Large Space Artifact Collection To Be Auctioned
Posted on: Tuesday, 11 August 2009, 14:20 CDT
Robert Elliot, who has one of U.K.'s largest private collections of space artifacts, is putting his collection up for auction.
He has over 170 items that are expected to be worth over $824,000.
One of the most notable pieces is part of the Hambleton meteorite that was found in Yorkshire in 2005.
The Lyon and Turbull auction will take place in Edinburgh on August 18.
Elliot found 12 pounds of the Hambleton meteorite beside a forest track in North Yorkshire. This piece is expected to sell from anywhere from $98,000 to $148,000.
The collection also features a helium tank from the Russian Salyut 7 spacecraft that went out of control and fell to earth as a fireball.
Rocks from two different places on the moon, a piece of the Vesta asteroid and a piece of Mars rock are all going to be in the auction.
Elliott has been collecting space artifacts since he was a kid, and he said the sale did not spell an end to his collecting days.
He added: "I have collected meteorites from around the world since I was a child.
"If I hear of a sighting I leap on a plane and head to the area and try to find a piece of space rock.
"They are incredibly beautiful when you slice them open and I find it incredible that they were once hurtling through space."
He is also selling one of the oldest meteorites known to earth, the Lake Murray meteorite. This was found in rock over 110 million years ago in Oklahoma.
The Glenrothes meteorite is also up for sale, which is the first to be found on UK soil by Elliot in the summer of 1998. Also being sold is part of the famous Park Forest meteorite in which fell in Chicago, Illinois, peppering the area with space rocks, hitting and damaging several homes.
The Barwell Meteorite, which fell to earth on Christmas Eve in 1965 in Barwell, Leicestershire, is also part of his collection to be auctioned.
Auctioneer Gavin Strang said: "Lyon & Turnbull are boldly going where no other auction house has gone before in holding the first auction of meteorites and space memorabilia in the UK.
"We expect a great deal of interest from around the world with serious collectors heading to Edinburgh for the sale."
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Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports
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