‘World’s biggest’ amber nugget worth over $1million discovered in Romanian home after being used as doorstop for decades
THE “world’s biggest” amber nugget worth over a whopping $1 million was discovered in a Romanian home after being used as a doorstop for decades.
The 3.3kg stone was originally found on a stream bed in southeast Romania and was brought home by an elderly woman.
Amber is a tree resin from millions of years ago that, over time, fossilises into a hard, warm material.
In Romania, pieces of the precious stone can be found around the village of Colti on the River Buzau, which has been mined since the 1920s.
The elderly woman who found the stone lived in Colti where she used the gemstone as an expensive doorstop.
Reports claim she once was even targeted by jewel thieves at her home who didn’t spot the million-euro rock.
After the woman died in 1991, the relative who inherited her home noticed the doorstop and potentially thought it could be worth something.
He then sold the massive chunk of amber to the Romania state who had it appraised by experts at the Museum of History in Krakow, Poland.
According to experts, the amber is between a shocking 38 and 70 million years old and is believed to be potentially the world’s biggest intact amber.
It’s classified as a national treasure of Romania and has been in the Provincial Museum of Buzau since 2022.
Daniel Costache, director of the museum, told El Pais: “Its discovery represents a great significance both at a scientific level and at a museum level.”
It comes after a couple revealed they made a whopping £60,000 after discovering hidden treasure beneath their floorboards.
Robert Fooks and wife Betty struck gold while renovating the kitchen of their Dorset home – finding a hoard of coins under the floor.
They’ve now sold the 1,000-strong rare find at auction for £60,740.
The 17th-century cash was in a broken bowl found by agricultural engineer Robert as he carried out the work at his farmhouse.
A 1636 Charles I gold crown fetched the top price of £5,000, while another collector paid £2,700 for a James I coin dated 1621.
Other currency covered the reign of Elizabeth I and Phillip and Mary.
The 1,000 items fetched nearly double the estimates of auctioneers Duke’s.
The cash was also sent to the British Museum to be identified and cleaned.
Robert and Betty found the coins after they decided to remove the concrete floor to increase the height of the kitchen.
The stunned Betty said: “It is a 400-year-old house so there was lots of work to do.
“We were taking all the floors and ceilings out and took it back to its stone walls.
“We decided to lower the ground floor to give us more ceiling height.”
As Robert wielded a pickaxe by torchlight, he unearthed a hoard brimming with 400-year-old coins buried around two foot beneath ground.
Where does Amber come from?
AMBER originates mainly from around the shores of the Baltic Sea.
This now is Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, Poland, southern Sweden, northern Germany and Denmark.
Amber is a tree resin from millions of years ago that, over time, fossilises into a hard, warm material.
It’s believed that the precious stone comes from the resin-bearing trees that clustered in dense and now extinct forests.
Amber can be found in numerous colours whether it be yellow, orange, red, white, brown, green or black.