Decades-Old Doorstop Turns Out To Be Priceless Gem Worth Rs 8 Crore
NDTV
Found in Colti, the 3.5 kg stone was sold to the Romanian state and identified as a national treasure.
A large piece of amber used for years as a doorstop has just been valued at around $1 million (Rs 8.4 crore), according to EL PAIS. The 3.5-kilogramme stone was dug up by an elderly woman from a stream bed near Colti, Romania, and then used in her house to hold open doors.
It was later discovered that the stone was one of the largest pieces of amber, which is the resin of a tree fossilised for millions of years. This type, known as rumanit because of its reddish hue, is mined around Colti.
After she died in 1991, the house had been passed on to a relative who felt that the doorstop could be more valuable than originally thought. It was then sold to the Romanian state, and experts from the Museum of History in Krakow confirmed the amber to be between 38 and 70 million years old.
