An elderly woman from Romania unwittingly used a seven-pound Rumanit amber nugget worth more than $1 million as a doorstop for decades before her death in 1991. Years later, her relatives discovered the stone's true value.
World Record AcademyAn elderly woman used this stone, the world’s largest Rumanit amber nugget, as a doorstop.
In 1999, a woman approached the Amber Museum in Colţi, Romania to sell a stone that her deceased relative had previously used as a doorstop. The stone, with vivid red and black coloring and weighing more than seven pounds, had a striking appearance, prompting the woman to wonder if it had any value.
The area surrounding Colţi, where the woman’s relative had originally discovered the rock, had long been a hotspot for amber discoveries. These valuable stones are formed from tree resin and often take thousands of years to harden.
The Romanian government sent the stone to Poland for analysis and discovered that it was a genuine piece of Rumanit, amber originating from the Buzău region, and was worth at least $1 million.
An Elderly Woman Unwittingly Uses This Hunk Of Amber As A Doorstop
UnsplashThe mountains of Buzău, where villagers have long hunted for amber stones.
According to El País, an elderly Romanian woman from the town of Colţi in the Buzău region of Romania discovered this 7.7-pound amber stone in a nearby stream bed several decades ago. Seemingly unaware of its value, she kept it in her home and often used it as a doorstop.
In fact, a thief who robbed the woman’s home in 1991 also neglected to see the stone’s value and left it behind. It wasn’t until after the elderly woman’s death that same year that one of her family members, Elena Mușatescu, wondered if the stone had any value.
“The Romanian item from the heritage of the Buzău County Museum was used by the old owner as a [doorstop]. In 1991, the Buzoian woman’s house in Bucharest was broken into, and the thief stole a silver necklace that she had on the table and kicked the lump of amber. Since then the nugget has a small chip. In 1998, the heiress of the lump of amber approached the County Museum to sell the ‘treasure,'” the World Record Academy wrote.
The Romanian government agreed to purchase the stone if they could authenticate it. If legitimate, the stone would be the largest Rumanit amber stone in the world.
Romanian authorities transported the stone to the Museum of History in Kraków, Poland. There, experts confirmed its authenticity and found that it was between 38.5 and 70 million years old.
Buzău County MuseumWeighing in at 7.7 pounds, it’s believed to be the largest chunk of Romanian amber ever found.
The stone, the largest nugget of Rumanit amber in the world, was subsequently sent back to Romania and put on display at the Amber Museum in Colţi, and later the Buzău County Museum.
Romania’s Rich History Of Amber Discoveries
Wikimedia CommonsThe Amber Museum in Colţi, Romania, where one of the world’s largest amber stones is on display.
Since the 1920s, people have been mining amber in Romania’s Buzău region. The area is a hotbed for amber and is considered the “homeland of amber.” In the town of Colţi, residents have looked for amber in the nearby mountains for centuries to use as protection, jewelry, and healing elixirs.
“The inhabitants of the area of the Colţi commune believe that the pieces of amber they find in their mountains are lucky and keep them in their houses. Amber powder was also used in the preparation of tinctures and, mixed with Buzău brandy, was considered to prevent colds,” the World Record Academy wrote.
Amber was so plentiful in the area that the local government decided to open the Colţi Museum to house and display the precious stones on June 14, 1980.
World Record AcademyDisplays of amber inside the Colți Museum.
“In the Colți Museum Collection there are 200 pieces of processed and raw amber, nuggets from tens of grams to hundreds of grams and even kilograms, in 162 shades: yellow, red, brown, very dark brown, black. The star of the exhibition is the Romanian de Colți, black in color.”
To this day, the Colți amber once used as a doorstop remains one of the most astonishing geological finds in modern history.
After reading about this million-dollar doorstop, dive into the story of the Durandal sword, France’s own Excalibur that suddenly went missing from its rock earlier this year. Then, read about Romania’s Bran Castle, the alleged home of Vlad the Impaler.
