How an amber stone went from doorstop to museum treasure worth $1.1m

Here's a story about a 3.5-kilogram amber rock. It involves thieves, a river, a careless old lady, beetles and one astronomical and unexpected inheritance.

It's one of the largest known amber nuggets in the world and its journey began at the bottom of a stream in Colti, a village in the southeast of Romania.

This rock, estimated to be up to 70 million years old, caught the eye of a local elderly woman. She took it home and used it as a simple doorstop.... for decades. 

Its full value was ignored, even by robbers who broke into the lady's house and opted instead to steal pieces of gold jewelry.  

A family member said of the break-in: "In their frantic search for valuables, they overlooked the real treasure that was there before their eyes."

However, the new homeowner, a relative of the woman who died two years after the country's monumental political upheaval in 1989, felt there was something special about this unusually colored doorstop he had inherited.  

He made enquiries and soon sold the unique find to the Romanian state, which classified the piece as a national treasure.

The Romanian authorities gave the nugget to specialists from the Museum of History in Krakow in Poland. They confirmed the authenticity of the amber stone and estimated it could be between 38.5 and 70 million years old. 

Back to Romania it traveled. "Its discovery represents a great significance both at a scientific level and at a museum level," said Daniel Costache, director of the Provincial Museum of Buzau, where the object is currently being kept.

Romania is among the countries with the most significant deposits of amber, with Buzau County one of the areas where this semi-precious stone is commonly found.

The region is home to a nature reserve where amber nuggets have been discovered, of considerable value in terms of quality and possessing over 160 shades of predominantly dark colors, from red to black. These rocks are also known to house fossil remains of arachnids, beetles, flies, crustaceans, reptiles, bird feathers and animal hair.

Speaking to Spanish newspaper El Pais, Costache claims it is one of the largest pieces in the world and the largest of its kind. Although he said the stone's value was incalculable, other experts have valued it at over $1.1 million. 

The lesson of the story? Go home and check what's holding your door open....

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