“Jules Verne” Martian meteorite left, “Diderot” Martian meterorite right.

DALLAS – A pair of Martian meteorites each sold for $187,500 to share top-lot honors in Heritage Auctions’ Nature & Science Platinum Night sale on March 19.

Found in 2001, the NWA 1950 Martian meteorite – main mass Martian is classified as a shergottite-lherzolithic and is an iconic variety. From what is considered the most beautiful of Martian meteorites, this rare Peridotite specimen is nicknamed the “Jules Verne” in homage to his work The Chase of the Golden Meteor, which originally was published in 1908. The offered specimen is the main mass of the Jules Verne, weighing a massive 231.8 grams out of the total known weight of 812 grams found.

The NWA 2737 Martian Meteorite – Main Mass Martian (chassignite) is another exceptionally important meteorite, nicknamed “Diderot” for Eighteenth Century philosopher Denis Diderot, a 185.6-gram specimen that makes up roughly 30 percent of the total known weight of the meteorite, which weighed in at 611 grams. This rare Martian meteorite, which fell in Morocco, has a crystallization “age” dating back 1.36 billion years as well as images on the NASA website. It is considered one of the most important meteorite specimens on earth.

Each meteorite had carried an estimate of $300/500,000.

A more comprehensive sale review to follow in a future issue.