Submit a Picture

Where is My Picture?!

The Queue

Met Name

Met Type

Thin Sections

  Impactite



Horst writes:

I would like to tell you a wonderful story today, with photos that you may not have seen before.

In the early summer of 2013, I persuaded my Czech friend to go on a moldavite search with me. Although I live right on the Czech border, I don't speak that language and in deep Bohemia, where moldavites can be found, conditions are pretty rough among the locals (USA-Wild West 1880). So much so that speaking Czech is essential for survival there.

In the run-up I looked for a few places from documents where there was a chance of finding the coveted stones. So our first trip went straight to Besednice, the area with the most beautiful Moldavites.

With a 2 meter long search lance, we searched the ground in the area for originally consolidated, moldavite-bearing gravel layers that were deposited there by rivers about 3.7 or 2.6 -0.3 million years ago. If the lance is on solid material, we dug a hole.

A few photos show my friend in one of these pits, which are more than 2 meters deep. Locals have dared to dig shafts up to 6 meters deep. There were also 200 gram pieces down there in that area.

The last photo shows the yield of our two day trip. The heaviest piece weighs about 24 grams. The Christmas tree-like weighs 12.4 grams, the others less. Also worth mentioning is the "splash" at 4.2 grams. It is thin and slightly curved, beautifully showing its flight form and is under enormous tension. It is so high that the piece sings very brightly when struck.

What is special about the self-excavated Moldavite is the 100% perfect preservation in contrast to the stones won from gravel pits. The excavated moldavites, especially in the Besednice area, are absolutely the most breathtaking.

There, the quite aggressive soil waters have etched the moldavites by up to 70%. this is how these unique deep furrows and pits are formed on the surface. The Large Square Moldavite weighing 24 grams shows a very large etched gas bubble in the center of its face. Some are so clear that they can be cut into gemstones and others show small gas bubbles (closed they are under negative pressure!) and streaks in different shades of green. Some appear a little browner.

We did three trips before the place finally closed. Now some ponds have been created on the heavily perforated area, a fence has been drawn all around and monitored by cameras.

On these three trips I was able to find about 350 grams of Moldavite and I was able to buy about 200 grams of smaller ones from local prospectors.

It is now time to find other sites to continue this wonderful story. In recent years some moldavites have been found in gravel layers of the two border rivers Thaya and March. Both sites on these rivers are only 10 kilometers from my house on Austrian territory.

Unfortunately, I lost many good photos due to repeated PC changes. But if there is interest, I can photograph some particularly beautiful pieces and post them in another picture of the day. It will also be the case that I will offer some pieces and meteorites from my collection for sale on two well-known platforms. All photos were taken by myself in 2013.

Visit my Ebay store