AN ADMIRE METEORITE NODULE
These lots have been imported from outside the EU … Read more
AN ADMIRE METEORITE NODULE

DISCOVERED LYON COUNTY, KANSAS, 1881

Details
AN ADMIRE METEORITE NODULE
DISCOVERED LYON COUNTY, KANSAS, 1881
the specimen shows the green clusters of olivine, embedded in a metallic iron-nickel mass
3½in. (9cm.) long
Special notice
These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction.

Lot Essay

Admire is a pallasite formed at the core-mantle boundary of an asteroid that melted about 4.5 billion years ago. Deep inside the asteroid, molten metal from the top of the core mixed with olivine grains (a magnesium-rich silicate mineral) that had crystallized from the mantle and were pulled downwards, towards the core, by the body’s modest gravity. Things remained quiet for Admire until a major collision shattered the asteroid roughly 100 million years ago; this event and subsequent, less-energetic collisions set some of the pallasites on a collision course with Earth. The first piece of Admire to be found was ploughed up in Lyon County, Kansas in 1881.

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