Silver Two Ounces 2004 Meteorite NWA 267, Coin from Liberia - detailed information

The Republic of Liberia has been issuing its own coinage denominated in Liberian Dollars since 1847. Apart from the circulating coinage, the country also allows some foreign mints to issue non-circulating commemorative coins under its authority. These are usually dedicated to historical or general popular culture themes not related to the country itself. Many of them are in standard bullion sizes, including the large two ounces (2oz) of silver format.

This coin is the first release in the "Meteorite Impacts" collection which is issued in a number of different countries; all coins in it feature an embedded original piece of a specific meteorite - in this case, Meteorite NWA 267.

This meteorite was once a pile of weathered unclassified meteorite fragments brought to the 2000 Denver show by a Moroccan fossil dealer. These fragments, 73.9 kg. worth, where purchased by Canadian meteorite dealer Dean Bessey, who was told the following on the meteorites: "A nomad found an area with a lot of unusual strange stones near the Morocco/Algeria border. He brought one to a fossil dealer and asked: "I hear that you will pay money for stones like this". After shaking his head in disbelief at a positive response, the nomad gathered up all his camels, wives and children and brought them into the desert to search over his personal strewn field." Or at least that is how the story goes.

Many thousands of stones, 73.9 kilograms, were recovered, most of these fragments under 20 grams. This meteorite is believed to have come from the Hebe class asteroids.