$1.1 million amber block used as doorstop

The elderly woman found the amber, or fossilized tree resin, in a stream in Colti, a village in Buzau County, southeastern Romania. She used it as a doorstop and for decades, no one, including gem thieves who broke into her house, discovered its true value. This information was confirmed by Daniel Costache, director of the Buzau County Museum, which also houses the amber. Futurism September 4 news.

In 1991, the woman died and a relative noticed the amber when he inherited it. At first, he thought it was just a rock. But after closer inspection, he guessed that it could be a semi-precious stone of great value. He sold the stone to the government and they quickly classified it as a national treasure.

Authorities then sent the amber to the Historical Museum in Krakow, Poland, which has a department specializing in semi-precious stones. Polish experts immediately authenticated the amber and estimated its age to be between 38.5 and 70 million years old. The amber weighed 3.5 kilograms and was estimated to be worth $1.1 million.

“The new discovery is of great significance both on a museum and scientific level,” said Costache, who said it was one of the largest amber blocks in the world and the largest of its kind.

Romania is among the countries with the richest deposits of amber, and Buzau County is home to a large concentration of this semi-precious stone. Due to the distinctive features of the amber deposits there, geologist Oscar Helm named them “rumanite”, or more commonly known as “Buzau amber”.

Buzau has a nature reserve where many blocks of amber have been discovered. They are of great value both for their quality and for their variety, with over 160 shades of colour, mostly dark, ranging from red to black. Many blocks contain fossils of spiders, beetles, flies, crustaceans, reptiles, animal hairs and more, providing scientific information about the ancient Earth.