It is a C-type asteroid, meaning that it has a dark surface and possibly a primitive carbonaceous composition.

It was discovered by J. C. Watson on 24 August 1867, and named after Minerva, the Roman equivalent of Athena, goddess of wisdom.

An occultation of a star by Minerva was observed in France, Spain and the United States on 22 November 1982.

Since then two more occultations have been observed, which give an estimated mean diameter of ~150 km.

[5][6] On 16 August 2009, at 13:36 UT, the Keck Observatory's adaptive optics system revealed that the asteroid 93 Minerva possesses 2 small moons.