'Space Pistols' Made Of Meteorite 4.5 Billion Years Old To Fetch Whopping Rs 10cr At US Auction
Heritage Auctions an auction house based in Dallas USA will be selling the two pistols either individually or as a set at an auction on July 20. The two Model 1911-type pistols were created by noted gunsmith Lou Biondo of Business End Customs using a large section of the Muonionalusta iron meteorite.
A set of two pistols is expected to fetch a whopping Rs 10 crore at an auction house in the US and it's going for this price because it probably deserves it.
The pistols are made out of a 4.5-billion-year-old meteorite.
Heritage Auctions, an auction house based in Dallas, USA, will be selling the two pistols, either individually or as a set, at an auction on July 20, reports Fox News. The reserve amount on the listing is set at $900,000.
The two Model 1911-type pistols were created by noted gunsmith Lou Biondo of Business End Customs, using a large section of the Muonionalusta iron meteorite.
The Muonionalusta is the world¡¯s oldest-known meteorite, and is thought to originate from the iron core of a planetoid some 4.5 billion years ago. Experts believe that it slammed into the earth about 1 million years ago in northern Scandinavia, shattering into dozens of large fragments as it passed through the atmosphere.
¡°The majority of the metal in these guns is meteorite,¡± Craig Kissick, director of science and nature at Heritage Auctions, told Fox News.
On its website, Heritage Auctions described the set of two meteorite pistols as "one-of-a-kind", adding that they have been modelled after the famous Colt 1911 Pistol.
While constructing a gun out of a meteorite, gunsmith Lou Biondo, who was commissioned to make the weapons said, "If you mix carbon steel, aluminum, stainless steel and throw in some diamonds, that's what it felt like."
During the Bronze Age, before humans were capable of iron production, meteorite iron was highly prized and used for making valuable swords and daggers.
Most famously, a dagger crafted from an iron meteorite was discovered buried in the tomb of the Egyptian King Tutankhamun.
Using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, Italian and Egyptian experts found that the blade's composition of iron, nickel and cobalt was an approximate match for a meteorite that landed in northern Egypt. They also note that such ironwork was rare in ancient Egypt.
The weapon was one of a pair of daggers discovered by British archaeologist Howard Carter in 1925 within the burial wrappings, reports BBC.
The finding could add to secrets unlocked from an ancient tomb that is still a source of global fascination almost a century after its discovery by the English archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922. The dagger which was studied upon was among the two of its kind found in 1925.
