For sale is a rare example of the NWA 12241 Martian Shergottite meteorite. This specimen weighs 4.9 grams:

Name: Northwest Africa 12241 (NWA 12241)

Found in: Algeria

Purchased: 2018 Aug

Classification: Martian meteorite (Shergottite)

History: Purportedly found in Algeria and purchased by Mohamed Brahim Sueilem in August 2018 from a dealer in Bordj Badji Mokhtar, Algeria.

Physical characteristics: The material (total weight 1150 g) comprises multiple broken fragments, some with adhering black fusion crust. The friable pieces are pale green in color and contain white plagioclase but no evident maskelynite.

Petrography: (A. Irving and S. Kuehner, UWS) This fresh specimen has an orthocumulate texture with ~15 vol.% lath-like, birefringent plagioclase occurring interstitially to more abundant and coarser grained (0.2-1.6 mm, mean 0.7 mm) mafic silicate grains (unzoned olivine and patchily zoned low-Ca and high-Ca clinopyroxene with very limited compositional variation). Accessory phases include Mg-merrillite, chlorapatite, ilmenite, Ti-rich chromite, Cr-rich chromite and pyrrhotite (some associated with minor pentlandite). Levels of shock are judged to be low, based on the absence of optical effects in plagioclase and the complete lack of any conversion to maskelynite; the presence of widespread microcracks in mafic silicates is the only clear evidence of shock.

Classification: Martian (shergottite, olivine gabbroic, orthocumulate, low shock).

Specimens: 22.4 g including one polished thin section at UWB; remainder held jointly by Naji Ben Faraji and Mohamed Brahim Sueilem.

Regarding any CERTIFICATES OF AUTHENTICITY:

As there is no official governing body for the sale of meteorites, they are an unregulated item meaning that any certificate of authenticity that comes with a meteorite is worth the paper it is printed on and nothing more. It has no binding value for insurance or legal purposes. It is a feel-good assurance from the dealer that the specimen is authentic and as-described. You can frame it and display it with the specimen, but it has no value in and of itself.

For those reasons, I cannot give you a certificate of authenticity. I can however guarantee you as a Geologist and meteorite dealer who has been studying and collecting meteorites for many years that all of my specimens are genuine.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me and il do my best to help.