The banged-up Claxton mailbox to the left just got auctioned off for nearly $83,000! Why? It's the only mailbox in the world ever hit by a meteorite!
The unusual auction offers a peek into meteorite collecting, where planetary fragments 4 billion years old can be worth less than the earthly objects they hit, and where the story behind a meteorite's fall can dictate its value.
The Claxton mailbox has iconic status among collectors because of the tradition of naming meteorites for the nearest post office, according to owner Darryl Pitt.
"This is the first extraterrestrial delivery right into a mailbox," said Pitt, a New York jazz promoter.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has the story: http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2007/10/27/meteorite_1028.html (Image: Darryl Pitt) | Claxton mailbox history - Thanks christian!