In a shining example of true form capitalism, Russian scammers opportunists took advantage of the cosmic fury at the ongoing G-20 meeting in Moscow expressed by an attempted bombardment via meteor (which allegedly left the hole shown in the picture below [6]), and are already seeking to find the level of equilibrium demand for cosmic commodities and market clearing prices by offering pieces of the meteor for sale on local websites. From Moscow Times [7]: "Enterprising businessmen in the Urals city of Chelyabinsk lost no time in finding a way to capitalize on the meteor strike that shook the city on Friday morning. By early afternoon, several websites were already selling "fragments of meteorite." Two-centimeter fragments of the celestial body that hospitalized dozens and injured hundreds more in the Urals early on Friday were being offered for 500 rubles a piece by 2 p.m. Moscow time."
[8]
From Moscow Times [7].
"I'm selling it because it's useless to me. There are several scratch marks, but in general it's in excellent condition," wrote one Internet user calling himself Alexei and claiming to be from Magnitogorsk in the Chelyabinsk region. A picture of the "meteorite fragment" for sale can be found in the jewelry section of Avito.ru, an online store.
Another user called Dmitry was selling a 3.7-gram scrap of the meteor that he claimed to have found on the banks of lake Chebarkul, where the object reportedly landed, about 60 kilometers west of Chelyabinsk. He set no minimum price for bids.
The sales come despite warnings not to touch any fragments of the meteorite. Journalist Andrei Kondrashov, a local journalist, wrote on Twitter that an official had warned him not to touch the debris.
"Called Deputy Shingarkin: He notifies the Urals that there is no radiation, but debris must not be touched. Possible toxic contamination," he wrote.
And the actual ad on Russian auction site Avito.ru:
[9]
From Gazeta.ru [10]:
The site Avito.ru came the announcement "a piece of the meteorite for sale, new. Sergey. Chelyabinsk ".
In the picture a man holding a piece of stone, which asks for 300 thousand rubles.
Another resident of Chelyabinsk left ad: "Buy a fragment of a meteorite Chelyabinsk, found today at the crash site, photo later skins. Questions by mail, the price is also negotiable. "
Also through the website Avito.ru Chelyabinsk residents have begun to offer services for glass replacement.
As of this posting, the ad had been taken down [11], but it was unclear that was before or after Buffett's pet rating agency, the one which would never dare offend the US department of "justice", Moody's, had already rated the seller AAAA++++ "would buy meteor fragments from seller again."