According to the Buzău County Museum in Romania, this is the largest piece of amber ever found. An elderly resident of the village of Colți, located in southeastern Romania, stumbled upon the 3.5-kilogram stone. She brought it home and used it as a doorstop. The stone served such a humble purpose that even thieves who once targeted her house overlooked it. As it turned out, the villager made a remarkable discovery. She had come into possession of one of the largest nuggets of amber in the world, as reported by El Pais. Experts have valued the stone, identified as Romanian amber, at around €1 million – $1.1 million, according to Science Alert.
Amber is fossilized tree resin that formed millions of years ago. Over time, this highly viscous substance hardens, transforming into a solid material with warm hues—widely recognized as a semi-precious gemstone.
What else is known about this giant piece of amber? In Romania, pieces of amber can be found in sandstone along the banks of the Buzău River, particularly around the village of Colți, where it has been mined since the 1920s. The local variety of amber, known as Romanian amber, is famous for its deep black and red shades. The enormous nugget of Romanian amber is currently housed in the Buzău County Museum, where it was discovered by the elderly woman. After her passing in 1991, a relative who inherited the house suspected that the doorstop might be more than it appeared. Following an examination of the stone at the Historical Museum in Kraków, Poland, the man sold the amber to the Romanian state, where it was re-evaluated. The nugget was declared a national treasure of Romania. Experts believe this piece of amber is about 70 million years old.
The story is reminiscent of a case involving a resident of Michigan who used a large stone as a doorstop for decades, only to discover it was a meteorite worth $100,000. However, this amber nugget valued at a million euros is even more precious. Just imagine how many doorstops one could buy for that amount!