The Cold Bokkeveld meteorite fell approximately 60 miles northeast of Capetown, South Africa on October 13, 1838. Like Murchison (see lot 6), Cold Bokkeveld is a chemically primitive CM2 meteorite rich in organic compounds and hydrated minerals — and it was the first witnessed fall of a CM2 meteorite. Unlike Murchison, of which more than 100 kilograms were recovered, there is only 5.3 kilograms of Cold Bokkeveld known to exist. Cold Bokkeveld is a breccia, a rock made up of different smaller rocks; different constituents of Cold Bokkeveld have been altered by water on its parent asteroid to various extents. The meteorite also contains complex organic compounds (different than those on Earth) as well as microscopic diamonds and presolar grains that formed long before the solar system came into existence. Like lot 20 and lot 6, this offering contains the oldest matter mankind can touch.

“The event occurred on the morning of Oct 12, 1838 [subsequently corrected]. There was a cloudless sky without wind, when, say the Hottentots Kievet and Rattray, both under oath before a magistrate, about 9 o’clock ‘We heard a strange noise in the air, resembling the loudest thunder we had ever heard; and on looking up we perceived a stream passing over our head, issuing a noise which petrified us with terror: a burst took place close to the wagon [with which they were getting wood], when something fell and a smoke arose from the grass. My master sent me to look what it was that had fallen when I found a stone quite warm, so much so that I could not hold it in my hands.’ We are so fortunate to possess a good specimen of the African meteorite, through the kindness of a friend in Boston. It corresponds with Sir M. Faraday’s description, and is very different in appearance from any meteorite which we have seen.”
American Journal of Science and Arts; Vol. 40, No. 1, Oct – Dec 1840, p. 199

The charcoal matrix of this specimen is pristine. A patch of fusion crust is seen on one face of this scientifically invaluable and historic meteorite.

Christie's would like to thank Dr. Alan E. Rubin at the Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles for his assistance in preparing this catalogue.


15 x 19 x 12mm (0.5 x 0.75 x 0.5 in.) and 3.271g