Elderly woman discovers that the rock she used as doorstop for decades is worth a million dollars

An elderly woman in Romania had been using one of the world's biggest amber nuggets as a doorstop. According to Spanish newspaper El Pais, the 7.7-pound rare gemstone was only discovered after her death. The rock which was valued at over $1 million was marked as a national treasure by the government and placed in a museum.

What is amber and why is it precious?

Amber is an organic gemstone that has been formed from tree resin over millions of years. Over time, the fossilized resin turns into a hard, warm material sometimes containing plant and animal material, such as insects. This time capsule is a highly prized possession for historians and scientists.

In Romania, such stones were found around the village of Colti on the River Buzau. The woman who owned the rock lived in the village for decades. As per reports, the woman was once targeted by gemstone thieves who also missed the world's most expensive doorstop.

The world's most expensive doorstop

After the woman died in 1991, one of her relatives inherited the home and her belongings. The man noticed the strange doorstop and figured it could be valuable. Once realizing what it was, the man sold the gemstone to the Romanian state. The gemstone was then appraised by experts at the Museum of History in Krakow, Poland.

The stone is believed to be an astonishing 38 to 70 million years old and potentially the world's largest intact nugget of amber. Thus, the stone was classified as a national treasure of Romania and it has been placed in the Provincial Museum of Buzau since 2022.

In a similar case from  2018, a man from Michigan, US had been using a meteorite worth over $100,000 as a doorstop at his home as well.

A Doorstop from Outer Space

The meteorite was brought to a professor at Central Michigan University by a man Edmore who had kept it for 30 years after finding it on a farm. The man used it as a doorstop for decades before bringing it to Dr Mona Sirbescu for inspection.

The 22-pound meteorite was the biggest the geologist had ever examined in her career. She discovered that the rock was unique as it contained 88% iron and 13% nickel, unlike most meteorites that consist of 90%-95% iron. Thus, she estimated it could be worth $100,000.

"A piece of the early solar system literally fell into our hands," Dr Sirbescu said in the YouTube video shared by the university. The rock nicknamed the "Edmore doorstop" interested several buyers including the Smithsonian Museum.

The rock was finally purchased by the Michigan State University's Abrams Planetarium for $75,000 through a donor from owner David Mazurek. At the time, Mazurek stated that he planned to donate 10% to CMU's earth and atmospheric sciences department, where Dr Mona Sirbescu was a faculty.

Apart from the money, Dr Sirbescu said that the CMU and her students had benefited massively by studying a relic from the early solar system.  The rock was placed on display to share the experience with other faculty as well.