Here's how to hold a piece of the moon and mars in the palm of your hand

Well, there is a place that you can, and you don't have to travel very far to get there - just 45 kilometres out of Bathurst.

And a moon fragment is just one of the things that you can see, and even hold, at the Western Goldfields Museum on the Upper Turon Road in Sofala.

Owned and curated by Rick Wigglesworth, the museum boasts a large collection of meteorites, memorabilia and momentos, with something to marvel over at every turn.

"This is what I call a 'fruit salad collection', there's a piece of fruit here for everybody's taste, and nobody has ever left here bored," he said.

The museum even includes important pieces of local history, with Sofala being the largest surviving gold mining town in Australia.

"That gold nugget in there, that weighs 12 ounces, and that is now the largest piece of Turon River gold left in existence. There isn't anything bigger," Mr Wigglesworth said.

"Also in the case there, I have nine gold sovereigns, and I found those sitting on the clay of the Turon riverbed after the flood in 1986."

His collection even includes some of the oldest items in existence, including a meteorite that dates back to 4.6 billion years ago.

"And there is a piece of the moon that you can hold, and there is a piece of mars," Mr Wigglesworth said.

But, besides the meteorites, he said that the oldest pieces in his collection would be two Egyptian antiquities, one of which is a tiny scarab beetle.

The museum also includes a Saxon battleaxe from the 1500s, which Mr Wigglesworth said was so unique that the only other place to see one would be the Tower of London.

Among the cabinets of curiosities is a large collation of guns and weaponry, including a genuine Flintlock Pistol Key, which combines two of Mr Wigglesworth's greatest loves - history and keys.

A master locksmith by trade, Mr Wigglesworth has built a selection of unique locks and keys, which are scattered throughout the display, creating a sense of continuity.

This theme even continues into his collection of convict artefacts.

"This is possibly the biggest collection of convict metal work in Australia, I'm not sure if there is anything that even approaches it, it's not even in the major museums," he said.

"That's the same as the death mask of Ned Kelly, and the two locks on either side of it are locks off the cell doors off H division at Pentridge, where he was banged up.

"And in all probability, he may have been behind one of those locks."

Another recurring theme throughout the museum, is that of Australian Police collectables.

This is due Mr Wigglesworth having spent the better part of his life as the director of Australian Law and Justice Association, as well as the Police Welfare Association.

And though the museum has a local focus with items from Sofala and Australia, there are items from all over the world.

These have been collected from friends, family, professionals, as well as findings from antique stores and op-shops and even generous donations.

With thousands of pieces, Mr Wigglesworth said it would be impossible to choose just one as his favourite.

"I don't have a favourite piece, my favourite piece is my museum," he said.

And, as well as encouraging people to come and marvel at all of the wonders inside, Mr Wigglesworth said that there was one other thing that he would encourage.

And that is for people to visit the town of Sofala, and help keep the oldest surviving gold mining town in Australia, surviving.