A ‘rock’ used as a doorstop for decades turns out to be worth €1million

One person's doorstop is another’s life-altering treasure... 

A 3.5kg reddish chunk of ‘rock’ was found in a stream bed in southeast Romania by an elderly woman. She brought it home and used it to keep a door open for decades.  

After her death in 1991, a relative inherited her property and noticed the ‘rock’. He decided to have it appraised...  

Verdict? The woman’s door wedge revealed itself to be one of the largest intact pieces of amber deposits in the world.  

And how much would something like that be worth? Well, around €1 million.  

According to a report by El Pais, the fragment was bought by the Craotian government and subsequently sent to the Museum of History in Krakow, Poland.  

According to findings, the amber deposit is estimated to be between 38 and 70 million years old, likely originating from the resin of prehistoric coniferous trees. It was preserved and fossilized over tens of millions of years through intense geological pressure. Considering amber’s medicinal properties as well as rumanite’s status as a highly valued stone when it comes to jewelry, it’s one hell of a discovery.  

Now classified as a national treasure of Romania and a protected cultural asset, the discovery currently has a home at the Provincial Museum of Buzău.  

"Its discovery represents a great significance both at a scientific level and at a museum level," Daniel Costache, director of the museum told El Pais.  

The museum has also announced plans for scientific analyses of the material, including studies of its composition, structure, and possible inclusions of ancient biological material. 

The story is reminiscent of a similar case in the US state of Michigan, where a piece of stone also used as a doorstopper for decades turned out to be a rare meteorite worth $100,000. 

The 10kg space rock was brought to Central Michigan University (CMU) for examination and it was identified in 2018. It is believed to have touched down in the 1930s on a farm in Edmore, Michigan.  

Mona Sirbescu, a geology professor at CMU, said at the time: "I could tell right away that this was something special. It's the most valuable specimen I have ever held in my life, monetarily and scientifically." 

Moral of the story? Not all treasure has to be golden - and keep your eyes peeled for what your family members are using to keep their doors ajar.  

Additional sources • El Pais, Science Alert