite pallasite slice

One side has been highly polished to a mirror finish, but the other side has been etched with nitric acid to reveal a vast canvas of the criss-crossing Widmanstätten patterns caused by the compressed lamellae of taenite and kanecite and smatters of black troilite.

The outline retains its rind of its rusty red-orange and gun metal fusion crust, and overall it makes for an extremely impressive display piece and investment. Measuring 25 x 30 1/2 x 3/4 to 1 inches and weighing approximately 61kgs, it is expected to achieve $60,000-80,000 in I M Chait's sale which takes place in New York and online on March 24.