A meteorite was found in Mauritania in 2017, and was classified as Northwest Africa 11789, and was a lunar meteorite that consisted of fragments that could be fitted together to form a mass weighing about 5.5 kilograms, or slightly more than 12 pounds. In 2018, the unusual specimen went to auction and sold for $612,500.
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A meteorite from the Moon
The specimen was officially classified as a lunar feldspathic breccia, which means it is a rock made from broken and reassembled fragments of lunar material. The Meteoritical Bulletin database records NWA 11789 as an official meteorite, with 2017 being the year it was found, Mauritania as its country of origin and a recorded mass of 5.49 kilograms. The database also says the material was purchased in Mauritania by meteorite collector Dustin Dickens from an anonymous meteorite hunter.
The specimen’s pieces could be fitted back together, which produced the distinctive appearance that eventually gave it the nickname “The Moon Puzzle.” Lunar meteorites are pieces of the Moon that reached Earth naturally, and these rocks arrived without being deliberately brought back by astronauts, unlike the lunar samples collected during the Apollo missions.
Six fragments that fit together
GeekWire reported that the meteorite consisted of six fragments that fitted together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, and created a mass of about 5.5 kilograms, or 12 pounds. The auction description from RR Auction similarly identified NWA 11789 as a lunar feldspathic breccia and described six pieces fitting together to form a mass slightly above 12 pounds. The rock also carried a partial fusion crust, which is a feature produced by heating as a meteorite travels through Earth's atmosphere. The surface had been exposed to the intense heating that is generally associated with atmospheric entry, while the interior preserved fragments of lunar rock.
The official Meteoritical Bulletin classification also recorded the specimen as a feldspathic breccia and placed its total mass at 5.49 kilograms. It identified the main mass as being held by Dustin Dickens, with a type specimen deposited at the University of New Mexico.
A $612,500 auction sale
The Moon Puzzle moved from scientific curiosity to high-value collectible in October 2018, when Boston-based RR Auction offered the specimen for sale, and the winning bid reached $612,500. GeekWire reported that the successful bidder was a representative working with the Tam Chuc Pagoda Complex in Vietnam, and the complex planned to display the meteorite, which gave the lunar material a public-facing destination after its sale.
RR Auction lists the specimen as having sold for $615,000 including the buyer’s premium. The reported winning bid itself was $612,500, which is the figure widely reported at the time. Lunar meteorites are rare scientific specimens, and NWA 11789 offered several unusual characteristics at once, such as its confirmed lunar origin, its large mass, its multiple matching fragments and its visible fusion crust.
The material originated on the Moon, was blasted from the lunar surface by an impact in the distant past, traveled through space and eventually reached Earth. Years later, fragments found in the Mauritanian desert were reassembled into a specimen that collectors could recognize as a piece of another world.
