Woman Uses Stone as Doorstopper for Years: Turns Out to be Worth a Million

colti, romania - A Romanian woman from Colti has been using a randomly found stone as a doorstopper for decades, only to discover it is the largest amber nugget ever found. The value: approximately 1 million euros.

A Romanian woman from Colti found the stone decades ago while walking along a riverbed. Thinking it was pretty, she took it home and used it as a doorstopper for years. Local reports even mention that the woman was once a victim of jewel thieves, but they left the stone untouched.

After the woman's death in 1991, the heir to her property noticed the stone. Believing the 3.3 kg nugget could be valuable, he sold it to the Romanian state. The stone was then sent for evaluation to experts at the Historical Museum in Krakow, Poland, who made a remarkable discovery. The stone, dating between 38 and 70 million years old, is considered the largest intact amber in the world. Valued at approximately 1 million euros, it has been recorded in the Guinness Book of Records and classified as national heritage in Romania. Since 2022, the stone has been on display at the provincial museum of Buzau.

Amber is a fossilized resin from conifer trees. Due to precipitation and landscape changes, the resin can reach the sea. If undisturbed at least 30 million years under high pressure, it can solidify and transform into amber. The oldest amber found so far is approximately 320 million years old. In Romania, amber is mostly found around the village of Colti along the Buzau River, where it has been mined since the 1920s.