Investment Value

There is no better time to buy than NOW.  Prices have increased quite dramatically over a very short period of time.  There are several reasons for the increase:

There’s not much of it about:

Moldavite mining is strictly controlled by the Czech government.  Until a couple of years ago there were 4 state run mines, 3 have now closed.  In the past anyone could go dig a hole on their own land, and if they were very lucky they might find one, several or many Moldavites.  More often than not hour or days of digging would produce nothing.  Several years ago the Czech government changed the rules; you can only dig to one meter unless you have a permit.

The locals still go to the fields after the farmer’s have ploughed and look – as they have done for centuries –  after hundreds of years of this, the number found decreases every year.  You can walk for miles without finding a single stone – not just that but the stones found are more likely to be broken pieces.  The Moldavites that came from people supplementing their incomes by digging a deep pit and ‘mining’ has dried up as the police now watch for this.  The locals and ex miners are now selling off their collections piece by piece as the price goes up.

The mine at Besednice closed about 12 years ago and the distinctive Besednice ‘Hedgehog” can now attract prices in excess of $100 a gram – and much more for and especially desirable shape or the collectors ideal ‘perfect’ hedgehog.  The price will never go down.   It won’t be too long before all Moldavite is in the $100 a gram price bracket and the “hogs” will be even more expensive.

It is estimated that all commercial mining of Moldavite will finish within 5-10 years, 10 years being quite optimistic.

As a comparison – there are about 28 tonnes of diamonds mined each year world wide – admittedly mostly industrial diamonds.   I can’t find a single statistic on Moldavite production but with only one mine I assume it’s not likely to be high.

It’s rare:

Moldavite was always rare in the mineral world.  The nature of its creation was a once in a planetary event and the circumstances of its creation may never happen again – in fact we don’t want a meteor that size crashing to earth again !  It is estimated that up to 3,000 tonnes of Moldavite may have fallen to earth in the Czech Republic, but that was 14.5 million years ago!  Since then most of it has been crushed in earth movements or washed away into rivers and the ocean, it’s anyones guess how much mineable Moldavite survives.

It’s Popular:

As Moldavite has become harder to get, mineral collectors world wide have created a mini boom and as healers have come to know it’s various advantageous properties they too have created a demand.  Investors looking for a safe haven for their money have been investing in Moldavite – after all, in less than 10 years there will be no more and the values will increase exponentially.

Conclusion:

Quite simply supply is not meeting demand and whenever this happens the price goes up.  It’s not going to get better, most of the collecting areas are tapped out.  If you want to own a piece or two then don’t hesitate and think that the price will come down – it won’t.