Story By: Feza Uzay, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash
A Turkish man furious at being ripped off when he found a black rock inside a bag of coal he bought for GBP 4 was amazed when he discovered it was actually a meteorite blackened by entry into the earth that was worth an estimated GBP 260,000.
Yakup Ermis, whose age was not given, bought several bags of coal at a bargain price in order to store it ready for the winter, and while he was putting it into his coal cellar, he discovered that one of the banks had an 8 kilogramme (17,6 lbs) stone that definitely was not coal despite its black colour.
The man from the district of Cinar in the south-eastern Turkish province of Diyarbakir called the company that sold him the coal to complain, who passed the blame onto the supplier in Russia, saying it was their fault.
But he changed his mind about complaining when one of his friends thought that the rock looked strange, and was also surprisingly heavy, and then discovered by chance that it appeared to be strongly magnetic.
As a result, Yakup broke off a piece of the rock and send it for testing, and then had it instantly confirmed that it was in fact a valuable meteorite.
He said: “I paid TRY 50 for each bag (GBP 4,31). And when I first discovered the rock, I got angry, thinking they were ripping me off by sending me rocks instead of coal. I even made a complaint to the company.”
He added: “My anger turned to joy when I found out they [the company that wasn’t named] accidentally sent me a meteorite.”
Yakup quickly withdrew the complaint he made to the coal company and put the rock up for sale.
According to Yakup, the rock from outer space is worth USD 45 (GBP 32,6) per gram, and he is prepared to negotiate with anyone over the price as long as they don’t make silly offers.
He told Yeni Safak: “The meteorite is said to be 1 million years old. I will sell it. I will not be greedy here, but I will not lower the price below what it’s worth.”
He added: “Because I had to send off a sample, the rock has lost some weight and now weighs 8 kilogrammes (17,6 lbs). Despite its small size, the rock is surprisingly heavy.”
