FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Dan Klores Communications
Bruce Bobbins / Sarah Winters
212.981.5190 / 212.981.5220

I.M. CHAIT GALLERY OFFERS DAZZLING COLLECTION OF RARE AND EXOTIC DINOSAURIA, FOSSILS, METEORITES AND MORE IN 2ND ANNUAL NYC NATURAL HISTORY AUCTION FRIDAY, MARCH 21ST

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Lot 354 A rare Einiosaurus (Triceratops relative) “Unicorn” dinosaur skull

(New York, NY) – The 4 billion year old Park Forest Meteorite, which smashed through the roof of a two-story home in suburban Chicago in 2003; a rare and magnificent gem ammolite ammonite dating back to the Cretaceous period, 65 million years ago; A record-breaking 177.5 pound, 10-foot long, and over 24 inch round mammoth ivory tusk, and one of the largest gold nuggets in the world will be for sale on Friday, March 21, when I.M. Chait Gallery/Auctioneers holds its 2nd Annual New York Natural History Auction in.

Giant Gold Nugget: Left over from the Australian Gold Rush, it weighs in at an exceptional 2.8 kilograms (90 ounces) and is one of two of the largest confirmed gold nuggets to have been discovered in many years, nearly all Gold Rush nuggets have been melted down – rare also because its outstanding purity. The nugget is expected to be sold at auction for $160,000-175,000.

Lot 72 Giant Gold Nugget

Monumental Mammoth Ivory Tusk: Weighing in at 177.5 lbs, it measures 24 ¾ inches around the widest section and a remarkable 10 ½ feet in length. A tusk sold previously through I.M. Chait gallery in March 2007 was posited as the largest ever offered at auction, at 19 inches in circumference and 10 feet in length. The numbers do not lie – the present example is a record-breaker and expected sell for $65,000-80,000.

Lot 286 Monumental Mammoth Ivory Tusk

World-class Gem Ammolite Ammonite: Gem ammolite ammonites are found in only a small area of North America and are among the most sought-after of all prehistoric fossils. In this specimen the usual colors are all present: fiery red, flashing green and glittering gold, but in addition it exhibits large areas of the atypical stormy blue and purple flashes that fill out the rainbow spectrum.

At 31 ½ inches across, this is not only one of the most phenomenal examples ever to come to auction but is also one of the finest and largest to be found anywhere in the world. A significantly smaller example in the American Museum of Natural History is commonly described in the press as “priceless”. It is expected to auction at $80,000-95,000.

Lot 331 World-class Gem Ammolite Ammonite

Park Forest Meteorite: On March 26, 2003 at approximately 11:50pm, the residents of Park Forest, Illinois thought the sky was falling on them. It was a meteor shower. Most particles that made their way through the earth’s atmosphere were mere fragments of the VW Beetle-sized, 4 billion year old meteor, but the specimen on offer at the I.M. Chait auction is a hefty “fragment” measuring 4 ½ x 3 1/8 x 3 1/8 inches. It plowed straight through the roof, air conditioning duct and second floor of a two-story suburban home.

The meteor has been classified as an L-type Ordinary Chondrite and Type 5 Equilibrated Chondrite. Included in the lot along with the meteorite are a DVD and photographs of local media coverage, the two-part air conditioning duct that was twisted and dented by its brush with outer-space and sections of the roof shingle likewise smashed by the hurtling space rock. There is a smaller quantity of meteorite material on earth than there is gold or diamonds, making this a most significant lot. The meteor is expected to sell at auction for $60,000-80,000.

Lot 225 Park Forest Meteorite

Up for auction along with the nugget, mammoth tusk, opalescent ammolite ammonite and Park Forest Meteorite are 350 natural history lots with a total estimated value of around $2 million.

Other items of note are:

A rare Einiosaurus (Triceratops relative) “Unicorn” dinosaur skull (pictured top) Pieces of the Moon and Mars (below)

Lot 223 A Piece of Mars

The auction will take place beginning at 1pm EST on March 21st, 2008 at the New York location, 267 Fifth Avenue, 11th Floor. Beverly Hills and NYC previews are open to the public. Beverly Hills: February 26th - March 1st 11am-5pm. New York: March 17th - 20th 10am-6pm. The auction will be simulcast live from New York to the Beverly Hills Location, with viewing and bidding also available through a live online feed at www.chait.com.

(Editor’s note: Hi-res jpeg images of the rare Gold Nugget, Mammoth Tusk and Ammolite Ammonite, plus other auction items, and interviews with Chait representatives are available by calling Bruce Bobbins or Sarah Winters at Dan Klores Communications, 212.685.4300)