Campo del Cielo 1576 Meteorite 1oz Silver coin

Description

Campo del Cielo 1576 Meteorite 1oz Silver coin. The amazing Campo del Cielo meteorite is predestined to be immortalised on this very interesting coin issued by Niue Island with an authentic fragment of meteorite inlaid. It depicts the very famous Meteor Crater created after impact about 5,000 years ago in Campo del Cielo, Argentina. The coin features Ultra High Relief, antique finish, obverse red gold plated. Mintage limited to only 576 pcs!

The coin’s obverse features a real and genuine meteorite Campo del Cielo over the meteor crater in Argentina. On top the inscription “Campo del Cielo 1576” and on botton the inscription “Argentina 2015”. The coin’s reverse depicts the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the face value, the issue country and the issue date. The coin in this side in red gold gilded.

Meteorite Campo del Cielo

The first record of the Campo was in 1576. A Spanish governor learned of the iron from the Indians who reportedly believed that it had fallen from heaven. The governor sent an expedition under the command of one Captain de Miraval who brought back a few pieces of a huge iron mass he called Meson de Fierro (large table of iron).

The location of the find was the Campo del Cielo (field of the sky or heaven), a fitting name for the location of a meteorite. Since the Indians believed that the irons fell from heaven the name may have come from the meteorites. The area is an open brush-covered plain that has little water and no other rocks–very good country in which to locate meteorites.

The next record of Campo Del Cielo meteorites was about 200 years later in the late 1770s. The Spanish thought some pieces might be silver ore, but once they tried to process it, they found that it was only iron. A Spanish navy lieutenant excavated one specimen which he believed weighed 14 to 18 tons. This may have been the Meson de Fierro. He left he mass in place and it was not seen again–or was it?

In the 1800s more smaller irons were found. A pair of flintlock pistols reportedly made of this material were given to President James Monroe. Later analyses showed that the iron was not meteoritic. In the 1900s. systematic exploration revealed many more large masses; however, the Meson de Fierro remained lost.

In 1992, American meteorite dealer Robert Haag was arrested by Argentine authorities while transporting a 37 ton meteorite from the area. Haag had purchased the mass from a local person who claimed ownership. Unfortunately, the authorities disagreed. Haag was released and the huge meteorite remains in Argentina. Whether this is the famous Meson de Fierro remains for speculation.

The larger Campo del Cielo meteorites are found in and around a series of small craters in the southwestern part of the strewn field. The largest crater is 78 by 65 meters. A smaller one is 56 meters in diameter and 5 meters deep. All together, searchers have found at least 12 craters.

The main part of the crater-forming mass was found in each of these craters. This is in contrast to Canyon Diablo and Odessa where the main crater-forming mass is believed to have vaporized or shattered on impact. In this respect, the field is similar to Sikhote-Alin.

Time of the Fall Scientists have attempted to date the Campo fall by carbon dating of charred wood found in the craters. Dates of 5800 years (plus or minus 200 years) and 3950 years (plus or minus 90 years) have been obtained. These dates are consistent with an Indian oral tradition that the irons fell from heaven.

Many of the Campo meteorites are highly rusted and corroded by terrestrial chlorides, however some have significant areas of relatively fresh fusion crust. This too, is an indicator of a fall in the not-too-distant past.

Structure of the Campo del Cielo

The Campo del Cielo is described as a polycrystalline coarse octahedrite. At 3 mm the Widmanstatten bands are thicker than those at Canyon Diablo or Odessa, but still thin enough to have the same coarse octahedrite classification.

The mass was composed of large austenite crystals from 5 to 50 cm in size. On break-up the fragments were cold worked like those at Sikhote-Alin and Gibeon. It has been hypothesized that the original body was tabular in shape and broke up on entry into the atmosphere.

Country: Niue Year: 2015 – Face value: 1 Dollar – Metal: Silver 999/1000 – Weight (g): 31.1 (1 oz)

Diameter (mm): 38.61 – Quality: Antique Finish – Mintage (pcs): 576 – Certificate COA: Yes

Box: Yes