Dino Dung Beats Out Space Rock

The coprolites are unique in the same sense. This fabulous meteorite would have sold at a reasonable offering price of about $1/gram ($420,000) at that size, maybe somewhat more. $2 million is over $4/gram. At the last Bonham's auction, another similar meteorite (note the repeated use of the word unique by sellers) the Brenham U.S. pallasite meteorite (oriented), failed to get over $200,000, though they billed it as a $1 million dollar plus rock. One joint owner in that case bought the other half from his partner slightly higher than the $200,000 prorated value for that whole rock). Based on the quality, comparison, etc., which also works with the two rocks, all they needed was to put it on the block for $500,000 and it quite well would have sold. If anyone pays more, they sellers are just capitalizing their greed the American way. The auction house knows it only takes one buyer and this is what the seller (a well-known meteorite peddler) is dreaming about. There is interest and even a small retail market for such space rocks, and pricing is not as arbitrary as it might seem. Ask someone to shell out $2 million, and at minimum they won't do that in an auction, it will take weeks of negotiation which may have already been in progress beforehand. The rock is a great attention getter to promote the auction with other dino crap and the like, and it gets the word out that the Seller has it too. Surely, no one counted on a miracle and both auctioneer and seller came out ahead. Bill Gates just wasn't watching at the moment with his tax refund check, so there is a lot more than meets the eye in this event than a simple comparison between dino dung and hawking space rocks. Interesting the dealer who is selling the rock, of nearly all in the meteorite clan, would be the best able to process this rock in a way to profit. Putting it on the block is not altruistic, and it would be nice if it could end up in a museum. About 15 years ago, a similarly third to half ton pallasite meteorite was bought for around $200,000 (probably nearing the $1,000,000 range in today's pricing), however Esquel as it is called, is far, far superior to this piece in this deceptive uniquedom. Coprolites can be found in many regions easily. Maybe paying $1000 to have dino dung is a good enough gag, so that paying over $1 million is just a tad of an indulgence. From this perspective, the auction wasn't a failure, it was a stunt. The stunt worked because look at where it has appeared!