This new collector kit has some of the world's most exotic and rare specimens, all gathered into one master collection. Galactic Stone & Ironworks presents this exclusive collection and nowhere on the market will you find a gift kit like this one. Every one of these kits is custom made to order with specimens from my personal collection and the best examples available on the market.
Contained in this kit are : meteorites (including a Lunar "Moon Rock" sample!), trinitite, amber, fossils, prehistoric artifacts, semi-precious stones, and more. This collection is an ideal gift for anyone who is interested in nature, the cosmos, the unusual and the exotic. Due to the nature of these rare materials, this kit is not recommended for small children who may lose or damage the valuable contents.
Each kit contains the following specimens :
1) Moon Rock Display - one of the rarest materials on Earth is a piece of the Moon. This is a genuine sample of the lunar meteorite NWA 11273. More rare than diamonds or platinum, a Lunar meteorite is the only way to hold a piece of the Moon in your hand. A small fragment of this lunar meteorite comes in a Riker box display that is sure to be a conversation piece.
2) Asteroid Vesta Display - this is a sample of regolith "top soil" from one of the largest and most famous asteroids in the Solar System, 4 Vesta. Asteroid Vesta is visible to the naked eye from the Earth and scientists consider it a "failed planet" which was nearly destroyed by a massive collision with another asteroid early in the history of the Solar System. This sample is a vial of fragments and dust from an exotic type of meteorite called "howardite" and is considered to be the top soil of Vesta.
3) Trinitite Display - this display box contains a genuine sample of trinitite. This is a hand-selected piece of this rare atom bomb glass. Trinitite is a glassy green mineral that was created during the world's first test of a nuclear bomb at the Trinity test in 1945. This was the secret Manhattan project and where famous physicist Robert Oppenheimer uttered the quote "I have become Shiva, Destroyer of Worlds."
4) Fossil Amber - fossilized tree sap from millions of years ago slowly ages into a gorgeous gemmy material that has been prized since ancient times. An insect trapped in amber was the source of the dinosaur DNA in the movie Jurassic Park.
5) Saharan Desert Meteorite Display - this is genuine stony meteorite that was found in the Saharan Desert of Morocco. It is unclassified and "as-found" with it's natural desert patina. These stony meteorite fragments are strewn about the remote desert, where they have laid for thousands of years. Each one is a remnant of a shooting star that passed overhead and landed in the desert.
6) Miocene Period Shark Tooth - hundreds of millions of years ago, when dinosaurs walked the Earth, massive sharks also swam in the early Earth's vast oceans. This fossilized shark tooth comes from Miocene era deposits in the world-famous Bone Valley Formation. These predators where the dinosaurs of the sea - they ruled their domain. This tooth presented here is in a fine example of a whole tooth. It comes with a labeled display case.
7) Chelyabinsk Meteorite Display - this display contains samples from the famous Chelyabinsk meteorite impact event that happened over Eastern Russia on February 15, 2013. This event captured the world's attention when a massive meteorite exploded over Chelyabinsk Russia, unleashing a vicious shockwave that damaged hundreds of buildings and injured thousands of bystanders with falling debris and flying glass. This display box contains a sample from the meteorite and a shard of window glass that was shattered by the shockwave.
8) Space Shuttle Display - this display has a color photo of the NASA Space Shuttle and a genuine sample of the ceramic heat-shield tiles used to protect the outer skin of the shuttle from the heat of atmospheric reentry. This tile piece comes from a NASA-contracted surplus tile that I acquired from a retired science educator. The Space Shuttle is now retired and is an important part of aviation and space exploration history.
9) Oracle of Delphi Artifact - this vial of volcanic sand and pebbles comes from Mount Parnassus in Greece at the site of the legendary Oracle of Delphi. The Oracle was visited by King, mystics, wisemen, and general seekers of knowledge from throughout the ancient world. This sample comes from an old collection and is very difficult to acquire now.
10) La Brea Tar Pits Sample - this is a solid fragment of asphaltum tar from the famous La Brea Tar Pits in California. This site is home to one of the world's largest and strangest natural wonders. It is a vast pit of liquid tar that bubbles up from deposits deep within the Earth. Over the course of millions of years, many animals have fallen into the pits and died. Their remains have been preserved and fossilized by the tar - many of these fossils are of rare species that are on display at museums around the world.
11) Lapis Lazuli Cabochon - this is a piece of high-quality Lapis Lazuli from the world's best deposits in Afghanistan. It has been expertly cut and polished into a free-form cabochon shape that is ready for setting into your favorite piece of jewelry. The gorgeous blue color of Lapis has been highly sought after for centuries and the world's best specimens come from remote Afghanistan.
12) Campo del Cielo iron meteorite stardust - this is a sample of iron meteorite from the Campo del Cielo strewnfield in Argentina.
13) Petrified Wood - this attractive piece of fossilized wood comes from the famous Bone Valley Formation. Over millions of years, dead trees became mineralized and hardened into beautiful materials now known as petrified wood. This material can be worked and polished like a gemstone.
14) Quartz Crystals - this is a hand-picked selection of quartz crystals of different types These represent some of the most beautiful and interesting of the known quartz species.
15) Carbonaceous Meteorite - a rare type of meteorite that contains amino acids and may have help seed the infant Earth with the key ingredients to form life. Comes with data label and gemjar container.
16 and 17) - Two Bonus items not shown here - guaranteed to be rare and exotic pieces including fossils and tektites.
Due to the nature of these artifacts and specimens, some are unique in appearance and their look might vary slightly from that shown in the photos. Note, each of these collections is custom built to order and I reserve the right to make minor substitutions of specimens - any substitutions will be of equal or greater rarity and value.
Refer to the photo. You get a group of specimens and displays like the one shown. The black centimeter cube and quarter are shown for scale and is not included.
